In September 2009 at their annual meeting in Denver, the Delegates of
the International Churches of Christ approved the proposal to change the
“Church Builders Service Team” and the “Missions Service Team” to form
one “Evangelists Service Team” with the charge of providing inspiration
and strategic planning for our fellowship of churches.
This group was elected by the Delegates in proportion to our regional
membership worldwide and was comprised of 18 evangelists. The
evangelists represent churches from every continent and were selected by
the Delegates from each continental grouping. They were elected to
serve a term of 3 years, and commissioned to meet in person at the
International Leadership Conference (ILC) and one other time each year.
It was highly recommended that their wives also meet to discuss women’s
ministry.
After some conference calls, the new Evangelists Service Team (EST)
met in Miami during the first week of February to tackle the commission
given by the Delegates at the 2009 ILC. It was an incredible time of
prayer, studying of God’s Word, sharing, planning, and dreaming
together. We developed Strategic Planning and Development Committees
to address the various needs under our charge.
1. The ILC Planning Committee worked with John Porter, 2010
ILC Director, to begin a draft of the 2010 ILC Program that would then
be reviewed by the Evangelists and Elders Service Teams. This
subcommittee will also work with Mike Taliaferro for the 2012 World
Conference to be held in San Antonio, Texas.
2. The Healthy Region Committee was formed to promote and
develop “best practices” as well as highlight exemplary families of
churches; it was also charged to define what a healthy group looks like
as well as articulate “warning signs for troubled families”.
3. The Global Mission Strategy Committee was formed to assess
the needs and opportunities for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ
on a global scale in developing and 1st world countries. They were
asked to highlight best practices of mission societies, promote
awareness and match needs with potential support.
4. The Delegate Development Committee will work to strengthen
our existing organizational structure. They will make proposals to
refine the duties and responsibilities of the Delegate role. They will
also help shape the agenda and schedule for the annual Delegates meeting
.
5. The Leadership Development Committee will take the lead in
shaping our efforts to train new evangelists. They will devise ways to
match capable evangelists with kingdom needs. Establishing “brotherhood”
relationships for the next generation of evangelists is another topic
that this group will address.
6. The 2020 Vision Committee was formed as a result of our
inspirational study, prayer, and discussion about the future.
Providentially, our meeting together was held at the dawn of a new
decade. God brought all of us through one of the most challenging
decades for our family of churches. Overall, our churches are stronger
and healthier than they have been in a long time.
We believe it is time for us to look ahead to this new decade with faith
and confidence that God has many more souls to save, many more churches
to plant, many more towns, cities and countries to reach with the good
news of Jesus Christ. But we need faithful vision.
We are asking each geographic family of churches around the world to
prayerfully create their own "2020 Vision" for their specific area of
the globe. The committee will provide whatever assistance each
geographic family may need to develop and cast their vision. We expect
this committee to soon distribute more information including a template
and inspirational ideas. In the coming years, they will also be
providing updates on the progress of each region’s 2020 Vision.
At the end of our meeting we made brief presentations to the Elders
Service Team that was also meeting in Miami. They provided valuable
feedback, counsel, recommendations and encouragement. The Evangelists
Service Team appreciates the prayers, support, encouragement, and
counsel of so many from around the world. We believe we are at the dawn
of a new age for our family of churches. Please continue to pray for
God’s Spirit to move as we all seek to make disciples of all nations and
bring them to full maturity in Christ.
Bruce Williams, Chairman EST -- US / Canada
Africa -- Kris Ogbonnaya, Steve Mukenya
Asia / Pacific -- Dinesh George, John Louis, Steve Chin
Canada / US -- Doug Arthur, John Causey, John Porter, Mike Fontenot,
Mike Taliaferro, Scott Green
Europe / Middle East / Eurasia -- Alexey Donskoy, Andy Fleming, Shawn
Wooten
Mexico & Central America -- Javier Amaya, Pedro Garcia
South America -- John Reus
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