Choosing a Future for U. S. Missions

In 1998, Paul McKaughan, executive director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Mission Agencies (EFMA) with former missionaries William and Dellanna O'Brien published the results of an extensive research project "Choosing a Future for U.S. Missions." They brought mission agency executives, denominational leaders, pastors and theologians to a workshop and a series of focus groups around the premise that missions as now known is at a crossroads and needs to change if it is to be faithful to the Great Commission. In this study an appeal is made for mission agencies and churches to recognize how 21st Century missions is changing. Among other things, local congregations are increasingly dissatisfied with simply being passive partners in fund raising appeals to send missionaries to other world areas where, in some instances, Christianity is now growing faster than in their own neighborhoods.McKaughan and the O'Briens question whether the "missionary-drivenness" that characterized 19th and 20th century missions "will produce real missions" for the future. They suggest, "Real mission drivenness will help us escape the prison of dollars and finances, but a missionary approach may never do so." Missionaries as "professional Christians" are no substitute for the witness of mission driven local congregations. "The role of the mission agency has changed from being the `door' of missions to being the `facilitator' of local churches." The authors offer an agenda for organizational and spiritual renewal that they believe has the possibility of joining congregations everywhere in a mission-driven church for the 21th century. A must read for those concerned about future mission efforts and the local church's chaning role in global missions!