More than a vote
Report on the 2008 Leadership Conference
by Rev. Matt Mitchell
Pop quiz: What was Conference about this year?
If you answered, “The Statement of Faith,” then you’d be right. The 2008 EFCA Leadership Conference did include a historic vote on a revised Statement of Faith, following special sessions solely for discussing the proposed changes. After much deliberation, the delegates adopted the new Statement of Faith, with 86 percent indicating approval. (See www.efca.org/about/doctrine for more details.)
But this year’s conference, held at First Evangelical Free Church of St. Louis County (Manchester, Mo.), included much more than deliberations and a decisive vote, however pivotal that is to the Evangelical Free Church of America. Attendees in St. Louis were also encouraged, equipped and inspired to join in the forward movement of the gospel among all people.
In his stirring conference address, President Bill Hamel called the EFCA to bold prayer: “Beloved, I don’t know how much time we have left, but I think it’s time that the Free Church increase its impact.” He challenged EFCA leaders to pray for a 10-percent increase in the multiplication of healthy local churches and to join the leaders of ReachGlobal in praying for 100 million people to be touched by the gospel in the next 10 years.
Many of those people will speak Arabic. The conference included a special offering, raising more than $12,000 for Middle East/North Africa (MENA), ReachGlobal’s newest area of mission focus—reaching out to 19 countries with church planting, compassion, ministry to children, camping, and training of indigenous pastors and leaders.
All three main speakers challenged attendees to think of themselves as “resident aliens”—cautious about getting too comfortable in this world while we work and wait for Christ’s return. President Hamel emphasized that we won’t live with a missional perspective until we remember that we don’t belong here—as was obvious both to the movement’s early Scandinavian forebears and to its current immigrants.
“Can we really sing, ‘This world is not my home,’” he asked, “when we’re holding onto it so tightly? Too much of the world means too much to us.”
Living uncomfortably in the world includes loving “our Samaria,” a continuing theme from the 2007 conference, which was evident in the high-energy, multi-ethnic worship led by Sara Renner and the Elements.
“I am encouraged with the fact that we are really trying to bring all peoples together,” says Lori Lambelet, district mobilizer for EFCA RESOUND Women’s Ministries. “This has a lot of impact on my ministry back home in New Mexico.”
The 1,048 conference attendees were treated to a panoply of training seminars, dinners, ministry display booths and special events to highlight what is going on through the mosaic of EFCA ministries.
This was the first conference for Brad and Joellen Binder, leaders at Cornerstone EFC in Annandale, Va. Brad said that he was privileged to be part of the Statement of Faith process, and so much more: “This is my first exposure at the national level to all the different resources available to the churches. This conference was great for seeing that those resources are there, doing the networking and making the connections.”
Joellen agreed. She especially valued the opportunity to interview children’s ministry leaders at the host church about how they reach and retain children in the faith. (As a church of 2300, First EFC ministers to an average of 750 children each week in its Kid Connection.)
EFCA leaders will meet again next year in Minneapolis, June 23-25. There may not be another historic decision in 2009, but these conferences are so much more than a vote…
Matt Mitchell pastors Lanse EFC in Central Pennsylvania and blogs at matt-mitchell.blogspot.com. 2008 was his ninth trip as a delegate to the Leadership Conference.
