Philosophy of Missions

We are called to glorify God through missions

We as a church exist to glorify God. To glorify Him includes the privilege of making Him known to the multitudes both near and far who are separated from Him because of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ has given the Church her marching orders. We are commanded to "make disciples" of all people groups (Matt. 28:18-20). We believe that Christ died for all without exception. His sacrifice was made without distinction of race, gender or national origin. This offer of salvation is thus universal. We have been entrusted with the missionary mandate known as the Great Commission. It is an essential task of the Church in every generation to its generation. We seek to carry out this task in accordance with the patterns and principles of Scripture.

Jesus understood that His disciples would be witnesses "both in Jerusalem and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." The Book of Acts provides a chronological and geographical expansion of the Church as the gospel advanced at home and abroad. The qualifiers "home" and "foreign" provide a helpful distinction regarding involvement in different geographical regions. However this distinction must never obscure the unity of God’s program which is "both/and". Home and foreign missions must never be in competition but complementary. We will glorify God as we go forth in obedience to the Great Commission and "make disciples" of all nations including our own.

We are called to be engaged in proclamation

God’s glory is our supreme goal and objective. For God to be glorified, recognized and worshipped for who He is and for what He has done, He must be known and made known. In order to accomplish this we must be engaged in missionary activity, both at home and abroad, that will demonstrate our obedience to the divine mandate. "We preach Christ and Him crucified" is our motto.

As we preach to those who are lost in sin, we desire to see the fullness of God’s will for their lives. Thus, "making disciples" must not be limited to calling on individuals to make a decision for Christ. Scriptural baptism and the incorporation of the individual believer into a local church must follow the initial act of repentance and conversion. The expectation will be that this church will grow into maturity and become itself a missionary church. In other words, we seek to establish churches that are self-governing, self-propagating and self-supporting. These churches will be "indigenous." That is, they will be churches that are rooted in the Word of God and yet related to the culture in which they have been planted. They will pattern themselves, not after the churches of any particular culture, but after New Testament principles, which are valid for all time and in every place. Indigeneity has been understood in various ways. However, we want to see churches planted that are both biblically sound and culturally appropriate, i.e., able to relate to their culture without an imposed foreignness.

We are called to send and support others to accomplish God’s will for the nations

Believers are called to witness to who Christ is and to what He has done in their lives. Yet not all will be called into a full-time vocational ministry of proclamation. Among those who are called, some will be asked to stay. Others will be called to go. We recognize that God calls some of His people to leave family, friends, hearth and home, in order to minister in a land and to a people that is not one’s own. We often call this cross-cultural ministry. A believer leaves his natal country and goes to another country. More often than not, this involves not only going to another country but also to another culture and another language. Those called to proclaim the Gospel and sent out by a church as church planters are called to disciple converts and plant churches.

We must discern what principles to follow for determining who we will send

Calvary Baptist Church desires to be obedient to the Great Commission at home and abroad. To that end we seek to send and support men and their families who testify to a genuine conversion experience, evidence of a call to full-time ministry and thorough theological training. As a Baptist church we seek to plant independent Baptist churches. This does not preclude the possibility of planting a church without using the word "Baptist" in its name when it is deemed wise (for example in countries where it is prohibited or initially would hinder the planting of a church). Yet these churches should be in essential agreement with the doctrinal confession of Calvary Baptist Church.

Spiritual leadership must be evident in the life and ministry of the missionary-evangelist. According to I Timothy 3:1-8 and Titus 1:5-9 this will be seen in two areas: a) his domestic relationship with his wife and children; b) his personal character. These qualities should be tested and proved in the local church. No one should be considered as a missionary candidate who does not have unqualified approval from a church where he has ministered for an undefined but observable period of time. He must be able to fulfill the exhortation of II Timothy 2:2 to commit truth to faithful men that "they may teach others also."

Our preference for both home and foreign church planters would be seminary-trained men. This does not imply that those who lack seminary training cannot be effective missionaries. We will not summarily dismiss the possibility of supporting a non-seminary trained man if he has proven himself in ministry. This policy does however, consistent with the fact we as a church have a theological seminary, encourage men to receive the best training available. The complexities of ministry both home and abroad, demand extensive theological grounding coupled with practical experience. In addition, missionary candidates are expected to have some exposure to linguistics, the history of missions and theology of missions. They should seek to understand the history, religion and culture of the field to which they are called and will be asked to explain what they have done to equip themselves in this area.

We must determine the nature of support for both home & foreign church planters

Home church planting

Besides the obvious need for financial support we will seek to provide needed counsel leading up to the actual birth of a new church. This would include advice concerning when and where to start a church, church planting methodology and procedures for incorporating a church according to the laws of the state. Rather than abort an ill-conceived church we prefer to adequately prepare the church planter for effective ministry and encourage him to do the footwork necessary to understand the challenges he will face. It seems wise to engage in some demographic studies in order to understand the audience that will be targeted. This data will provide information on the make-up of a given community as well as statistics that indicate future growth and movement in that community.

A minimum of four giving units is needed in order for Calvary Baptist Church to be involved in a new church plant. These families are required for a number of reasons. 1) As evidence of the ability of the church planter to gather people to this cause. This demonstrates leadership qualities. If a man cannot reach four family units who share his vision for a new church, either new converts or mature Christians, then it is with great difficulty that he will do so after having declared that the new church exists. 2) To provide a base of financial support for the church planter and his family. Families who commit to helping start a new work must be willing to also commit their resources. In reality, all of these original families may not stay with the new work. But without them the prospects for growth and eventual independence from the mother church are slim.

Until the daughter church becomes independent, she will be under the authority of Calvary Baptist Church. The daughter church will have no permanently elected officers until she is chartered. Financial decisions and purchases will be made with the approval of Calvary Baptist Church. The daughter church will open a bank account as a branch of Calvary Baptist Church. All offerings must be deposited into this account with a record of all income and deposits sent to the mother church.

A question that often arises concerns the length of time for which we will support a church planter. There is no magic time frame for planting a new church. There are regions that are more or less receptive to the gospel. The individual gifts of church planters will vary. The time spent in winning and discipling converts will vary. An initial period of one year will be adequate in many cases if the church planter is free from an outside occupation and can give himself completely to reaching people with the gospel and discipling new converts. The church will not grow from the pastor’s office. While not minimizing the need for prayer and study, the church planter must be with the people. He must seek opportunities to meet and share the gospel with as many people as possible. It is expected that during the first year, as the offerings grow, that the sending church will diminish it’s financial involvement. After the first year there will be an evaluation made as to the church’s progress in becoming self-supporting and whether or not more time might be needed. The sending church will then make a decision concerning an additional period of financial support. Rare are the situations when a sending church should be involved financially after two years. At some point the church planter may need to consider supplementing his income from part-time work. In some cases this might provide some needed contacts and at the same time stimulus for the church to stand behind her pastor in caring for his needs.

Church planting abroad

1. The indication of Ephesians 4:11 is that the missionary-evangelist is involved in the fundamental and elementary stages of church planting. His role is temporary and rudimentary as contrasted to the pastor’s which is permanent and developmental. As an evangelist he has the demonstrated ability to persuade others with the gospel message, leading them to the baptismal waters, and grounding them in obedience to the basic truths of the Christian faith. As a church we have a commitment to planting indigenous churches, those able to relate to the host culture while at the same time vitally connected to the universal fellowship of believers. They should not be dependent on foreign institutions or foreign funds for their existence or maintenance. They should not slavishly imitate foreign building styles or foreign worship forms but exercise freedom in such areas as long as they are not in conflict with the Bible. If a church does not begin in this way it is unlikely or with great difficulty that it will ever truly relate to its culture and not be viewed as a foreign religion. An indigenous church will be better able to reproduce itself.

Since we are persuaded that mission is not the monopoly of any one person, group or structure, we believe in genuine partnership with nationals, neither lording over them nor doing for them what the Scriptures calls all believers to do in fulfilling the will of God for the discipling of all people entities. Of course foreignness may be deemed good in some cultures where certain people groups have been oppressed by elements of the religious establishment and entrenched culture. Liberty must be allowed for churches in the host culture to adopt and borrow from the home culture.

2. We will not normally consider long-term open-ended financial support for a national ministering among his people. To do so might encourage a lifestyle dependent on foreign funds that is often far above that of one’s compatriots and discourage men from becoming pastors in their own homeland. National churches, to which the missionary can be held accountable, should support national missionaries. Financial help may provide an immediate and desirable solution to helping those in countries where the churches lack economic strength. However this may prove to be detrimental in the long run as dependency sets in and robs national churches of the responsibility and dignity of fulfilling the Great Commission. A national church that will support its own and refuses dependence on funds from abroad will be better able to take the step of obedience in carrying the gospel outside of its own borders.

In the case of those who have received seminary training here in the States, have proved themselves and have served in Calvary Baptist Church, we will consider initial support in order to enable them to return to their country of origin, meet the expenses of setting up a household and help in planting a church. We will not support nationals as pastors or assistants in already existing churches. Attending and/or graduating from Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary does not it itself constitute a guarantee of support. We realize that thoroughly trained nationals may be more effective in reaching their own people as long as they have not been Americanized to the point of no longer being able to relate to the people from their country of origin. We would encourage the national to plant and pastor a church-planting church, a model for others to imitate. Those funds, which he receives from us for personal support, might then be made available to help plant other churches. The expectation would be that the newly planted church would assume the responsibility for providing for its pastor and the pastor would sense accountability to the church. In no way do we envision the long-term support of a national who plants a single church and for all intents and purposes is the pastor. Support may be continued for a national who demonstrates unusual giftedness in planting multiple churches. These cases will be evaluated on their individual merit in order that no undue hardship befalls the church planter. Flexibility rather than rigidity should characterize our approach.

We need to elaborate the procedure for obtaining support

All prospective missionary candidates will receive a copy of the doctrinal & missions philosophy statements of Calvary Baptist Church along with a Missionary Questionnaire. This questionnaire will be submitted with a taped sermon. The senior pastor and the director of missions will review the questionnaire. They will decide whether or not to invite the candidate to present his ministry to the church and whether to recommend the candidate to the church for financial support.

Missionaries sent out from our church and graduates from our seminary will have priority in support as reflected in both the amount of support and in oversight of their ministry. All missionaries are encouraged to associate themselves with a missions sending agency. Those agencies should be of like faith and practice with Calvary Baptist Church. We do not have approved agencies but we will not support missionaries who align themselves with non- Fundamentalist mission boards.

For those missionaries for whom Calvary Baptist Church has accepted the role of sending agency it is expected that there will be accountability in all matters similar to that which an organized mission board would require. The church in these cases acts in a fiduciary capacity and must retain the trust of those churches that use Calvary Baptist Church as a conduit for missionary support. Common mission practice allows a missionary to raise more than 100% of the support needed on any given field. This provides some reserves in the event of loss of support. However all excess funds should remain in a separate account held by Calvary Baptist Church in the missionary’s name and made available to the missionary for special projects. The benchmark for these fields will be determined based on information from established mission boards. There is some flexibility since needs differ according to field, stage of life, children, etc. An annual budget should be submitted to Calvary Baptist Church. It is expected that from their support, missionaries will designate a portion to their retirement fund. This is especially important if they have elected to opt out of Social Security.

Financial support is promised for the entire continuous term that the missionary intends to be on the field. Proven neglect in ministry, doctrinal deviation, financial irregularities or moral failure constitute grounds for immediate cessation of support. There may be cases where, apart from the preceding exclusions, a missionary may be deemed ineffective and/or ill equipped for a particular field. The church reserves the option, at the time of a missionary’s furlough, to evaluate the wisdom of continued support.

It is expected that our missionaries be engaged in evangelism and discipleship. No missionary can be effective in a non-English speaking culture without mastering the language. This is a process that should evidence measurable progress. No missionary will be retained who has not, will not or cannot learn the field language. For this reason it is highly recommended that missionaries take a pre-field modern language aptitude test that may help in determining the degree of difficulty they may face in language learning. In the cases where mission boards do not monitor and evaluate language acquisition progress, we will seek an independent evaluation by a bilingual native speaker.

Missionaries are expected to communicate with the church on at least a bimonthly basis. Lack of communication may lead to discontinuation of support. We would encourage them to write thoughtfully rather than often; to limit financial appeals and then only when approved by their sending agency; to not raise funds for those areas of ministry which converts on the field should support; and to avoid creating an unhealthy dependency on foreign funds. This will only make it more difficult for the missionary to leave the work in the hands of nationals. Missionaries need to remember that they are temporary and remind the people of that fact. The definition of temporary will vary from place to place due in part to differing degrees of receptivity. There are ways to confuse the missionary’s status; these would include buying a house and calling himself "pastor." The danger the missionary faces will be to become comfortable in ministry and to blame the lack of fruit on unresponsive hearts. That may certainly be the case at times. However, the time may come where the missionary needs to ask himself whether he has done all God expects of him and whether he needs to consider moving on. Home ownership and being the pastor make such a move difficult. These are not hard and fast rules but should be taken into consideration.

Missionaries should refrain from those areas of ministry that do not advance the work of church planting. There are many good works that can be done but the missionary-evangelist is a church planter. Involvement in health and education may be the only way to gain access to certain countries where traditional missionaries are denied entrance. Creative entrance into such countries may involve ministry that does not directly lead to a church being planted because of the local and legal situation. In some primitive societies this might involve translation and literacy work as a legitimate avenue of ministry. However in those places where there is freedom to preach the gospel and the Bible exists in the mother tongue, the missionary must be engaged in church planting. Other ministries should arise from this and under the auspices of the church.

Unless a missionary is specifically called, trained and sent to do translation work, it is not wise for him to be engaged in improving on the translation used by the nationals. Only after many years of language study and use in a culture can one adequately judge the fitness of a translation for a particular people or be linguistically competent to be able to produce a worthy replacement. The Bible version controversy in the United States has led some missionaries to leave the best work of church planting in order to produce a version more in line with their preferred English version. This ultimately distracts from church planting. No missionary will be considered for support or retained who engages in such activity without prior consultation with his sending agency and approval.

This document constitutes the missions policy of Calvary Baptist Church. It may be changed as the need arises or as further light is shed on missionary issues. It is meant to be a guideline to help both the church and the missionary co-exist in a Christ-honoring relationship.