District Planning and Strategy Team
Last Updated on Thursday, 10 September 2009 20:18
The community that surrounds our faith communities is being called “the mission field.”
This survey is intended to have local faith communities
self-assess their mission-field effectiveness and to help its
District Planning and Strategy Team (DPAS) provide resources
for the faith community’s next steps.
self-assess their mission-field effectiveness and to help its
District Planning and Strategy Team (DPAS) provide resources
for the faith community’s next steps.
BACKGROUND
According to the General Conference of the United Methodist Church, the goal of each local United Methodist congregation is "to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." In pursuit of this goal, the PNW Conference and its Bishop have set the strategy to have local faith communities focus on moving out into the community to make disciples.
The community that surrounds our faith communities is being called the mission field*. Effective mission-field congregations are making and supporting disciples in direct ministry in the community and world. Effective congregations are moving beyond an attractional model (if we build it they will come) to an incarnational model (the mission field determines the ministry) of church life.
This survey is intended to have local faith communities self-assess their mission-field effectiveness and to help its District Planning and Strategy Team (DPAS) provide resources for the faith community’s next steps. After review by the DPAS your faith community will be contacted about training opportunities and other resources to help your faith community live into the mission of making disciples for the transformation of the world.
In addition to how the DPAS might allocate district and conference resources, we anticipate that completing this assessment will have these important benefits for your faith community:
- Deepened understanding of the mission of a United Methodist church;
- Heightened awareness about how our faith communities engage our mission fields;
- Increased commitment to align attitudes, behavior, and resources towards making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
*Note: The mission field of a local faith community is its parish, whether defined geographically or by affinity group. The mission field will change with the context of the local faith community. For example, in a densely populated urban area, the mission field may be a 1 mile radius around the local faith community; in a rural area, the mission field may encompass a 20, 30 or 40 mile radius. In other cases, the mission field may be a particular ethnic, cultural or linguistic group.
 DPAS_Local_Faith_Community_Assessment_tool__report_final.doc | [Self-Assessment Report] | 108 Kb |
 DPAS_Local_Faith_Community_Assessment_tool.ppt | [Self-Assessment Slideshow] | 1336 Kb |
 DPAS_Local_Faith_Community_Assessment_tool_trifold_final.pdf | [Self-Assessment Trifold ] | 2956 Kb |
