New Mission Starts
In addition to encouraging effective evangelism through existing congregations, we will also seek to reach new people by beginning new ministries. Where, how and when will we start new congregations and launch new ministries on the territory of our synod? This is an important question and the answer today is very different than it was 20+ years ago when the ELCA was born.
There are four ways that new missions will begin in our future:
- Sometimes a local congregation will seek to grow its ministry/mission by intentional outreach to a local population of people of a different culture or ethnic group.
- Sometimes we will choose to start a brand new ministry, grown out of a Local Area Mission Strategy (LAMS), with local financial and material support.
- Sometimes an existing congregation will decide to start a new satellite ministry, to seed a new congregation with people and financial support, in the hope that it will become a separate self-sustaining ministry.
- Sometimes a congregation will decide to start a second site ministry. The second site will carry the DNA, the staff and the resources of the founding congregation. They will have one ministry meeting in two or more sites.
In addition to established congregations, there are several other styles of Christian community in our synod, all seeking to expand the Kingdom by connecting with new people:
- Probes or Preaching Points – a cost effective means of determining whether or not a new ministry might be considered.
- Synodically Authorized Worshiping Communities (SAWC) – A SAWC is a small worshiping community that will hopefully grow to become a new mission congregation or an existing congregation in the process of becoming part of the ELCA. SAWC’s are often led by Synodically Authorized Lay Ministers (SALMS), or candidates for ordination in the Theological Education for Emerging Ministries (TEEM) path. They may also be led by ordained clergy.
- New Mission Development – A new congregation under development.
- Renewing Evangelizing Congregations – These are congregations receiving churchwide (EOCM) financial partnership support with the expectation that they are undergoing intentional efforts to grow.