Happy Mission Month!
In October, we celebrate that the Mission Ministries of ELPC are central to our life of faith, and lift up some of the many ways in which we as a community respond to God’s call.
Although my official title is “Associate Pastor for Educational Ministries,” it is the “mission” of ELPC that drew me in over 25 years ago. I was searching for a church home that would fully include my gifts for ministry as a woman, and one that lived out the love proclaimed in Scripture. And I found that here—a multi-racial church; a church that affirmed full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ persons—not just in word but in action; a church with dynamic worship services and programs inside the church—who was also present to the community outside it…
Unfortunately, the church across the ages has often engaged in practices that have brought about harm in the lives of others and labeled that effort “mission.” In those instances the proclamation of the gospel in word and deed was not been invitational nor loving nor just. Instead, mission initiatives mirrored colonialism. People groups and individuals the world over were told that they must abandon their identities, customs, languages, traditions and beliefs in exchange for salvation. They were indoctrinated with a belief in Jesus Christ that prized a profession of faith at all costs—without realizing how the tactics uses to cultivate such a profession brought harm to God’s beautifully diverse people.
But here at ELPC, we have held the belief that faith must be lived, that ALL are loved, that it is our duty to care not only for the people who live under our own roof, but for those who would be counted among the “least of these” in Matthew 25. At ELPC—25 years ago and now—I witnessed a community that prized diversity, that was willing to take risks to be just, that affirmed that we are all saved by grace through faith and that a proclamation of Gospel is about extending a radical welcome so that all will know Christ’s love.
I invite you this mission month to think about how YOU might participate in Christ’s Mission in the world. There are as many ways to respond to this call as there are people in the world. What are YOUR gifts? How can you engage in our shared mission and call?
Take some time this month to learn more about ELPC’s Mission Ministries, to visit neighborhood ministry partners, attend a class after worship…but also strive to notice how we participate in Christ’s Mission as we worship,attend Sunday School, and greet a stranger.
May they know we are Christians by our love!
—Pastor Heather