Still 'fine-tuning' our process. You can get to the original article HERE
NOTE: THIS ARTICLE is a reprint from the blog of reverend Kevin Rogers of New Song Church in Windsor, Ontario and is reproduced here for your convenience. You can visit the his blog called "The Orphan Age" HERE.
In the early years of New Song Church, we identified that we have a strategic mission to people in poverty. We wrestled with understanding whether we were to be a church or a street mission and came to a hybrid understanding that said yes to both.
New Song Church Is a Church with The Heart of a Mission.
We Are a People That God Has Prompted to Become Advocates, Mentors and Family for The Urban Poor in Windsor, This Region and Beyond.
Our Mission Is to Express the Unconditional Love of Jesus Through Worship, Truth-telling, Acts of Kindness, and Guiding Relationships.
Yes, we are a local church congregation. Yes, we have the heart of a street mission. It was never meant to be either/or. We are called to be a church that aligns with the poorest, most vulnerable, and most disadvantaged.
I want to expand on the phrase, ‘the urban poor in Windsor, this region and beyond.’ Why the focus on the urban poor?
· If the gospel is for everyone, why limit our attention to the poor?
· If our mission is to the poor, does that mean that we have no focus on the middle class or the rich?
This was a preponderance for many in the early days since we have usually had a range of people on the edge of homelessness, the working poor, middle class, and a scattering of people that would be considered upper middle class.
It’s my belief that the good news of Christ’s Kingdom is for all – the very rich, the very poor and all in between. Some may have wondered if a focus on the poor was too exclusive and perhaps more focus on everyone else would bring some kind of balance to our ministry. Maybe if we tried harder to appeal to richer people, we would have more money to help the poor.
That was of course a shallow perspective. The truth is that a mission statement says that there are essential values that we hold onto in order to be faithful to what God has given us to do. We do not despise or discriminate against those who are wealthier but invite them to join us in the noble pursuit.
Jesus gave an invitation to the rich, young ruler to give what he had to the poor. That man walked away in sorrow, because it was more important to him that he had wealth and personal power.
Others with wealth have heard Jesus ask them the same thing and determined to follow Jesus by funding the mission of God and being personally involved. They heard Jesus say that the poor will always be with you, and they accepted that as an honour, not an unsolvable annoyance.