The mission of NPWL is to serve as a calalyst for the development of missional women leaders for the Body of Christ.

The article below, by Debbie Schmidt of the NPWL Leadership Team, is a reflection on the meaning of "mission" in the life of the church.

Missions, Mission, Missional

Missions. As I was growing up, everyone knew this word referred to something that was happening overseas. Missions was the work that was done through the missionaries we sent, hence the term ‘mission-ary’. Then, suddenly, the ‘s’ was gone and Mission now meant the works of service and evangelism the church did both globally and locally. So now mission not only referred to health workers in Africa and church planters in Asia but also to those in our churches who volunteered at soup kitchens or worked in prison ministry. Now a new word has entered our vocabulary; that word is Missional.

This may seem to be a very subtle change in the way we speak about our role as the church in the world but it symbolizes a pretty radical shift in the way we actually engage the world. In the past, missions or mission has sometimes been seen as optional for the church, just one of many programs the church was doing or something for a dedicated handful of church members to be a part of. ‘Church’ was what happened inside our building, mission was what happened ‘out there’ and we had professional staff to make sure it all got done. Of course we knew in theory that the church was not the building, it was the people, but in many ways our actions spoke louder than our words. We needed to become missional churches.

What makes a church missional? A missional church is one in which every member recognizes that they are called to partner with God in what God is doing in the world. Missional churches do not wait for those who are not Christians to come to them but go out into their community, serving and witnessing in Jesus’ name. In missional churches the members know that the church is wherever they are, in their work, their community involvement and even their leisure activities. As Steve Hayner (Prof of Evangelism at Columbia Seminary) puts it, a missional church is one that recognizes “mission is not the church’s program, but its essence.”

As you consider your women’s ministry, which model best describes what you do? Is mission primarily expressed in the funding you send to support work overseas? Or are you involved in your community as well? Are all of your activities attractional, relying on people to come to you, or do you engage your community on their own turf? Are the women who are involved in your ministry being prepared and challenged to be servants and witnesses to the love of Christ wherever they are?

In the coming year, NPWL will be exploring these questions in a number of ways. Each e-newsletter will feature an article on some aspect of becoming missional in our churches and women’s ministries. We will have resources to recommend and we welcome your suggestions of materials that you have found helpful. We will also be hosting a Women’s Ministry Forum at First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs in October to bring women’s ministry leaders from around the country together to brainstorm and stategize about becoming missional. We invite you to join the conversation. Whether you are able to attend a conference or contribute online we look forward to hearing from you as we explore what it means to be God’s women in the world, partners in God’s mission.