Missions Strategy
To glorify God by making disciples of all nations, our Missions Team is guided by the following formal strategy to guide us in expanding our missions footprint. Worship is the ultimate end of everything in creation. Therefore, worship is the primary aim of all mission endeavors. Again, worship is the goal and missions is a means to that end. It is an important means, but at the end of the day, it is still only a means. Therefore, any biblical vision for missions – or any strategy for the means – must begin with worship – or the end.
Following His death and resurrection, Jesus commanded His followers to share the good news of salvation with everyone. His command, which He likely reiterated a number of times during the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension is recorded in Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 24:46-49, John 20:21, and Acts 1:8. Each passage contains unique characteristics and we use Matthew’s wording to summarize our missions strategy: make disciples of all nations.
Our Efforts
In our effort to make disciples of all nations, we will:
BALANCE our efforts among local, regional, national, and global opportunities.
Borrowing from the geographical orientations in Acts 1:8, our missions strategy seeks to make disciples:
- locally – Bardstown
- regionally – Kentucky
- nationally – the United States
- globally – around the world.
DEVELOP strategic mission partnerships.
To maintain focus and effectiveness, we will establish and maintain ongoing relationships with individuals and churches from various missions agencies (both SBC and non-SBC entities).
EQUIP and LEAD members to participate in missions.
To foster this growth, we seek to lead them to:
- LEARN about missions opportunities,
- PRAY for missions endeavors,
- GIVE financially to support missions, and
- GO into the world and share the good news.
EMPHASIZE church planting.
The most effective method for reducing the lostness of any area is planting new churches. We will seek partners who share a commitment to church planting and pursue mission endeavors that allow us to support and participate in planting new churches.
EMPHASIZE missions among unreached people groups.
While we will participate in worthwhile mission endeavors in many places, we will give priority to those works that target the more than 3 billion people with little or no access to the gospel.
NURTURE and SEND vocational missionaries.
An important part of our strategy is to pray for, encourage, and send out men, women, and families from Parkway to spread the good news globally.
NURTURE and SEND short-term missionaries.
We will seek to expand our church’s vision for missions by sending teams to work with our strategic mission partners around the world.
SUPPORT the ongoing mission efforts of the Cooperative Program.
Since 1925, Southern Baptist have been partnering together to touch the world through Cooperative Program (CP) Missions. CP Missions allows affiliating Southern Baptist churches to work together to fulfill the Great Commission.