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Making Disciples for Christ

To reassert Christ's Great Commission to make disciples of all nations as a priority in the life of the ELCA, through emphases on congregational renewal, church plants and global missions.

Explanation

Christ’s Great Commission in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” is no mere suggestion. It is a primary mission of the Church, living under the authority of Scripture. And yet, from time to time it seems in the ELCA that this primary mission has been pushed to the periphery, replaced by other concerns and activities.

Since the formation of the ELCA in 1987, new mission starts have declined by 68% and missionaries in the field have declined by 60%. Even the total baptized membership of the ELCA has declined by 9%, despite marked growth in the population of our country.

Lutheran CORE has a vision for the ELCA in which the making of disciples for Christ again returns to the center of the Church’s ministry, from the insides of our existing congregations to the furthest mission fields around the globe.

1. Effective discipleship begins in the congregational setting. Lutheran CORE envisions an ELCA committed to assisting pastors and laypeople in building vital, active and mission-minded congregations of disciples. Through our proposed combination with Lutheran Churches of the Common Confession, Lutheran CORE will form a task force on congregational renewal to pursue this portion of our vision for the ELCA.
2. Recent surveys suggest that our nation has become a mission field, in which a very substantial portion of the population does not know Christ. Lutheran CORE envisions an ELCA in which the training of mission developers and the planting of new congregations are important priorities for congregations, synods and the churchwide organization alike.
3. Modern communications technology and increased international travel has given the Church an unprecedented opportunity to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Lutheran CORE envisions an ELCA recommitted to a robust global missions initiative, centered on gospel-preaching missionaries in the field.

© 2008 LutheranCORE