Returning from the East Coast Missional Church Forum
Dear COAH,
Last week, I attended the Missional Church Forum at Pilgrim Mission Church in New Jersey, where pastors who dream of healthy churches that are light and salt in the world gathered to discuss many things. The common thread among the twenty-one pastors from Canada and the United States was, "We can't keep going the way we're going." We discussed that the way we've always done will not cut it in a rapidly secularizing world and that we need to do something extraordinary to reshape and retool the church.
Some participants were like me, preparing to retire from their pastorates, while some others were starting. All of them were eager to lead a church that would show Jesus as the hope of the world and not lose sight of the essence of the church. The reality that most immigrant churches face is disheartening: while the church is supposed to change the world with the gospel, most immigrant churches are stuck in survival mode, struggling to stay afloat. They are often churches that exist for themselves rather than having a vision to help the hurting world.
After the forum, I visited the Church of the Savior, Washington, DC, with the associate pastors. The church, celebrating its 77th anniversary this year, has done much for the community. While it's no longer active like it was before, it still bears the marks of the committed saints who have gone before. From Christ House and Samaritan's House, dedicated to the health and rehabilitation of the homeless and drug addicts, to Jubilee Housing, which provides affordable apartments for low-income people, the impact of Savior Church continues.
We spent two nights in the Open Door Church guest house, where my friend Pastor Yong Hoon Kim leads. The church was so hospitable. Its Fairfax neighborhood draws a sizeable Hispanic population, and I was impressed by the church's efforts to run English classes for residents. Healthy churches don't exist for themselves; instead, they always dream big for others and try to live out their dreams, from raising their children to be good soldiers for Christ to transforming their part of the world with the love of Christ. What Pilgrim Mission Church, Savior Church, and Open Door Church all have in common is that they exist for mission. This trip affirmed just that.
Blessings,
Pastor Minho Song