A New Conversation-Living Point 8

One role of spiritual leaders is to turn intentions into action. For that reason, the EFCA movement added a significant new point to its mission statement in 2008 (see below). Before, we’d certainly believed in helping the poor and less fortunate around us; but we needed to intentionally do something with that belief.

Calvary Bible Church of Boulder, Colorado is a great example of this intentionality. For most of its history, since its founding in 1889, Calvary focused on being a Bible-teaching church, and did it well.

As the church grew, many questions arose about ministry philosophy. The hard work of defining what kind of a church they would be soon surfaced a troubling core issue: Most members wanted church reduced to their personal cultural preferences.

Senior Pastor Tom Shirk knew that the only way past this was to get his congregation on-mission helping others. Church members began by praying for Boulder in earnest. They asked God what to do. But they also engaged the community—meeting with city officials and social-service agencies to find out how Calvary might work in partnership toward the city’s welfare.

Now, Calvary’s heritage means not only proclamation of the gospel but also an active, vibrant demonstration of it. This has led them to build a Habitat for Humanity home, host a community-services fair and mobilize other churches to serve Boulder.

How do we live out point 8? Calvary learned it takes a commitment to allow God to change you first.

If you are interested in combining proclamation and demonstration of the gospel, please e-mail us (samaritanway@efca.org).

The EFCA Statement of Faith Point 8: Christian Living

www.efca.org/about-efca/statement-faith

We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.