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Interim Minister and President’s Message
Evangelism and justice ministries need each other

December, 2000

By Erwin R. Bode

I remember several years ago a meeting of our Massachusetts Conference Strategic Planning team when, in the middle of a brainstorming session, we said, “Why can’t we connect Evangelism and Justice Ministries in the same initiative?” It was a watershed moment, and from it has developed a new direction for our Conference and our churches.

My sense is that these two pivotal directions for ministry — Evangelism and Justice — have tended to go their own way. Too often they are seen as separate entities, with each having their own constituencies. On a local church level, there are the evangelism folk and there are the mission folk. Conference activities have tended to be organized in the same way.

If we put them together, as we have done in our Conference Vision for Renewal and Growth, a new perspective emerges. It forces us to look through a new lens, which I consider a good thing. In fact, it encourages us to hold these two spiritual realities in tandem.

The purpose of evangelism is to share the Good News of the Gospel. The evangelist has no other reason for being. The evangelist is to lead persons to Jesus, and to establish communities of faith. That is why we have agreed in the Conference to establish ten churches in the next decade. If we are not about this central task of inviting persons to the life of Christ, we have lost the very center of who we are as Christians. The New Testament community of the first century was very clear about this reality and we are, too.

But once accepting the Christian life, what do we do? The Christian is called to act, as well as to be in relationship with Christ. There is a vision to be emulated. The prophetic voice in the community of faith interprets current events and discerns the ways of God to be followed in the contemporary world. In fact, the mission of the prophet is to “build up” a new community that is following the Holy Spirit rather than the secular values of the culture. I think, for example, of the prophet Martin Luther King, Jr., and the way he did this in the civil rights struggle of the 1960’s.

The nub of it all is that evangelism inevitably leads to justice, and justice without evangelism is self-serving and without a center. The Conference has within its structure a Commission for Evangelism and Renewal and also a Commission for Mission and Justice Ministries. But two very interesting things are happening in these commissions this year. First, they are being staffed by the same person, the Rev. Paul Nickerson. Second, the two commissions are meeting together for several of their meetings to discuss this coupling issue. Rev. Dick Peace and Rev. Paul Clayton are resource leaders for these sessions that have as their agenda the understanding and integration of the ministries of evangelism and justice in our local churches and conference. Paul Nickerson is identifying congregations in our conference that are already models of effective evangelism and justice joint ministries.

I find it fascinating we are engaged in this evangelism and justice dialogue in the early 21^st century. As we seek renewal in our midst, we are aware that these two primary ministries need each other, and without their unique joining each is incomplete.

Jesus’ ministry centered in calling apostles to follow him, but they were called to a mission of justice and mercy in the world. In this season of Advent, as we again rehearse the story of Jesus’ life and ministry among us, let us reaffirm we are both followers and doers of His way. That is the unique vision we are called to follow.