Wednesday, February 28, 2018

This Is Us by Rev. Randy Lawrence




The Pentecostal Church of God has a rich legacy of Bible colleges woven through the tapestry of our story. Messenger College was founded in 1987 to continue the legacy of those foundational institutions. Only eternity will reveal the impact that Southern Bible College and Pentecostal Bible College have made on our world.

For 30 years, Messenger College has been dedicated to the task of developing ministers to spread the gospel. Our graduates have crossed the globe to carry the good news of the gospel in Pentecostal power! 

Today, we live in a completely different world, BUT our mission is still the same. We exist to develop world-changing Pentecostal leaders for the 21st century. We want to raise leaders who will penetrate the darkness of this hour with the bright light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

This is our focus.
This is our priority.
This is our pursuit.

I want you to take pride in knowing that:

This is our school.

Messenger College is the accredited arm of education, training, and development in our movement.

For our school, we are at both an exciting and crucial time in our history.

It’s an exciting time because… we ARE training and developing our next Pentecostal Church of God ministers and leaders! Please allow me to introduce you to a few of our future leaders:

• Meet Chelsea Terry. Chelsea is not only an MC student, but
  she also represents the next-gen of PCG missionaries. While
  she’s already spent extended time on the missionary fields of
  Chile and Guatemala, upon graduation Chelsea plans on
  being a full-time foreign missionary with the PCG.

• Meet Anna Herring. Anna is studying Intercultural Ministries
  at MC and has a passion for missions. Her compassion
  and tender heart for the lost and hurting people of the world
  is absolutely contagious.

• Meet Ira Lopez. Ira is currently pursuing
  his Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry with
  an emphasis in Pastoral Ministry. Upon
  graduation, Ira desires to be an ordained
  minister and serve as a pastor in the
  Pentecostal Church of God.  

It’s a crucial time because…

Education is not an option. Faith is under attack in secular institutions of higher education. It is absolutely imperative that our next generation of leaders have a place where they can be trained and developed, which is thoroughly Pentecostal and thoroughly missional. MC is that place.

The Pentecostal message must be a priority. At MC, we are not only Pentecostal in doctrine but also in experience. We are passionate about training Pentecostal leaders who understand the person and power of the Holy Spirit. 

Educational institutions rely on giving. It is not a secret that colleges and universities (both faith and non-faith based) rely heavily on outside giving to financially make it each year. Messenger College is no different and relies on the vital support from the PCG. 

I believe with all my heart that we have some great days ahead at MC. The Spirit is moving on the hearts of young men and women who are eager to be trained to go and make a difference in this world! We are ONE MISSION—ONE MOVEMENT and, at MC, we are training the next generation of PCG pastors, worship leaders, church planters, missionaries, and leaders!

THIS IS US.

It is because of your faithful support that we are able to continue developing world-changing Pentecostal leaders for the 21st century.


The One Mission—One Movement Initiative

One Mission—One Movement speaks to a unified movement of people who live the mission of Christ in our world through the power of the Spirit.

As we position ourselves to write the first chapter of a 2nd-Century PCG, we must do more than vision-cast a God-given message; we must visioneer a missional movement. Vision-casting speaks to communicating vision, but visioneering speaks to “spiritually engineering a strategic plan in sacred cooperation with God.” We are in the process of developing a “One Mission—One Movement Global Initiative.” In the meantime, please note the U.S. Initiative below.



IMPERATIVE #1 
WHAT: Introduce One Mission—One Movement to our PCG family.
HOW:
o Develop a Communications Team to utilize the full extent of social media, website, 
  The Pentecostal Messenger, and videography.
• Communicate One Mission—One Movement
• Communicate our PCG story at the Centennial
o Develop a PCG APP that connects with our PCG family and shares…
One Mission—One Movement
• Missional Success Stories
• Missional Training Opportunities
• Missional Giving Opportunities
o Utilize videoconferencing to connect with our district leaders.
o Connect with our ministers and leaders through the ILDs and district meetings.
o Promote a grassroots participation at our Centennial to really experience
  One Mission­—One Movement.
WHEN: 2018-2019

Imperative #2
WHAT: Create an Easy-Access Entry Level for the Credential Process
HOW:
o Create a Young Leader’s Task Force to develop a creative experience for group
    involvement, personal coaching, and resource incentives.
o Develop a timeline with a launch date for each district to take a group of new
    ministers through this leadership experience.
o Develop a lower entry-level cost that will be user-friendly for new exhorters and also
  encourage local churches and/or districts to support them if so desired. 
WHEN: 2018-2019


Imperative #3
WHAT: Reform the national office into an International Mission Center (IMC)
HOW:
o Create a leadership team to develop three tracks of training for…
• New Leadership Coaching: New ministers and missionaries
• Church Plant Coaching: New church planters and multicultural ministers
• Church Health Coaching: Existing pastors and leaders
  (Launch the training on-site and online through weekly intensives)
o Develop a One Mission—One Movement on-ramp for every church that…
• Resources their mission: How can we help you magnify your voice?
• Trains their leaders: How can we help you train your leaders?
• Multiplies their giving: How can we help you multiply your giving?
o Move Messenger College to the International Mission Center (IMC)
WHEN: 2018-2019