Missions Director’s Report
Posted on Nov 11, 2007It is crucial that we pray to the Lord of the harvest and ask Him to provide an opportunity for our association to plant a new church. I believe need for planting churches in America is greater now than at any other time, for the following reasons:
1. America has been identified as the largest mission field in the Western Hemisphere with the number of unchurched Americans now doubling between 1991 to 2001. If every church in America were to double its attendance this Sunday, there would still be 190 million people not in church to hear the good news of the gospel.
2. We are losing the battle in keeping up with our population. In 1900 there were 27 churches for every 10,000 Americans. In 1950 the ratio had dropped to 17 churches for every 10,000 people. Today there are 30% fewer churches than in 1950 but our population continues to grow. There are now 3 times as many churches closing each year than are planted.
3. Many of our churches are in survival mode. It is estimated that 80-85 percent of all churches in North America are on the downside of their life cycle. That is, 8 out of 10 churches are either standing still, declining, or dying. These churches have little or no evangelistic impact in their town or community. Nearly one half of all American churches did not baptize one soul in the past year.
4. Today’s churches are not reaching today’s young people. The vast majority of Christians are saved before reaching age twenty. Yet, today researchers estimate only 4% of all young people below the age of 22 are saved. We are losing a whole generation of young people. New churches with young pastors and leaders are our best hope for reaching millions of unsaved young people.
As a local association we have been concerned that we have not been successful in planting a new church in Missouri in the new millennium. That concern should continue to burn within our hearts so we will continue to pray for laborers, search for open doors, and give our resources to the work of missions. During our next quarterly meeting on December 1 at Landmark, Desoto, I want to share with our churches some steps that we can take to raise up new church planters. Bro. Ray Freeman from Mississippi will be our special speaker and it should prove to be a good meeting. Please make every effort to attend.
Missions Director’s Report
Posted on Oct 16, 2007I want to express my appreciation to the churches of the Meramec Landmark association for allowing me to serve as your director of missions. I realize that I am stepping into the shoes of someone who is greatly loved and respected in our association. Bro. Eugene Bowerman has faithfully served His Lord and our churches and only eternity can reveal the impact of his life of service. I do not have the experience and the history that Bro. Bowerman has, but I will try my best to earn your respect.
We also owe Bro. Leonard Compton a debt of gratitude for stepping up and taking care of the finances until a new director could be selected. He has kept meticulous records and has made the transition as easy and simple as possible. Thank you, Bro. Leonard!
I am in the process of having mailing envelopes printed to make it easier for our church treasurers to send in funds for missions and the revolving loan fund. It will be a couple of weeks until the churches will receive these. Until that time please send all correspondence to the following address:
Director of Missions
224 N. Hwy 67, #255
Florissant, MO 63031
I have received invitations from the following churches to come and speak about missions and/or church health: Charity, Westview, First Matthews, and Berean. Pastor, I would love to come to your church, introduce myself, and speak on behalf of missions. I have a lot of Sunday evenings open and this summer, I am available on Wednesday nights as well. If there is any way I can help you, please let me know. My office number is (314) 921-2378, Home is (314)837-8321, and my cell is (314)265-6265. My email address is pastordannykirk@gmail.com.
We are currently putting together a webpage for our association. It is under construction, but you can check it out at www.meramecassociation.org or www.meramecassociation.com. I will soon send out a questionnaire for you to complete so we can add information about your church to the webpage. Check out the Alive Youth link on our webpage. If you desire you may register for the Alive Youth Conference and pay your fees online. All Alive conference forms are available for downloading and printing.
Let’s pray that God will soon put together a missionary team that will plant a new church in Missouri. The need is great!