The Local Church Missionary Commissioning

Basics -The commissioning of a missionary is an exciting opportunity for the gathered body of believers. The Commissioning Service rather than being simply a ceremony, accomplishes several vital objectives for the missionaries and the local church participating:

  • Visibility - A commissioning service brings visibility to the discipleship process as it has unfolded in the church. Those whom God calls to serve Him were nurtured in the body to this point in their lives. They are discipleship “with skin.” They are friends, relatives, or neighbors of those who comprise the body. Though the call of God to missions is a vast privilege, it is simply one expression of the way God uses people to achieve His ends.
  • Ownership - A Commissioning Service helps a congregation solidify their “ownership” of the intended missionary ministry. As the ministry unfolds going forward, that ownership will be affirmed over and over again as the congregation engages with the missionaries’ needs and achievements.
  • Connection - A Commissioning Service serves as an “anchor” for the missionaries. It connects them with the congregation in both fresh and formal ways.
  • Beginning - As the missionaries’ ministry moves through time, the Commissioning Service takes on significance as a formal “starting point” for their field ministries. Though support discovery is a ministry in its own right, the Commissioning Service marks the beginning of a new phase of ministry.
  • Affirmation - In a Commissioning Service, the church affirms the character and qualifications of the missionaries and publically declares their fitness, skills, and call for missionary ministry.
  • Inspiration - The Commissioning Service sets the missionaries as models to be emulated. It challenges others to think more directly about how God might desire to use them, and calls on them to submit to whatever that is.

Relationships - The Commissioning Service should affirm the roles of each of the relationships that will impact the missionaries’ ministry moving forward. In most cases, they will be the following:

  • The congregation – The church should commit itself to fulfilling the role of championing the missionaries’ ministry by faithful prayer, reliable financial support, and copious opportunities for the field ministry to gain visibility in the congregation.
  • The family – Churches need to recognize that family issues will impact the longevity and the effectiveness of field ministry. Pressure on the nuclear family on the field and separation from extended family affect a multitude of decisions that will ultimately affect ministry. Thankfulness for those who nurtured the missionaries might be appropriate and prayers should certainly include calling for strength to gain victory over any emotional upheaval that the missionaries’ relocation might engender.
  • The Mission Board – Assuming that a mission agency is facilitating the missionaries, their regular engagement with the field work will help set the direction of ministry. Their leadership should be recognized as fulfilling a vital role in the missionaries’ lives and ministry.

Service components: Most churches bring traditions and preconceptions to this event, and it would be imprudent to set out a rigid structure that must be deemed as right or appropriate for every church setting. However, certain elements seem to be central to the task.

  1. Statement of the purpose for the event. Leadership should state clearly what the commissioning signifies to the church and the missionaries.
  2. Introduction of the missionaries: Churches need to remember that no one should feel left out of this event. Visitors may be present in the service, extended family members may be only vaguely familiar with those being commissioned, and casual members of the congregation may have limited knowledge of the missionaries. A brief biography of the missionaries’ lives leading up to the point of the commissioning will help set the stage for the event.
  3. Prayer: This prayer should acknowledge God as the initiator of the events being formalized and invoke His blessing.
  4. Message:A brief look at God’s Word should bring attention to the biblical mandate that the missionaries have responded to. Special focus on how the text being considered speaks to the missionaries and their call is appropriate, if not essential.
  5. Charge to the congregation: Call the congregation to verbally commit itself to its task as the sending church. It is a call to partnership. Some churches might like to have the congregation stand to lend increased significance to the congregation’s commitments. Suggested wording that anticipates the response, “We do,” to each question follows:

Question:“Do you recognize the call and commissioning of our Lord to [Names here] to missionary service?”

Question:“Do you promise as members of this congregation to pray for [Names here]on a regular basis?”

Question:“Do you promise to faithfully give financial and material support to assist the work to which the Holy Spirit has called them?”

  1. Charge to the missionaries: Call the missionaries’ attention anew to the gravity of God’s call, their responsibility in responding to it, and ask them to verbally commit to it before the congregation. Suggested wording that anticipates the response, “We do,” to each question follows:

Question:“[Names here], do you believe in one God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- and do you affirm that you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, and acknowledge Him as Head over all things to the Church, which is His Body?”

Question:“Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the inspired Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and life?”

Question:“Do you sincerely receive and acknowledge the statement of faith of this congregation as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures?”

Question:“Do you submit to the supreme authority of our lord Jesus Christ and His commissioning of His church to make disciples of all nations, and do you gladly receive that commission, trusting in His strength, determined to faithfully obey His command?”

Question:“Do you promise to be faithful in prayer and the study of the Scriptures, to labor in love and loyalty with your fellow workers in the building up of the Church of Christ universal and to walk worthy of your high calling in word and deed?”

  1. Response by the missionaries: The church might want to afford the missionaries time to share their thoughts with the congregation. A vital and meaningful component of this time is heartfelt thankfulness for the church at large, and for the specific people or people groups within the body that enabled the missionaries to this point. This might include children’s workers that had a special influence in the missionaries’ lives, youth leaders, small groups, individuals who expressed special interest in their spiritual journey, etc.
  2. Dedicatory prayer: The church polity may influence the choices of who will participate in this. Beyond the missionaries and their children, the Pastoral Staff, Elders, Missionary Committee members, and Mission Board representatives should be considered. The church might want the missionaries to kneel, or at least stand in a visible location in the church, surrounded by the invited participants.
  3. Reception: Many churches with adequate facilities to do so will host a reception following the service to allow time for people to speak with the missionaries. This event is cause for celebration and should be treated as such.