Symposiums Call Church to Great Commission Obedience
ATLANTA, GA — Two realities that inspired the Great Commission meeting are that many local congregations in the U.S. do not report any conversions during the year and a large percentage are not involved in any meaningful way with World Missions.
Local church leaders from throughout the United States and numerous foreign countries gathered at the Mount Paran Church of God in Atlanta on September 14 and 15 for the first of two Symposiums on the Great Commission to focus on the primary mandate given by Christ to the church.
Four speakers challenged church leaders to hear and respond to the last words of Christ, “Go into all the world and make disciples of all people.” General Overseer Raymond F. Culpepper called for Church of God members to become missionaries, conscious of a need to share the gospel with people in their neighborhood and people around the world.
Culpepper was joined at the podium by General Director of World Missions Douglas LeRoy, who reported that in the past year, 396 new congregations were initiated outside the U.S. and more than 400,000 have been converted.
The general overseer cited statistics about the declining percentage of U.S. church attendance that predicts a national rate of only 10 percent by the year 2025. He challenged pastors to a Great Commission vision that would aim to turn that statistic around.
Three other preachers addressed the attendees, Niko Njotorahardjo, pastor of the 200,000-member Gereja Bethel congregation in Jarkarta, Indonesia; Ana Rut Diaz, pastor of Oasis of Love in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Loran Livingston, pastor of Charlotte Central Church in North Carolina.
Two realities that inspired the Great Commission meeting are that many local congregations in the U.S. do not report any conversions during the year and a large percentage are not involved in any meaningful way with World Missions. The symposiums aim to call the church back to these vital ministries.
