Church's missions must be Christ-centered, Dr. Nugent says

STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) - At the beginning of a new millennium, the central question regarding mission in the United Methodist Church should be:  "And Have They Come to Know Christ?"

That's the message the Rev. Randolph Nugent delivered to directors of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries during their April 3-6 meeting.

As the mission agency's chief executive, Nugent pointed to its efforts in establishing churches and providing leadership for those congregations as a way of answering "yes" to that question.  But such efforts must be continuous.  One-shot or scatter-shot proclamation is not sufficient," he warned.  "We must prepare ourselves for the long haul, and we must be prepared to confront the obstacles faced by those who hear our proclamation of Christ."

The diverse obstacles include alcohol and drug addiction, sexual exploitation and poverty.  To help others confront them means "laying a foundation for mission and carefully building upon that foundation," Nugent said.

He cited as an example the problems of hidden landmines that maim, kill and prevent the productive use of farmland.  It is not enough, according to Nugent, to condemn the planting of the mines or even to actively participate in their removal.

"Beyond landmine removal, we must also be engaged in helping to replant and till the soil, sowing the newly safe fields with seeds of grain and foods for life," he said.  "But then, even that is not sufficient.  We must further share the Gospel message with those with whom we have been engaged in landmine removal and soil recultivation, so that they will understand and comprehend the meaning of our replanting and the basis for our mission engagement."

The board has many opportunities for evangelization through missionary leadership, church service institutions, United Methodist Women and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).  With UMCOR, for instance, "the Gospel is proclaimed and exemplified as relief is given, thereby opening up the possibility for the strengthening of an already established church presence or for the establishment of churches where none had existed before or, in some cases, for re-establishing churches that may have been destroyed," Nugent said.

He acknowledged that the Board of Global Ministries "will be walking a delicate line" as it extends mission in areas that previously had been the province of other religions or where Christianity had been forbidden or unknown before.  "There will be charges of proselytism, and the movement of mission in the direction we have chosen will be criticized and even rejected by some people," he said.

"But it must be recognized and understood that Gospel proclamation does not infer or imply either cultural domination or triumphalism; rather it expresses faithfulness," he added.  "Mission is not the domination of others but rather a proclamation to others and with others."

He stressed the need to continue to strengthen efforts to enlist missionaries from a variety of cultures.  "The missionary effort is at its best when people are in mission in the same places in which they reside," he explained.  "The presentation of the Gospel is most effective and strong when those who believe and proclaim and those who hear and believe are from the same place of origin and residence."

Beyond witness and proclamation, the church must set up the structures that allow people to make a continuous response to Christ, Nugent said.

"Faith must be nourished to be sustained," he said.  "Faith is nourished, supported and sustained by worship, by corporate worship in the mutual and supportive company of fellow believers."