The Calling of the Local Church to Do Mission Work
James Slopsema articulates the theological foundation and practical vision for local church involvement in domestic mission work within the Protestant Reformed tradition. The article grounds the church's missionary calling in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and outlines how individual congregations can engage in evangelism and church planting within a hundred-mile radius, either independently or in cooperation with other churches through denominational structures.
The Domestic Mission Committee (DMC) has been developing and promoting the concept that each local church needs to be involved in mission work in its own area. We envision our churches reaching out into an area with a hundred-mile radius to develop a core group that, under God's blessing, will result in the establishment of another church. This work could well be the work solely of the local church or it may become the work of the churches in common. This concept is in harmony with Article I of...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org