 |
HOME |  |
PURPOSE | |
VALUES | |
DISTINCTIVES | |
FIELDS | |
OPPORTUNITIES | |
RESOURCES |
| EPIC Proportions |
| Audio-Video |
| Bible Distribution |
| Support EPIC |
| Projects |
| Contact Us |
| Links |
| Email a Friend |
| Make a Donation |
| DEFINITIONS: Missions in the 21st Century |
||||
 |
||||
| The new millennium has birthed new terms describing the task before us. Here is a glossary of terms from the EPIC vocabulary: | ||||
| Definitions: | ||||
|
||||
| Baptistic – a community of baptized believers who adhere to Baptist principles and core values yet do not use the name “Baptist” or any other mainline denominational identity in their self-disclosure. Church – a local group of baptized believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who gather regularly for worship, nurture, and fellowship; and who depart the gathering endeavoring to obey all the commands of Christ. Church Planting – the process of winning individuals and families to Christ through any and all means that effectively communicate to the culture, then gathering and baptizing them into the Body of Christ for the purpose of doing church. Church Planting Movements – local churches within a people group rapidly and regularly planting multiple new churches within the same people group as a normal part of being and doing church. Evangelical – Christians of various denominations and ethnic backgrounds who adhere to the basic tenets of born-again salvation experience, the authority of God’s Word and submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Evangelism – taking the Gospel to one’s own people group for the purpose of redeeming individuals and families in such a way that churches can be started. Exponential Growth - the increasing in churches is not simply incremental growth (adding a few churches per year) … but growth that is compounded exponentially (two churches become four, four churches become 16 and so forth). Missions – taking the Gospel to a people group that is different from one’s own for the purpose of redeeming individuals and families in such a way that churches are planted and a Church Planting Movement can be started. People Group – a sociological grouping of individuals who have an affinity for one another due to language, ethnicity, race, religion, geographical location, occupation, situation, or a combination of any of these. Population Segment – either smaller subgroups or a people group (e.g. rural, poorer class, deaf, etc.) or a grouping of people along other strategically significant lines (e.g. city, slum dweller, etc.)
Reached People Group – a people group is considered “reached” when there is a viable, indigenous, self-reproducing church movement in the midst that has strong churches pastored by their own people, using their own language, and actively involved in evangelizing their own people and planting daughter churches. Strategy Coordinator - a missionary responsible for building and leading teams in the design and implementation of strategies that initiate and nurture a church-planting movement among a specific ethno-linguistic people group or population segment. Unreached People Group – a people group is unreached if there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize their own people without requiring outside (cross-cultural) assistance. Worldview – the sum total of a people group’s understanding of its world including beliefs, values and shared perceptions of reality. |
See Also: Empowering the Church
| Next: Fields |  |
|
New Millenium Definitions
 |
E.P.I.C. International P.O. Box 218, Holly Springs, GA 30142, USA Toll Free: 877-811-3742 • Fax: 770-345-2453 |
| Report site problems:
. Site Design and Hosting: ThirdHeaven Imaging. © 2004 E.P.I.C. International. All rights reserved. |
|