Evangelism also means planting new churches. Is there an area (perhaps in your district that needs an A.M.E church?) And/Or should we concentrate our energies and money on overseas missions?

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001

Answers

Personally, I believe we need to spend some time fixing what we have before we begin to think of new missions, whether they be at home or abroad. We haven't reached our full potential, and I think we need to come closer to critical mass before we can be as effective in our outreach as God intended for us to be.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2001

A wonderful question. I understand the need to take care of what we have but I also see a great need to speard the word in Canada. In the Toronto area alone there are over 3 million people and until last year one AME church that is actually older than the country itself.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2001

The great commission calls us to spread the gospel message to all parts of the world. When I think of what Paul the Apostle did in planting churches it is indeed inspiring. The heart of evangelism is "faith" faith that God will do what scriptures promises us he will do and that is to multiply the christian faith. I hope we will be prayerful and ask where God wants us to go next. Canada is so close. Are there other areas we need to look at. I think of Purity AME in Namibia that does not have a sanctuary, high unemployment, yet they press on and will be hosting the 15th district annual conference. What an inspiration! If Richard Allen had waited until he had a church building, or a certain no of people in attendence. I doubt seriously that the AME denomination would be here. What do you think?

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2001

I think that we should not neglect to take care of our own house while we seek to build for those that have no house. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been comparing and contrasting the major protestant denominations by looking at their official websites, visiting different churches and speaking to brothers and sisters of different denominations, as well as those that belong to non- denominational churches. Frankly, I am appalled at the gulf that exists between the AME Church and the other denominations as regards mission work and evangelism, particularly the means through which lay persons can become involved in such endeavors. As a result of this disparity, young folks like myself are leaving our denomination in droves.

I don't see the efficacy in establishing new AME churches and missions in "uncharted" territory only to see them fold after a generation. Kingdom building is more than just witnessing to and converting a generation. We must equip them with the means to pass the good news on to their children and their children's children.

Of course, the mission is greater than the AMEs or the Episcopalians or the United Methodists or the Presbyterians. But we here make a conscious decision to affiliate ourselves with the AME church. I believe we have a responsibility to either insure that the foundation is sound enough to build on or blow the house apart and simply go forth as messengers and missionaries without any denominational label.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2001

Dear Mr. W.J. Richardson,

I was intrigued by your statement that you discovered a gulf between the AME church and other denominations as it relates to mission work and evangelism. Would you please descibe this situation in more detail. I have noticed that certain denominations are known for various activities. For example, The Salvation Army is known for charitable activities. The Southern Baptists are known for sending missionaries all over the world. The Catholics are known for their schools, hospitals, and orphanages.

JazzMan

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2001

JazzMan,

I am putting together a summary of my findings for use in reviewing the missions and evangelism practices in my home church. I will be happy to forward my finished work to you once it is completed. I anticipate completion in time for our next church conference, which is about 6 weeks off.

Until then, I'll tell you that on the surface, the efforts of the AME church at mission work pale in comparison to the work of other denominations, in my estimation. And let me be clear here- this is not a scientific study, but a straw poll. My hunch is that this is an issue of the disemination of information, or lack thereof. This website, has helped to bridge the gap, but there is still more work to be done. I find that the sharing of information on the missions and evangelism within other denominations is spread farther and wider, and is more concise and organized than in our denomination. I had only to look to the official web sites of the other major protestant denominations to be shown where to begin my search. The official AME Church website has not been updated in a year, and the information that was posted then was sketchy at best. It is a source of disappointment to me, which is why I have undertaken this study.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2001

Praise the Lord for such concern regarding evangelism and missionary work. The church is to outreaching. We need to strengthen what has been established and begin new work. The church should always be planting churches. We first need to establish a new church plant process to include a committee to provide support and financial support and not to leave a church plant out on their own. Those denominations that provide this type of support are very successful in church planting. God is definitely on the move! I pray that the AME church pay more attention to the great commission given by Jesus - then on the internal politics. The money we spend attending meetings could rebuilt the entire continent of Africa! Are we good stewards of all that God has given to us or are we going to continue to be consumers of items that don't build equity such as clothes, shoes, luxury cars, etc. Nothing wrong with good things, how can we do this when our brothers and sisters are starving. One pair of good shoes in the U.S. could feed a community in a third world country!

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2001