FINISH Commitment Ministry Objectives Outlined
On Friday, July 22, 2016, newly-elected general overseer of the Church of God, Tim Hill, delivered his opening address to the delegates on the closing night of the 76th Church of God International General Assembly. In his address, he outlined his vision for the FINISH Commitment, a “Global Church Focus on the Great Commission.”
Prior to being elected to the denomination’s top post, Hill served for four years as director of Church of God World Missions where he presented a similar initiative called the FINISH Challenge. As a follow-up – now to the entire denomination – Hill has presented the next level of his vision which seeks a path to finish the Great Commission in the near future.
In subsequent gatherings since the general assembly, Hill has put forth the goals, commitments, and scriptural references for each of the letters of the acronym, FINISH. Last month he presented the objectives to the state and regional overseers gathered in Cleveland for the biennial Leadership Conference. He provided numerous resources to assist the leaders to promote the initiative.
The six objectives, their goals and commitments are as follows:
To FINISH the Great Commission, we must FIND the lost and disenfranchised, including the unreached people groups around the world, engaging them in love and winning them to Christ.
“Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19 NIV).
Goals:
• Experience globally 1,000,000 spiritual conversions annually.
• Connect globally with 1,000 of the 6,980 Unreached People Groups located in the 10/40 Window and elsewhere by 2020.
• Advance total church membership through conversion growth by 10 percent globally.
To FINISH the Great Commission, we must INTERCEDE, making prayer and worship the highest privilege and greatest responsibility of every believer.
“Whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive” (Matthew 21:22 KJV).
Committed to. . .
• Commit globally to 6,000,000 hours of prayer annually for the FINISH Commitment.
• Recruit globally 1,000,000 prayer partners, providing prayer 24/7.
• Implement an intentional FINISH Prayer/Fasting Initiative annually in each local church, state, region, and area of the world.
To FINISH the Great Commission, we must NETWORK servant leaders of all generations, including pastors, ministers, and laity for shared ministry engagement.
“We are laborers together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9 KJV).
Goals:
• Celebrate and grow Kingdom partnerships with benevolent, communication, and relief agencies, as well as other ministries of mission and evangelism around the world.
• Connect 1,000 participants annually with higher education learning opportunities, focusing on specialized ministry engagement (theology, pastoral, church planting, evangelism, discipleship, worship, leadership, etc.)
• Reaffirm and resource district leadership participation for the shared purpose of prayer prioritization, vision implementation, and church planting initiation.
To FINISH the Great Commission, we must INVEST our resources by strengthening the Church through strategic partnerships for care, church planting, education, leadership development, and discipleship.
“Equipping the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12 NKJV).
Committed to. . .
• Focus resources to assist in planting 10,000 churches globally and 1,000 churches in the USA by 2020.
• Identify, integrate, and advance 1,500 next-generation men and women leaders globally each year for active ministry in the Church of God.
• Embrace the calling of the Evangelist, promoting an active role in the Church for the shared purpose of soul winning, spiritual renewal, and revitalization.
To FINISH the Great Commission, we must SEND disciples to all nations, actively sharing the gospel through Holy Spirit empowerment.
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending YOU” (John 20:21 NIV).
Committed to. . .
• Actualize the Great Commission by the adoption of a missions area, missionary, or missions project by local churches and every state/region.
• Commit to reach the 50 U.S. capitals and other major cities of North America and the nations with specific awareness of the various demographic constructs through participation in City Vision.
• Utilize all communication mediums to resource all global pastors and leaders—full time and bi-vocational—for enrichment, idea exchange, and interaction to reach the world with the gospel.
As a vibrant movement, the CHURCH OF GOD must commit NOW to reap a world HARVEST with a global church focus on the Great Commission Finish.
“The time has come for you to reap…the harvest” (Revelation 14:15).
Committed to. . .
• Resource Scripture translation in multiple languages while initializing the placement of 250,000 Bibles by 2020.
• Engage the opportunity of the 4/14 Window by investing time, prayer, and resources in the Student and Children Harvest, as well as engaging them as partners in evangelism, ministry, and mission.
• Launch the FINISH GLOBAL MEDIA NETWORK (FGMN) providing daily one hour online Christian programming expanding to 24/7 resourcing by 2020.
In addition to state leadership, Hill has encouraged International Offices departments and ministries to adopt similar commitments and goals based on their ministry audiences. As they become available, Faith News will report on these initiatives.
