Are you a current SEBTS student or recent alumni (within one year) and are planning on going to the field? If so, our office wants to help you on your journey. Keep reading to learn about the ways our office wants to be involved!
This is a time each Spring to celebrate those deploying for international or North American missions and church planting for longer than 60 days, including those serving with the International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, or similar agencies. Participants also include those who are planting a church or part of a core team being sent out each year.
For each individual recognized as someone who fits the above description, the CGCS would like to recognize them and their churches and pray over them during this special service.
Through the Prayer Card Initiative at he CGCS, you can have a community of believers partner alongside you in prayer as you are sent out to the field. For all SEBTS students and recent alumni, the CGCS is offering to create physical and digital prayer cards!
Other options include making a personal newsletter or encouraging your sending church to partner alongside you in prayer while you are on the field. These are ways to communicate more sensitive or detailed information to a smaller, trusted group of individuals who can still support you through prayer!
There can be several influencing factors that can either consciously or subconsciously guide where you choose to go, however there needs to be a clear distinction of what is prompting you to choose one location over another: is it genuine spiritual guidance, or is it fear and selfish ambition?
While God does take into account your strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, He also works in such glorious ways where the outcomes that maximally glorify Himself and sanctify us are the very pathways that we would never have selected by our own volition.
Participation in the Great Commission, by nature, is the denial of self, choosing to follow and glorify Christ in any location that He calls you to. The desire for obedience towards God must supersede the desire for personal gratification. The desire to see all tribes, nations, and tongues come to rejoice alongside us in eternity must be greater than our desire for comfort.
A missions cohort is a group of people who routinely come together to explore their shared interest in international missions, focusing on shared learning, group accountability, and praying together for discernment regarding God's calling on their lives! These could be groups within the church or local community that seeks to equip and practice engaging the nations with the Gospel!
Many local churches have missions cohorts (or similar programs). Our office highly encourages you to seek out these opportunities if your local church body has something similar to offer. However, we know that not every church has this type of program. Since our goal as the CGCS is to equip students to fulfil the Great Commission in the context that God has called them to, we desire to connect students interested in international missions with an already existing cohort that is run by Company partners here in Wake Forest.
The CGCS desires to connect past, present, and future Great Commission workers to each other in hopes of developing a deeper community of like-minded believers who want to help in equipping each other with the necessary resources to live out God's calling on their lives!
If there is a specific affinity group or area you want more resources on, or if you want to connect with SEBTS affiliated missionaries who are familiar with that topic, contact our office!
Field Ministry is a vital part of every MDiv degree offered at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. This component of each degree is designed to connect the student with a church to allow them to gain hands-on experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor. The purpose of field ministry is for the student to grow in their personal walk with the Lord, in their understanding of ministry, and in their ability to minister to the church relative to their calling. The student will be challenged to integrate theological training with the practice of ministry.
While external resources like the Core Missionary Task and Four Fields of Kingdom Growth exist, the CGCS also has a surplus of SEBTS-produced articles and podcasts that contain helpful information for all things missions related!
The CGCS wants to help equip you to fulfill the Great Commission in whatever context the Lord has called you to! Whether that is international missions, North American church planting, replanting, revitalization, or pastoral ministry, our Great Commission Pathways is a helpful resource to navigate next steps in pursuing your calling.
