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Vintage C&MA ...
Posted by
Ruthie Hankins
,
17 August 2012
·
1439 views
Last week I gave a couple of tours through the various areas of the Alliance National Office here in Colorado Springs. Some of the features I pointed out were the cornerstone from the Gospel Tabernacle from 1889, a communion set that was buried in Jerusalem during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and dug up again in 1955, a painting commemorating C&MA missionary martyrs in Vietnam in 1968 and a visit to the archives where we have A.B. Simpson's bible and other books. In the stairway, we passed the banner that reminds us that the Christian & Missionary Alliance is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. I kept thinking, "What a rich heritage we have!"
Then we moved on to another area where the cubicles are being rearranged to facilitate a more interactive and relational work space. Over in the Envision area they don’t even have an actual “office”—just a conference table with space for laptops and smart phones and a room to use for Skype calls with overseas workers. When we stopped at the world map, I mentioned that there are regions we can’t talk about openly in order to protect the security of our workers. And I was able to explain the many non-traditional types of work we are involved in around the world in order to build bridges into communities in spiritually dark places.
What a contrast between the “vintage” C&MA and the 21st century Alliance—all in one building! But this simple tour brought a vital truth to mind. The C&MA of 2012 is grounded in and firmly tied to the past, but it isn’t stuck looking back at its roots and being nostalgic about the “good old days”. We have always been about putting Jesus first and telling His story of grace, forgiveness and salvation in a way that is relevant to the listener. Jesus was a radical in His day. A.B. Simpson broke with tradition in order to reach the thousands of immigrants in New York City and to send out workers to the millions of people around the world who had never heard about Jesus.
We need BOTH the deep roots and the fresh ideas and strategies in order to effectively ministry to people. We need to stick with the timeless message that Jesus is our only Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. At the same, we need to present that message in creative ways so that it is understandable. Finally the message needs to be delivered with an attitude that reflects the grace and forgiveness we ourselves have received from Him.
So, what are you doing to share Jesus in culturally relevant ways in your neighborhood? Go ahead, share your story!
Then we moved on to another area where the cubicles are being rearranged to facilitate a more interactive and relational work space. Over in the Envision area they don’t even have an actual “office”—just a conference table with space for laptops and smart phones and a room to use for Skype calls with overseas workers. When we stopped at the world map, I mentioned that there are regions we can’t talk about openly in order to protect the security of our workers. And I was able to explain the many non-traditional types of work we are involved in around the world in order to build bridges into communities in spiritually dark places.
What a contrast between the “vintage” C&MA and the 21st century Alliance—all in one building! But this simple tour brought a vital truth to mind. The C&MA of 2012 is grounded in and firmly tied to the past, but it isn’t stuck looking back at its roots and being nostalgic about the “good old days”. We have always been about putting Jesus first and telling His story of grace, forgiveness and salvation in a way that is relevant to the listener. Jesus was a radical in His day. A.B. Simpson broke with tradition in order to reach the thousands of immigrants in New York City and to send out workers to the millions of people around the world who had never heard about Jesus.
We need BOTH the deep roots and the fresh ideas and strategies in order to effectively ministry to people. We need to stick with the timeless message that Jesus is our only Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. At the same, we need to present that message in creative ways so that it is understandable. Finally the message needs to be delivered with an attitude that reflects the grace and forgiveness we ourselves have received from Him.
So, what are you doing to share Jesus in culturally relevant ways in your neighborhood? Go ahead, share your story!
- Josh Whiteman, Charlotte Bonck, Beth Knight-Pinneo and 2 others like this
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