How Do We Operate?
God is a “sending God” who creatively takes the initiative to redeem His world. The church is the instrument of God’s mission in the world. We believe we are being invited and empowered by God to participate in His work already ordained for Scottsdale. Therefore, rather than believing the church has a mission to accomplish, we can envision and act on the fact that: God’s mission has a church.
In responding to that truth, our mission funding is based on two theological ideals of the Missional Church.
First, a Missional Church is one who responds to God’s invitation to partner with Him in His work in the world. Our call is to look and discover what God is already doing around us, and then to join in that work.
Second, Money follows Mission. Though mission funding is important in this endeavor, we realize when we are called to a mission the money follows.
An example of these two principles at work can be seen in our work in Rocky Point, Mexico. As more and more people discover the need they are involved in the weekend mission experiences. We have been given a myriad of opportunities to minister to churches, special needs kids, orphans, and the leadership of full time ministries. The budget for Mexico is small by comparison to other areas, but the continued contributions from the congregation, and those participating in the trips, has grown as we are discovering and responding to how God will use us next.
We use the following guidelines to help discern what projects and ministries we participate.
1. We are aware of the organization through Mountain View members regularly volunteering and possibly in an advisory role within the ministry.
2. The organization’s mission and services are related to MVPC’s operating principles:
- Evangelism/Church Development- making Christ’s disciples
- Compassion - helping the homeless/hungry/disadvantaged, aiding orphans and those that care for them.
- Redemptive Justice - participation in the work of the Holy Spirit to help make wrongs, right.
3. We can confirm the organization is responsible with resources given by tours and a verifiable financial history.
4. We know the size of our donation, the level of personal participation, and our prayers can have a significant impact on the life of an individual, family, or mission project.