MWR : Veteran pastor shares church-growth passion

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Nov. 16, 2009 issue

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Tags: News Mission and church planting

Veteran pastor shares church-growth passion

In new book, he says church's main purpose is mission

By John Longhurst Mennonite Publishing Network

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SCOTTDALE, Pa. — For almost 50 years, David Eshleman has had a passion to help churches reach out and share Christ.

Eshleman

He’s done it as a pastor, including serving at Capital Christian Fellowship in Washington, D.C. During his time there, from 1994 to 2006, the church grew from 45 people to more than 400.

Now he is sharing his passion for outreach as author of Now Go Forward: Reaching Out to Grow Your Congregation, published by Herald Press.

“For me, the main purpose of the church is mission — abroad and at home,” said Eshleman, a member of Lititz Mennonite Church. “Our focus needs to be outward, toward people outside the walls of our churches.”

Many Christians would agree. If that’s the case, why are so many churches in decline?

Eshleman identifies a couple of reasons. First, he said, too many Christians have adopted a “show, but don’t tell” approach to sharing faith.

“We need to help people in practical ways,” he said. “Like Jesus, we also have to use words. We have to talk about it.”

Another impediment to outreach is that many Christians see mission as something that happens far away, he said.

“We don’t have any trouble supporting mission in other countries, but we somehow think we don’t need to do mission at home,” he said. “Jesus came for the whole world, including right where we live. We need to see our next-door neighbors as people who need Jesus, too.”

Eshleman acknowledges that not everyone is comfortable speaking about their faith.

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