Originally, missions was the job of missionaries who traveled overseas with a lifetime commitment to bring the gospel message to those who had never heard it. The role of missions committees in the churches was to support the missionaries in their task, and the distinction between missions and other ministries in the church was clear. Now mission trips have been short tern with people who are not full time missionaries and do other church tasks so it may not be clear how mission differs from outreach
Missions are initiated by those who are “sent.” Through an examination of 1 Co. 12:28 Paul relates missions to the role of apostolic leaders who are to “blaze the trail, to pioneer, to initiate kingdom breakthroughs into new areas, and to lay foundations on which others can build. They are the “sent ones” who to open the way for the gospel.
This understanding of missions does not necessarily require geographical distance, but it does require the appointing of individuals to the task of “stepping beyond” the boundaries of the local church’s influence in order to initiate the ministry where it would not otherwise occur.
Outreach generally does not send people as a group to serve ministries. Outreach serves entities outside itself, such as sending resources people, money, etc. It also includes events at the church that caters to those outside the church.
Key Parts in St. Peter’s, Outreach
1. Village Harvest 2014
2. Sacred Ground 2020
3. Shred-it 2012
4. ECW contributions to Outreach
5. ECM Thanksgiving and Christmas
6. Outdoor Christmas, 2021 and 2023
7. Discretionary Fund
8. Concert series
Mission
1. Staten Island 2012
2. Jamaica 2021, 2023
Other Outreach
1. Peumansend Jail Ministry