Ablaze! and Ablaze! for God’s Mission are confusing. Are they the same program?

Thank you for asking. Ablaze! is the national mission movement with a goal of sharing the Gospel with 100,000,000 people, starting 2000 new ministries, and revitalizing 2000 current ministries by 2017.

 

Within the Southeastern District, we have set as our goal, reaching 2.5 million people, gathering a mission prayer support group of 3000 people, starting 100 new ministries, equipping people in outreach and evangelism, and resourcing 60 mission outreach teams. The creative partnership needed to address this challenge invites all members of Southeastern District congregations and schools to respond. A very important way to respond is through prayer. We encourage you to become a mission prayer partner. Additional resources for becoming a mission prayer partner are available at the District Office by calling 1.800.637.5723. Another way to partner is to participate in the regular mission outreach and evangelism classes. These are webcast and so can be viewed locally. A complete listing of class offerings is located on the SED website at: wwww.se.lcms.org. Go to the TLO (Training Leaders for Outreach) button on the right hand column of the home page.

 

Another way to partner in the Ablaze! mission movement is through Ablaze! for God’s Mission. This funding effort has set a goal of generating $6 million dollars to support new mission outreach efforts in the circuits, district, and world mission field. These funds will support a cadre of programs that include those listed above. Brochures that detail these programs and the corresponding funding opportunities are available at your request. In addition, a complete listing of potential new mission work can be found on the SED website at: www.se.lcms.org, click on Ablaze! for God’s Mission Campaign, click on “Mission Potential” on the right column sidebar.

 

We are already supporting mission work. Why should we commit to this additional appeal?

Ablaze! for God’s Mission is a historic mission effort that will fund both local and global mission goals, and we are asking you to simply approach your members and to invite their support. In order to bring Christ to 100 million people by 2017, to plant new missions, and revitalize 2,000 existing ministries, we are asking every congregation to agree to participate in this important funding campaign.

 

We are a poor congregation; we don’t have enough money to support something else.

Ablaze for God’s Mission provides funding for the circuit, district, and World Missions globally to bring Christ to the lost. This includes revitalizing older congregations by breathing new life into them with captivating projects and mission-minded programs. Some of that new life, in the areas of stewardship and mission, may result from your congregation’s participation in this effort. When we return a portion of His blessings we will receive back new blessings a hundred-fold.

 

We don’t want to pressure our members by making a phone call to ask for their gift.

Making a personal visit or phone call to a fellow member is a respectful and important aspect of this mission effort. It provides the member with an opportunity to better understand why you, as a volunteer, support the effort, to ask questions, and to make a meaningful decision.

 

Following guidelines provided, these calls will create an informative and engaging conversation that will benefit your fundraising effort, and ultimately enable mission work to be accomplished at unprecedented levels. To hope they may remember to return their pledge card typically results in under-funded projects.

 

We don’t want to follow-up from our cottage meetings because members will make their pledge on their own time.

A cottage meeting can provide a great forum for mission dialogue and fellowship. Perhaps you’ll have members attend that have limited knowledge of Ablaze! and Ablaze! for God’s Mission. Presenting the case for support in an inspiring way is critical. Many interested members will need additional time to pray about their level of commitment. However, prompt follow-up to invite their decision both respects their needs and provides great results. Remember that your appeal has a definite beginning and end, and their timely decision will benefit the entire congregation by leading and inspiring others. To wait and hope for them to make a gift usually results in under funded mission plans.

 

I don’t want to be bothersome; I’ll wait for them to call me.

While this strategy is well intentioned, experience has shown it does not produce the best results. Your role as a volunteer demonstrates your higher commitment to this effort. Other members are busy with other activities or concerns and are relying on you to remind them of the importance of their pledge. They will ask questions, get answers, and respect you for keeping this vital mission funding effort in the front of their mind.

 

There are too many other activities going on; we’ll wait to plan our appeal.

These appeals are straight-forward in their approach and require very little effort if a small team of volunteers pitch in for a few short weeks. There is no need to clear your entire calendar of activities to conduct the appeal. Each local appeal is meant to be crisp, mission-focused and successful. It is also suggested that planning begin early so that the congregation gets appropriate approval to run the appeal

 

Setting a goal amount is not necessary for our congregation, it will overwhelm our members.

Setting a congregational goal for Ablaze! for God’s Mission is like any other goal your congregation sets. It does not bind your members to a certain level of giving, but instead is a motivational benchmark to challenge and inspire your members to meet our overwhelmingly abundant mission potential.

 

We don’t need weekly meetings; it will be easier to just communicate as needed.

Understanding that your congregation has limited time and resources, it is important to meet for a short period each week to plan, organize, and coordinate your appeal. If kept crisp and organized, these meetings can last for less than an hour each.

 

A weekly meeting allows volunteers to turn in pledges and share their experiences as a team. This will also enable the team to submit pledges faster, resulting in swift distribution of thank you notes to donors.

 

“Christ desires nothing more than that we speak of him,”

Martin Luther