Mission at FPCE

God’s call to mission at FPCE:

Considering the mission of FPCE, “First Presbyterian Church of Evanston exists to know Christ and to grow in him as we serve and make disciples in Evanston, the Chicago area, and around the world.”,  we embrace the full meaning of that through the following:

• Theologian Daryl Guder remarked during an interview, “Any person who is living in a relationship with Jesus Christ and responding to His claim upon one’s life should understand to know Christ is to become a part of Christ’s mission, is to be sent out….’You shall be my witnesses.’”^[1]
• Our mission partner, Christopher J.H. Wright stated, “The mission of God is to redeem the whole of creation, broken by sin and evil, into the new creation, populated by the redeemed from every culture, through the cross and resurrection of Christ.”^[2]
• We affirm Pastor Tim Dearborn’s quote, “The church of God does not have a mission in the world, but the God of Mission has church in the world.”^[3]
• Therefore, mission is owned by God, fulfilled in Christ, and neither singularly owned or fulfilled by a council, or church, or a person.
• We have always been a council seeking to be a part of Christ’s mission here and in the world.

FPCE Missions Categories

 We seek to discern how God desires to use our church in Evanston, Chicago and the world in His work of redemption.  Following Jesus’ description of His ministry in Luke 4:17-19, we developed the categories:

1. Justice and Mercy – Focusing on the outcast, and the vulnerable, remembering widows, orphans, prisoners, refugees and more;
2. Education and Training – Including but not limited to theological training. Remembering underserved areas and women and girls’ access to education;
3. Unreached People Groups – Focusing on church planting, Bible translation, and evangelism, primarily in the persecuted areas – Middle East/North Africa and the Gulf, Central Asia, India, and Nigeria currently
4. University Ministry – Focused primarily on campus ministries, with FPCE history and proximity to Northwestern, the presence of professors from numerous universities, and the impact on the global church through leaders developed at universities.
5. Sister church – a relationship grown over many years with the Evangelical Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Palestine.  It is time to invest more deeply in them.
6. Other singular “categories” – Tumekutana, The Great Commission Fund, and refugee grants – not a part of the missions budget but fall under the supervision of the missions director and assistant with consultation from the missions council.

We are excited to continue His mission in engaging our members and attracting others to His work in this world. 

^[1] Guder, Daryl, No Soloists in The Kingdom, Young Life Podcast October 8. 2018.

^[2] Wright, Christopher J.H., The Mission of God and the Task of the Church (Fellowship of Evangelical Students, Singapore, 2014) 11

^[3] Dearborn, Tim, Beyond Duty: A Passion or Christ and a Heart for Mission (Monrovia 1997) 2.

^[4] Wright, The Mission of God and the Task of the Church 56