A self-propagating church

A church that is self ministering is by the same token a self propagating one. It is equipped to assure the growth of the church by the acquisition of new members. By its very nature the church is missionary. it should not be closed unto itself but concerned about the many others who God may be calling to the church. Where the church to become unto it self, it would be doomed to slow extinction and a weakening of its vitality through the lack of new blood.

A living and effective local church should possess the outgoing dynamism for attracting new members. A self-propagating church is one that does not rely on others for attracting new members, but its own members, its own initiative, its own methods and means.

The existential presence of the church in the world.

The church is Christ body, it is his presence to the world. but then how exactly is the church present in and to the world.

The church exist first of all as the world wide group in unity, not uniformity of faith, hope and love. The source and effective of this unity is the pastor who leads. as head and source of unity the pastor effectively "strengthens his brothers" (luke 22: 32) and lead them in shepherding the flock of God entrusted to them (1 peter 5:2)

This assured the presence of Christ as head, as teacher, sanctifier and leader. and the unity of the whole body becomes real and operative, harmonious communications and mutual strengthening and support runs through the churches in spite of their diversity, tongues, customs and cultures and their dispersion in space and time. This church unity is basic and real. thanks to it, the church is present in and to the world as the sacrament of Christ's saving presence.

A Self-ministering Church

"For the nurturing and constant growth of the People of God, Christ instituted in His church a variety of ministries, which work for the good of the whole Body. In a broad sense these ministries are those "services" that are needed to be present and active in the Christian Body for the two basic functions of the Body:

1. That of living and growing: keeping the Body healthy and increasing it with living, new members. This is done through preaching (faith), feeding (Sacraments and liturgy) and community governing.

2. That of witnessing and serving the world. This is assured through Church involvement in the world where it is called to serve as Leaven, Light and Salt of the world and to bring about God's Kingdom in the world.

We can say that in this broad sense all Christians are called to be "ministers" since through Baptism they participate in Christ's own Mediatorship as Prophets, Priests, and Leaders. In this sense there is indeed a great variety of services and ministries, and all members are called to exercise their own "ministries", each one according to their calling.

The local church is self-ministering when all the essential services needed for the life and work of the Church are actively assumed by members. If the Church is not yet self-ministering and this situation dose not change, the Church will feel insecure in facing the future.