“We believe in our living Lord who sends us into the world to live as His disciples, to express His saving love and to extend God’s Kingdom.”

CPC Purpose Statement

“Our purpose is to encourage and direct CPC membership into outreach in significant areas of need and potential impact on behalf on the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt.28:19). In so doing, we will strive to involve members in direct participation in missions through prayer, financial support and short-term missions trips or full time mission assignments. To facilitate this, we will devote an appropriate amount of funding, based on need, from our budget and special offerings. We will encourage our members going out, whenever possible, to areas and ministries consistent with our top strategic priorities….”

CPC Missions Purpose Statement

I. How We Do Missions

We are often asked how we conduct missions when it is understood that we have seventy mission partners locally, nationally and internationally which encompass a wide variety of mission types and strategies. CPC Missions strives to accomplish its missional goals in the following four ways:

A. Nurture and maintain relationships with existing partners through:

• financial support from the annual budget
• prayer teams from small groups
• regular communication through print and electronics
• short-term “seal”* teams visiting missionaries in the field to administer care, healing and encouragement
• hosting mission partners here at CPC for reporting

B. Seek ways to advance our partners stated objectives outside of the normal ways when asked. The following are examples:

• We purchased a car for a missionary couple with Operation Mobilization in Siberia, a truck for City Ministries International in San Francisco and an ambulance for a mission to Aids orphans in Jinja, Uganda.
• We have sent out short-term mission teams that were equipped to minister to our missionaries, bringing skills onto the mission field to help in ministry.
• We built a kitchen at World Impact, Oakland, which serves several hundred meals each month to homeless and the needy. CPC members help serve meals monthly.
• We conduct an annual food drive and donate to our inner city partners to augment their need for food.
• CPC members help annually to provide Christmas gifts to needy families through our Adopt a Family program.

C. Welcome new partners, when possible, who have a significant need which they are unable to accomplish without resources of a larger than usual magnitude. The following are examples:

• We helped to finance and build 16 homes with Voice of Calvary Ministries in McComb, Mississippi for hurricane disaster refugees. This was called Operation Katrina.
• We plan to help renovate City Impact’s Christian School in San Francisco.

D. Take a pro-active role in initiating and developing strategic plans and projects that deal with broad and serious national and global issues. An example would be:

• Urban areas where poverty is endemic or educational needs exist for children.

II. What are the Top Priorities this Year?

A. FOCUS ON THE SILK ROAD (This is a trade route running between China and Southern Europe): Help equip and mobilize CPC members to assist in the work of the gospel in countries along the Silk Road and the three Persian countries of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. This will include sending small teams that have been trained in Peace Making and the Stephen Ministry and general Pastoral Care skills. We are calling these teams “Seal” teams after the Navy Seal concept of having specially trained personnel in skills that strengthen the abilities on missionaries on the field. This is a new approach for CPC. Some of this training will be offered in classes during fall and winter Family Nights.

B. DEVELOP A MODEL TO HELP TRANSFORM THE INNER CITY: In partnership with our urban mission partners in Oakland and San Francisco, and researching other sources, develop a model to help transform the inner city through sharing the Good News, while meeting real practical needs in the community. Our goal here is to direct CPC resources toward selected problems. These problems could include one or more of the following: poverty, homelessness, hunger, violence, educational opportunities for children, leadership development, mentoring and etc.Through the guidance of this model we hope to contribute in significant ways toward the transformation of communities.

A Task Force has been formed and is just in the beginning stages of researching and gaining knowledge of what others have done to advance the cause of Christ and at the same time relieve urban areas of some of the endemic problems listed above.

Among other questions, we want to know what we should be doing differently in light of the complex conditions within urban neighborhoods that are in serious trouble.

C. DEVELOP NEW WAYS TO DO EFFECTIVE SHORT-TERM MISSIONS: This will include relevant preparation and training of teams going to assist in ministry projects with our mission partners and the specialized training of **“Seal” teams that will specifically focus upon the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical needs of our missionaries. The following is an outline details our planned approach:

1. Specialized Teams: Specialized “Seal” training: The focus here is missionary care. We will recruit and train CPC members to serve those priorities involving short-term travel to locations of ministry where missionary care is specifically needed. This will involve:

• Deepening relationships with existing missions partners (Stateside and abroad) through more thorough communications between mission partner and liaison and/ or Seal Teams.
• Updating the “needs assessment” survey to find out how we may contribute to our missionaries’ personal needs.
• Train CPC Seal Teams for personal visits with missionaries at CPC when they are on leave or on the mission field. The focus of this kind of care would be:
• Strategic in that the purpose would be to deepen relationships with our mission partners.
• Professional in that we would tap into the vast resource pool of CPC membership, i.e. those trained in the Stephen Ministry; the Peace Makers; Counselors; Business: Worship; Teaching and etc.
• Operational Ready – teams would be ready and able to go year-round.

2. General Teams: General training for those going out to mission fields not needing specialized training.

• Establish annual mission destinations, including new places with new partners when needed.
• Establish internal champions or point-persons for every short-term mission trip.
• Be open to deploying, along with the Umbrella of Churches, short-term teams for catastrophic or emergency needs like Operation Katrina.
• Launch “family” friendly mission opportunities which would include local “long-weekend” plunges and one week stateside opportunities.

III. Strategies for Accomplishing all of Our Commitments

A. DISCERN: Discern God’s leading as to how to appropriate CPC’s resources of prayer, money and manpower to all of our missional purposes.

B. COMMUNICATE:

• Actively pursue the best communication possible through our mission committees’ liaisons with mission partners. Our desire is to be as knowledgeable as possible in order to be as effective as we can.
• We will communicate regularly to the congregation about mission needs through the web site, Mission E-News Letter, Celebrating God at Work in the worship services and CPC publications.

C. DEVELOP BROAD BASED SUPPORT: Build teams of interested CPC members who are available to do the work of ministry with our mission partners

D. LONG-TERM MISSIONARIES: We will be open to consider establishing a support relationship with potential long-term missionaries going out from our church.

E. RESPONSIBILITY TO CPC LEADERSHIP: We will continue to be responsible to CPC leadership in the use of funds in support of our mission partners and programs.

F. PROVISION FOR MISSION PARTNERS: We will provide, and increase if appropriate, support of mission partners through prayer, manpower and finances, when strategically important to building stronger bonds between them and CPC and to enhance the effectiveness of their ministries.

G. SPECIAL CHRISTMAS AND EASTER OFFERINGS: These offerings will be used for the special needs of out mission partners or used to respond to a new opportunity to share the love of Christ and establish new frontiers for CPC missions.

H. NEW CHAMPIONS/LIAISONS: We will continue to recruit and assign responsible people to oversee our relationships with new and existing mission partners.