about envision ministries (envision mission)

Currently, Envision is responsible for five ministries:

1. The Jesus Gathering, a church plant with the Christian Reformed Denomination. The mission of the Jesus Gathering is to proclaim the gospel and make disciples of Jesus Christ within the downtown culture of Bellingham, especially those who do not fit in easily with the traditional context of the church.
2. The Jesus Study, a Bible study that currently takes place at three trees coffeehouse on Thursday nights at 7:30pm. The purpose of this small group is to help people in the downtown culture of Bellingham experience the transformative power of God’s written Word.
3. The Ladies Homestead Meeting. The purpose is that women would teach one another to be women of God, keeping their homes, loving their husbands if they are married, and taking care of their children. They teach practical home-making skills, study the Word together and encourage women, whether single or married, to serve God faithfully.
4. Three Trees open mic. The purpose is to create an atmosphere where the Spirit of God living in people draws lost persons into a relationship with Jesus Christ. It would be open to anyone in Bellingham, a place where ideas, art, and music could be freely shared, but with facilitation from a Christian perspective.
5. Street Night, a ministry of Envision that goes into the streets with the Gospel. We sometimes host groups that do prayer walks with us downtown. We also pray beforehand to see who God wants us to meet and share the Gospel of His love with them. Our goal is summed up in three M’s: Meet someone, Meet a need, and Make an observation or testimony afterwards.

Six Goals:

1. To start/encourage as many quality prayer/community groups or 7-12 that have authentic, safe and transparent relationships as possible
2. To pray particularly that we may be filled with the Spirit as the Apostle Paul instructs the church in Ephesians 5
3. To encourage each other towards love, helping each other in practical ways like taking care of each other’s kids, visiting each other in difficulties, mourning with those who mourn, rejoicing with those who rejoice.
4. To tell as many people about Jesus as we can and demonstrate who He is to those who don’t know Him yet in creative ways, such as through music/art; helping the poor to move into quality housing, have basic needs met like food, shelter, and clothing; and by praying for the Lord’s intervention in their lives whether through healing, provision, the peace/comfort of Christ, or any need they might have.
5. To teach people in the downtown culture of Bellingham (that is the homeless, college students and the counter culture who enjoy hanging out downtown) everything Jesus commanded in the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament.
6. To work with local churches in this effort by blessing them with testimonies, preaching, worship leading, and the opportunity to join us in this unique outreach ministry.

Six Core Values:

1. Corporate prayer/fellowship in small group settings (this is the core for everything else and must be stated and not just assumed)
2. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us (we seek God’s Face, His very tangible Presence among us and we wait for Him to clothe us with power from on high)
3. Loving each other and laying down our lives for each other as friends (within the core group/small groups and for/with the flock of which we are called to be shepherds in different ways according to our gifts and callings)
4. Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ (the message of the Gospel is defined simply in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 and affects ALL things; the Person of Jesus Christ is the Gospel we preach, forgiveness of sins, healing, deliverance and shalom)
5. Making disciples of Jesus Christ within Bellingham’s downtown culture (disciples obey all of Jesus commands, are baptized into the triune Name, knowing that Jesus is with them always; our target is the downtown culture of Bellingham)
6. Mutual blessing between local churches (we need local churches to help support us financially and in practical service because our culture is not easily self-sustaining. We in turn desire to bless local churches with ministry opportunity and equipping their congregants in any way possible.)

Five Year Vision

Envision Mission Church will be a sending church. We will launch the Jesus Gathering to become its own church. But the Envision Mission Board will remain connected, yet separate because it will involve the leadership that sends out and serves these other ministries being launched. Mitchell will remain an elder, but not without the oversight of other elders. A prayer group will be formed with the intention of developing the prophetic gifts in conjunction with music and worship. When Mitchell’s five years of pastoring emphasis is over, that group will then branch out to serve churches, the streets and whatever venues/situations God calls that group to. Thus the prayer group for the next five years will be increasingly made of just such people interested in that type of ministry. Then the Jesus Gathering will be handed over to someone else as head elder/pastor and Mitchell will step out into more prophetic music ministry in addition to serving as one of the elders of the Jesus Gathering and having the coffeehouse as a base for evangelism.

Some Thoughts on Our Philosophy of Ministry

After the Fall of Man, the world built the Tower of Babel to the heavens in order to come together in unity around the power of mankind. The power of man displayed itself in technological progress, a common language, and hard work. God scattered the world by confusing them with many languages because He knew that they will accomplish great progress but would never find true peace and community in that context.

Then He called Abraham out of Ur and led Him to a Promised Land. Abraham trusted God’s voice and God began to build His community of peace through that one man. He continued doing this through Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, the Prophets and finally perfectly through Jesus the Messiah. But many children of Abraham rejected this call and went back to the world’s way of doing things. Some who were not children of Abraham aligned themselves with God’s community, such as Rahab and Ruth. But there was only a remnant. So God scattered the children of Abraham to the nations of the earth.

After Jesus died for the sins of the world and rose again from death, He told his disciples to go to Jerusalem. He ascended to Heaven and from the right hand of God’s majesty the Spirit poured out upon the disciples in Jerusalem. Children of Abraham came from all the scattered nations to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, and there God poured out His Spirit along with the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Messiah. In that place He reversed the Tower of Babel so that everyone there could understand the message of Jesus Messiah as one language. He brought men and women together in peace and community by His Spirit, instead of by the power of man. Now anyone, who aligns themselves with that community under Jesus as King, has true peace and authentic community within them.

We live in a very busy, lonely culture. America is a veritable Tower of Babel with great technological progress, a common language, and lots of hours of busy work to that end. The values of the American dream are quickly spreading throughout the globe – through the spread of the English language, internet/computer technology, comforts, consumerism and economic advancement. However, this unity of the power of mankind around building this Tower does not bring peace or true community to people. That can only come through the Holy Spirit of God being poured into the hearts of little groups of disciples who love each other as God has loved them.

As Abraham was a friend of God, we must first be friends with God in Jesus Messiah who is the friend of sinners. Then we can have true friendship with one another. And this Message we are called to spread to the whole world by discipling others to Jesus as He has taught us. The model of Jesus was not to try to reach crowds of people and set up another program or Tower for everyone to gather around. His model was to spend time with twelve men and live life with them, to teach them in that context, and then commission them to go and do the same.