August 29, 2004 Q & A

Evangelism by the OPC

Question:

How does the OPC evangelize as a church body? In other words, do you have street evangelism with church members, or door to door evangelism, or what? How does the OPC get the word out to the world about Jesus? I am not referring to individual efforts but to the church as an organism.

Answer:

Thank you for your good question.

I'm uncertain whether you use "OPC" in a local congregational or denomination-wide sense. Perhaps you mean to include both.

At the local level congregations, under the session's oversight, may engage in a series of meetings presenting the gospel, or set up mass mailings to inform the community about the church and her ministry, or engage in many other forms of evangelism. No two congregations will be alike.

At the denominational level the OPC has four committees on:

Christian Education

Foreign Missions

Home Missions

Diaconal Ministries

These committees represent the ministries of word and deed that throughout the church's history the Lord has been pleased to bless to the conversion of the lost and the building up of believers in faith and discipleship.

Our Christian Education Committee publishes and distributes all kinds of material for the churches to use. Moreover, the OPC and PCA jointly run Great Commission Publications, which has become an increasingly respected and effective worldwide agency for teaching the gospel.

Perhaps our committees on Foreign and Home Missions need little or no explanation as to what they do, also on a worldwide basis, and the word "Missions" itself expresses their concern for evangelism.

The ministry of deed is that of Diaconal Ministries. Local congregations, presbyteries, and the General Assembly are diligently at work to meet the needs of the poor and needy through their respective committees of diaconal ministries. The Epistle of James is important to us!

Our monthly denominational magazine, New Horizons, features reports and articles on the work of these four committees.

A basic conviction undergirds the OPC in the cause of evangelism: The Lord is pleased, through the preaching of the gospel (as well as the administration of the sacraments and the practice of church discipline) to call sinners to himself and to build the body of believers in the knowledge and grace of the Redeemer.

I hope the preceding is helpful to you. The Lord be with you.