Moving to Missional Effectiveness
The mission statement of Open Bible Churches is:

"Making and releasing disciples, planting churches, and sending missionaries."

This statement was developed in strategic prayer and planning sessions over a period of five years by pastors, regional executive directors, and national leaders. Those sessions, preceded with intense prayer and fasting, were not just meetings; they were spiritual birthing rooms.

As president of Open Bible Churches, I believe this mission statement has divine fingerprints on it, capturing the spiritual DNA of our founders and narrowing our focus to God's calling for our movement. It meets the criteria of excellence regarding a well-written mission statement, (i.e.), it is brief, clear, and compelling.

This is what we do. This statement is why we exist. Therefore the planning, structuring, and funding of Open Bible Churches should all converge to accomplish this mission.

VISION: An Outreach Culture
Every minister, church, district, region, department, and office is committed to bringing people to Jesus Christ…and making them fully devoted followers of His. That means reevaluating everything we do and every dollar we spend in terms of our stated mission. That means a new call to a higher degree of loving accountability for every person and entity in Open Bible.

Open Bible Churches dares to dream a holy dream of organizational transformation and church multiplication. A vision that rejects maintenance at every level in favor of missional effectiveness. A vision that dares to monitor and measure Great Commission effectiveness as we move from inside our church buildings to faith-based outreach in our communities and cities.

Imagine the pastors and people of our churches with a blazing, white-hot passion for souls and a clear, compelling focus to touch lost children and youth (the most fruitful fields). Imagine shattering the inward focus that insulates congregations from the people for whom Jesus died. Imagine healthy, purpose-driven churches following Christ into their neighborhoods to dispel darkness, radiate light, and dress Christianity in denim. Imagine Open Bible churches "in the world rather than cocooned from it." Imagine a shift in the way Open Bible thinks and acts…in the way we spend time and money…moving from ministry programs to missional effectiveness.

For this to occur we must pray and intercede for the Father's heart, and God must favor us with an organizational culture characterized by His own heart's brokenness for lost people. The active sharing of our faith cannot be programmatic. It must be organic, systemic…a deeply held core value we believe – a core value we monitor, measure, report, and celebrate. By prophetic promise we believe Open Bible is a "vital organ" in the Body of Christ. We are to become the incarnation of the Father's heart.

VISION: Leadership Development Culture
But Open Bible Churches dares to dream more. God has spoken into our movement a "release of the gift of faith." This word has been confirmed many times by our most sage, trusted, godly leaders. With an eye of certainty, which walks not by sight, but by faith that pleases God, we see a burgeoning culture of spiritually equipped and discipled laborers and leaders.

A culture of leadership development is vital for the raising up and releasing of pastors, planters, and missionaries (missional effectiveness). We envision at least twenty Open Bible centers across the USA whose primary mission is to train laborers for the harvest. From among the discipled followers brought to Christ through our outreach culture, the Holy Spirit will identify, train, and release leaders.

Since 1997 we have been casting this vision and sowing seed into it by faith. Today we have moved from three such centers (EBC, INSTE, Spokane Master's Commission), to several new models as well as expansion of the original three, (e.g.), additional MCs, Global Outreaches Unlimited, DBC, Mid-America School of Ministry (an EBC extension site), Firestorm School of Ministry, the ever-widening influence of INSTE, mentoring models, internships, etc.

It's happening. Little by little we are taking the land. A culture shift is taking place. Dream, Open Bible, dream! We are moving to missional effectiveness and have only just begun.

Imagine pastors preaching on the call of God at least once a quarter – elevating the vision for vocational, bi-vocational, and lay ministry. Imagine a daring, movement-wide call to selfless sacrifice, work, and caring service. Imagine spiritual fathers and mothers mentoring sons and daughters in Christ. Imagine qualified mentoring pastors providing one and two-year internships. Imagine a nationwide data base that identifies early-in-life, young, gifted leaders…and sows encouragement and ministry opportunities into their lives.

Imagine more! Do you hear the call to the nations? Open Bible is moving to a leadership development culture and missional effectiveness by sending missionaries. From 16 to 45 countries in the past 25 years, our department of International Ministries has carried the gospel from shore to shore and border to border. But dream more. Imagine an Open Bible discipleship training school similar to YWAM on the campus of EBC during the summer. Imagine 300 young missionaries-to-be raising their own support every summer to travel to foreign soil and labor in the harvest (made possible through the cooperation of Global Outreaches Unlimited and International Ministries). Imagine an exploding Intercultural Ministries and missions department on the campus of EBC. These young people are not only today's short-term missionaries, but will become our next generation of career missionaries.

VISION: A Church Planting Culture
For several years the Body of Christ in America has mobilized and prepared itself to become a church multiplication movement. Unlike some of the embarrassing "hobby horses" the Church has embraced in the past, church planting is a proven and successful tool of the Holy Spirit for expanding the kingdom of God.

It works because it is biblical! It works because young churches are others-centered instead of self-centered. It works because of Jesus' radical call for laborers to sacrifice and "go." It works because God's plan in creation was for mothers to give birth … to "be fruitful and multiply" … to reproduce (i.e.), mother churches. The rapid release of church planters ablaze with the call of God is a phenomena demonstrated in countries on many continents, (e.g.), India, China, African nations, and Latin American countries, to name a few.

In spite of high failure rates in the early days of the USA church planting movement, the Holy Spirit has helped church leaders persevere and glean biblical, spiritual principles that are reproducible. Planter assessments, boot camps, and coaching are some of the lasting principles God has used. Open Bible Churches caught the spark of the church planting inferno in the early nineties, and has continued to fan the flame ever since.

The national board of directors established a church planting grant fund. From 2000 through 2009 (a nine-year study) Open Bible Churches planted 93 new churches, 32 of which closed. That is a 66 percent retention rate, well above the national average. Not all of the new plants are affiliated yet, but a paradigm shift has taken place in our organizational culture. Church planting has found its way into our mission statement and into our hearts!

God gave Open Bible leaders a word from Isaiah 60:22 that has been confirmed several times: "a little one shall become a thousand." We have a dream…one we believe is from God and one that is realistic. Imagine 1,000 churches. Can you see them? Three hundred in Pacific, 300 in Central, 150 in Eastern, 150 in Mountain Plains, and 100 in Southeast? For how many do we have faith? Let us not say to God, "How big is our mountain.” Let us say to the mountain, "How big is our God!"

Jeff Farmer
President

Approved by the National Board of Directors