Mission

“The church does not have a mission. God’s mission has a church.”

Vox Dei Community is a church-community participating in the missio Dei as:

A Messenger: a sign and witness to the resurrection of Jesus,
A Community: a foretaste of the restoration of all things, and
A Servant: an agent and instrument of God to participate in that restoration.

As such, we view the entirety of our financial (and other) resources as a “missions budget,” believing that everything Vox Dei Community employs resources toward is for the purpose of full, strategic and lavish participation in what God is doing.

As participants in God’s mission, we recognize the value of dedicating a portion of our resources in each fiscal year toward supporting, encouraging, and cultivating partnerships with those who serve God’s work beyond the local expression of Vox Dei Community.

For Vox Dei Community, giving to ministry partnerships embodies and models:

unity (God has one mission),
humility (God’s mission is larger than our church),
generosity (we are a recipient of God’s giving and must also be a conduit of God’s giving to others), and
stewardship (strategically and faithfully employing all that is entrusted to us).

We recognize that we cannot do everything, nor is God calling us to. But in light of our unique location, gifts, and experiences as a church, we desire to be faithful to our unique calling as a community. The following values of Vox Dei Community are meant to serve as guidelines for those entrusted with cultivating and resourcing our ministry partnerships.

We value relationships. We desire to give to ministry partners who have some relational connection to Vox Dei Community in order to:
A. Keep us from ever thinking that giving money is enough.
B. Call our people into holistic participation in those ministries for the purpose of maturing toward Christlikeness.
We value local presence. We believe God has placed us strategically in the south suburbs of Kansas City, and desire to be present and to give to organizations and initiatives in our own local community.
We value movement toward sustainability. Our goal is not to be the primary, long-term financial support of any organization. However, we desire to participate in the risky business of God with those of adventurous spirit. To this end we desire to be especially generous to ministries and churches during seasons of start-up and major transition.
We value faithfulness to ministry and calling. We recognize that results of faithful ministry are not always immediate or easily quantified. We are committed to long-term relationships with those people and ministries who demonstrate integrity, perseverance, and commitment to God’s mission in the world.
We value the church as the key component of God’s strategy, and we desire to be especially supportive of church-communities who are trying to establish themselves in healthy ways that can make disciples over the long haul. Our own journey as a church has been richly blessed by unexpected gifts from churches slightly ahead of or even slightly behind us in size and budget. We desire to be this kind of church for others.
We value the upstream shapers of culture and conscience. We desire to encourage and cultivate artists (creatives and social entrepreneurs) in various disciplines by supporting and furthering their development and establishment.

This is not an exhaustive list, but is meant to serve as a beginning guideline for searching out new partnerships as a community.