“Go therefore and make disciples of ALL NATIONS…” (Matt 28:19). At Mercy Hill Church our mission is to make disciples and multiply churches. This is our mission because we feel that this is the best way that we can contribute to bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to “all nations”, to the places where the sun rises, and the sun sets, and no one knows who to give the credit to.
This desire is one of the reasons we at Mercy Hill place a high value on our Church Residency program. We offer a two-year leadership development program where our Residents lead as a part of a ministry staff team in areas all over out church. During this time, they receive a two-year MA in Christian Ministry on site here at Mercy Hill through Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as intentional development in various areas such as biblical character, professional proficiency, ministry vision, planning and execution, and relational leadership.
We want to invest as much as possible to develop incredible, holistically healthy leaders who are ready to make disciples and multiply churches. Our prayer as that out of our residency we will continue to see lead church planters, church plant staff members, long-term international missionaries, Mercy Hill staff members, and business leaders who are making an enormous Kingdom impact.
3 Ways Our Church Residency is Sending Focused
During our Residency we keep an intentional sending focus. Again, constantly reminding ourselves and each resident that the goal is “all nations”. We understand that it is the Spirit of God who changes hearts and gives us a zeal for the ends of the earth but we seek to cultivate this heart for sending in various ways.
For one, it is a part of the DNA of our church. At Mercy Hill, you will hear sermons that touch on the nations, church multiplication and kingdom advancement consistently. Secondly, the seminary course material in our MA program consistently highlights how the missiology of the bible keeps our eyes on the nations. Thirdly, we get each of our Residents exposure to the idea of Church planting. Not just the mechanics of it that are taught to them in the classroom setting but also each of them spends at least a week serving with one of our recent domestic church plants.
Why Our Residents Go on International Trips
We also feel that there is no substitute to cultivate a heart for the nations better than going to them. Therefore, each of our Residents go. Each Resident will spend between two to four weeks in an international context where they will engage people with the good news of Jesus Christ. We see this as paramount for our Residents to experience! We want our future Church Planters to plant churches that are not only focused on reaching the community they plant in but also multiplying and sending those they reach out to places in the world where there is little to no access to the gospel. We want our future Mercy Hill Staff members to have not only experience in but also a heart for multiplying churches and missionaries to be sent to the ends of the earth. We want our future business leaders to understand that they aren’t simply working for the American dream but to use their lives and resources for Kingdom advancement. And lastly, of course, we pray that some would land on the field themselves directly after the Residency, giving years of their lives in some of the hardest places on earth. Places that need the hope of the gospel but have no idea where to find it.
A Church Residency can be used for many different things and a lot of them good things. But at Mercy Hill, the Residency exists to make disciples and multiply churches by developing and sending ministry leaders to the ends of the earth.
– Brandon Newton, Resident Ministry Director