FBC Toronto: Church & Mission Today

FBC Toronto is a church that encourages all to offer their time, energy and skills to serve and do good will as neighbourly community members. But it is more than being a good neighbour, it is Christ’s command in Luke 10:27, when He said: “Love your God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your mind; and, love your neighbour as yourself.”

In the advent of the 21st century, the church is called to re-examine its Mission Theology as it is now faced with the structuring of postmodernist systems and beliefs. The concept of being ‘missional‘ seems like stating the obvious — that the church’s mission is to reconcile humanity with God. As it is currently used, a missional church seems more of a return to our biblical mission and a reaction against the church growth and mega-church movement. Interestingly enough, the word ‘church’ has been so misrepresented that it can refer to a building or people. However, the Church (Ekklesia) that Jesus told Peter He will build in Matthew (16:18), is His body of followers who were first called Christians in the Book of Acts (11:26).

We structure our life around being a sent community instead of a vendor of services. That means that our mission at First Baptist must be fully owned by the whole community, not just the few who provide programs to meet the needs of others. Worship must not be something people attend but must be the gathering of the praise and adoration in our service to God and the community. Evangelism must not be member recruitment but genuine gospel journalism, reporting the good news of the Kingdom and giving the gospel away. This is the postmodern world we live in, and it means that story becomes more important than doctrine. The community is not interested in what we believe, but why we believe it and “our acting must be a natural outgrowth of being.” (The Church and the Kingdom of God by Peter Kuzmic)