Increase Your Church’s “Missional Fluency”
February 2025
How do you get and keep people on mission? If only it were as easy as telling them, “Let’s Go!”
While it’s not quite that simple, Calvert Grace in Owings, Maryland uses that verbiage as the name of their annual outreach conference. The “Let’s Go Outreach Conference” idea was born out of Acts 1:8 when Jesus told the apostles, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
This annual conference was founded in 2023 with a focus on the local church (Jerusalem), local outreach (Judea and Samaria), and global missions (the ends of the earth). Outreach Pastor Trevin Hoekzema says, “We had a desire to start offering a yearly missions conference to give a special focus on our purpose as the church: to make disciples of all nations. While we talk often about the great commission, we don’t often spend time going deep into the aspects of outreach and missions from here to the nations. Our conference exists to inspire, challenge, and equip our church to share the gospel with the lost.”
The conference takes place on one Saturday that is jam-packed with worship, speakers, workshops, good connection, and conversation. At this year’s gathering, Encompass World Partners provided several of the workshops. “We’ve found that it’s particularly impactful when we can accomplish that mission by inviting our ministry partners to provide the teaching and discussions,” Hoekzema affirms.
When asked about how the conference has impacted the church, Hoekzema says, “We’ve found an increase in what I call ‘missionary fluency.’ More people know more about our local and global partners—and that’s huge! It helps us care for our partners better while also helping people see themselves in those roles. Since we started this three years ago, we’ve seen more people go on missions both locally and abroad. While Calvert Grace has always had a heart for missions and outreach, the conference has helped our church take that heart to the next level.”
An event like this takes some planning and manpower, but the return on investment could be incredible for your church and the Great Commission. To brainstorm how you can do something similar for your church, contact Trevin.
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