news article

CenterPoint Church’s Culture of Call

January 18, 2022 / By Wayne Clemens, Senior Pastor CenterPoint Church

As we begin to think about and talk about the “Culture of Call” in the local church, the conversation usually revolves around the call to pastoral ministry within the church. At CenterPoint Church in the Mohawk District of the Upper New York Annual Conference, we believe that the call to pastoral ministry is only one aspect of the culture of call that God has established here in this local church setting.

As we continue to seek new ways to fulfill our mission of making disciples who make disciples for the transformation of the world, God provides us with a culture of call that allows us to discover, develop, and deploy Christ-following, transformational leaders. This takes place through an incredibly deliberate mission-and-vision-driven Disciple Making Plan and Leadership Development Process. How those clergy and lay leaders are identified and transformed is by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the midst of the culture of call that has been established as we continue to encourage the use and growth of all of the gifts and graces that God has provided us, so that we might be built up as the Body of Christ to fulfill our calling and mission.

We believe the culture of call that helps us fulfill that mission has been enhanced by the vision God has given to us to: “Love God and Others, Grow Together in Community, Serve our Neighbor and the World and Share Christ Always and Everywhere.” As we focus on the mission and live it out through our vision, current and potential leaders answer the call to ministry that God has placed on all our hearts.

Through our Next Step Sessions, many first and second-time guests become regular attenders who gain a greater understanding of the mission and vision that this local church has been called to and they discover, perhaps for the first time, the spiritual gifts God has blessed them with by participating in a Spiritual Gifts Inventory. This is how we assist in the discovery part of the Discover, Develop, Deploy culture that permeates CenterPoint Church.

Operational Team Member and Prayer Team Leader, Robin Wilson, describes the CenterPoint Culture of Call in this way:

“Like a blast of fresh air when you open the door on a cold winter morning, when you walk into the front doors of CenterPoint church, you are met with the warmest of welcomes and smiles. You are made to feel like they are genuinely glad you are here.

Ushered into the Worship Center, the Lord God Almighty is honored, the Word of God is preached and taught, and the Holy Spirit is welcomed to move as the Spirit wishes. Not only are you ministered to, but you are afforded opportunities to minister to others both within the church and without the church through outreach.

The pastoral team and the CenterPoint Church family genuinely strive to live out the vision to love God and others, grow together in community, serve our neighbors in the world and to share Christ always and everywhere

Whether it's grabbing a cup of coffee in the MUDRoom cafe, praying with others on our prayer team, digging in to God's word at a Bible study or disciple group, or participating on a mission team that seeks to feed God’s sheep, there's always something going on at CenterPoint that you might be called to and God is on the move in the midst of this culture of call that God has established. “

Certified Lay Minister, Brenda Brucker, describes it this way:

“If I were to explain the ‘Culture of Call’ at CenterPoint I would immediately look to how we ‘Love God’ and build a loving relationship with God. Then how we openhandedly embrace those around us, and truly ‘love others.’  

It is from that place of relational intimacy with God and others that we ‘Grow together in community.’ We look beyond ourselves to embrace the gifts and graces the Lord has blessed others with and spur them to use their gifts for the glory of God.  This is where discipleship happens! This is where we learn together, pray together, and dream together all things Jesus Christ. This is where exciting stuff begins to bubble up from the Lord, and we see Christ at work in others and in ourselves. 

Yet we don't stop there, we ‘Serve our neighbors and the world.’  Though this is an outward action, it is an inward action as well.  This allows us to ask God, ‘Who is my neighbor in this situation, or how might I make a difference in someone else's life and further yet, out into the world?’ We also ask questions like, ‘God, how are we, Your church, being called to serve those around us?’  Inwardly, this stretches our faith and allows us to be bold. This allows us to be uncomfortable from time to time, by taking spiritual risks to give God space to show up with the unimaginable, so that God’s Holy name would be glorified. 

 We continue to develop further in the growth process allowing the Spirit to empower us as we "Share Christ always and everywhere."  We naturally flow in the Spirit sending forth fruit-filled disciples of Jesus into the world, who are empowered with the Gospel of Jesus.  Our culture is supportive, loving, encouraging, and continuously moving the Kingdom forward never losing sight of the mission, vision, and our core values.  

The culture of call is simply loving God, abiding in pure intimacy with the Savior. It is also simple obedience to respond to God’s invitation to follow God and respond to God’s will for our lives.”              

We are so excited in this New Year to see what God is up to next as we live out this “Culture of Call” at CenterPoint Church. We are excited for the next group of clergy and lay leaders that will be discovered, developed, and deployed as Christ-following, transformational leaders, so that we might reach new people in new places with the Good News of Jesus Christ and His great love for us.