Great Commission Congress 2013
“Boundless” – November 4-8, 2013
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28: 18-20 ESV).
SCHEDULE:
Monday, November 4
10 a.m. – Chapel – “Exodus: Free from Fear”
7 p.m. – Evening Service – “Boundless Salvation”
Tuesday, November 5
7 p.m. – Evening Service – “Moses and the Fire”
Wednesday, November 6
10 a.m. – Chapel – “Smashing the Father’s Idols”
7 p.m. – Evening Service – “Steps to Freedom”
8 p.m. – Reception with Mission Agencies, Student Center
Thursday, November 7
7 p.m. – Evening Service, Estes Chapel, Asbury Theological Seminary
Friday, November 8
10 a.m. – Chapel
SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES:
Wed, 11/13 – Salvation Army Homeless Shelter – 6 p.m.
Thur, 11/14 – Eastern State Hospital – 5:30 pm
Fri, 11/15 – Nueva Vida – 6 p.m.
Fri, 11/15 – Celebrate Recovery – 4:15 pm
Sat, 11/16 – Rescue Mission – TBA
SPEAKERS:
Major Stephen Court received his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Toronto. Stephen was disciple with Campus Crusade for Christ. He is the author of the following books: Salvationism 101 (with Danielle Strickland), Be a Hero (with Wesley Campbell), Proverbial Leadership (with Wesley Harris), Revolution (with Aaron White), The Uprising (with Olivia Munn), One Thing (with Jim Knaggs), One Day (with Jim Knaggs), One Army (with Jim Knaggs), Hallmarks of the Salvation Army (with Henry Gariepy), Holiness Incorporated (with Geoff Webb and Rowan Castle), Boston Common, Greater Things (with James Thompson), Army on its Knees (with Janet Munn), High Counsel (with Joe Noland), A Field for Exploits (with Eva Burrows), Boundless (with Danielle Strickland). Together with his wife, Danielle Strickland, Stephen has three sons. Serving with the Salvation Army, they have lived and worked in Canada and Australia.
Major Danielle Strickland graduated in 1993 from the College for Officer Training. She continued her education and in 2006 was awarded a Masters of Arts degree in Leadership from Trinity Western University. Danielle was spiritually influenced soon after her conversion by a mission trip to Malawi. She is the author of the following books: CHAOTIC ORDER: The Post-Modern Christian Leadership Secret, JUST IMAGINE: The world for God (with Campbell Roberts), Challenging Evil (with Carvosso Gauntlett), The Liberating Truth: How Jesus Empowers Women, Boundless: Living life in overflow (with Stephen Court),and Salvationism 101 (with Stephen Court). Together with her husband, Stephen Court, Danielle is the mother of three boys-Zion, Judah, and Moses. Serving in the Salvation Army her family has lived and worked in a few different contexts in Canada and Australia.
PRESS RELEASE:
Great Commission Congress 2013 Aims for Freedom
November 08, 2013
WILMORE, Ky. — The questions started off easy.
On Monday, as Asbury’s Great Commission Congress 2013 began, Salvation Army Majors Stephen Court and Danielle Strickland posed a series of questions for students to answer via text message, with results shown in real time on screen in Hughes Auditorium. Monday’s questions were personal, but not necessarily private — for example, “What do people value most?” and “What determines your job or career choice?”.
By the end of the Great Commission Congress on Friday, however, the questions were much tougher. As students shared electronically about their fears and struggles, a message of freedom drawn from the Exodus story of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt emerged to encourage them to live in the freedom only God provides.
“The Holy Spirit wants to come and be with us, remind us, liberate us to live a better story,” Strickland said in Chapel. “You were born to change the world. That’s why you exist, to live a better story that can liberate the world.”
The Great Commission Congress is an annual event at Asbury designed to help students define and
live out a “Great Commission lifestyle” of gospel-focused engagement with their world. The week includes several opportunities to explore Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples”:
- Themed services during Chapel and special evening meetings
- Residence hall-based small group discussions (called Koinonia groups)
- Corporate prayer before services
- Time to meet with representatives of more than 10 different mission agencies on campus
Some of the mission agencies have a permanent presence on campus through their student centers, which host missionaries and connect students with short- and long-term mission opportunities. For them, the Great Commission Congress is a week to help students take concrete action on the principles they’ve heard throughout the week.
“It’s about finding out where student interests are and connecting them with places where they can use their skills and passions,” said Jonathan Powers, who directs the World Gospel Mission student center with his wife, Faith. “Asbury is so good about providing opportunities to share with students — from tables in the dining hall to going to Koinonia groups.”
Mission agencies represented at Asbury during the Great Commission Congress included Evangelism Resources, GO InterNational, L’Arch: Greater Washington, D.C., Mission Year, New Hope International, New Life Advance International, One Mission Society, Pneukleus, World Gospel Mission, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Youth for Christ/USA Missionary Deployment and Asbury’s own Cross Cultural Experience office.