Excel-erating Into the Next Chapter

Every story has chapters or events that build toward the crescendo. This year we will be introducing new leaders into new positions of our missional story. The 2nd-Century PCG foundation has been wisely built. One Mission and One Movement is well on it’s way and has the potential to catapult us into a united missional future of great soul winning, church planting, and minister development in the US and around the globe!

Intentionality and alignment are being built into our Movement in some new and exciting ways. Over the last eight years, we have seen tremendous progress in multiple areas. For example: we no longer have a General Office or International Head quarters; we have an International Mission Center (IMC)! This change happened on November 9, 2017. In the same General Board meeting, we also established “One Mission—One Movement” as our Centennial Celebration directive (June 2019). One good thing has led to another, and over the last few years we have launched the Forerunner Experience, Church Coaching, Global Conferences, Impact Eternity month, and biblical tithing at every level of the IMC. Our last three audits have been in the black. God is helping us to achieve a more stable financial footing, and we are on target to build a new financial future for a PCG 2.0.

Of course, the theme of this issue of the magazine is “One Story,” and truthfully, “one story” is not quite our testimony yet. However, I see evidence that we are building towards it as we witness pride turning into humility, fear turning into faith, and progress being made in our General Board, Districts, sections, churches, ministers, and families. We are certainly not without our growing pains, but I hope we all see them as only growing pains and continue the good work of “One Story,” uniting together in One Mission and One Movement.

More change is coming to our story this summer in Phoenix at our General Assembly. The torch will be passed to a new General Bishop and Women’s Ministry Director. Bishop Wayman Ming and Kimberly have been used by God these past eight years to establish the wonderful foundation of this 2nd-Century PCG. We all pray the next leaders chosen will be used by God in even greater ways to continue the story. Global Missions will be changing too. This ministry department is such a huge part of who we are, and we have been led so well by Revs. Virgil and Janie Kincaid. We love them so much and thank them for their many years of exemplary service! In fact, we are well on target to hit our goal of 100 nations with a PCG presence by the end of the decade thanks to them and their team’s efforts. Although change is sometimes sad and rarely easy, it is part of our “One Story” as we turn the page into an exciting new season filled with potential and mission!

As each season and year concludes, we seldom feel like we have made all the progress we envisioned, wanted, and needed. We sometimes feel like potential was left on the table or even on the floor. 2025 has begun, and the decade is half over. Our decadal goals of 100 nations, 1,000 next-gen leaders, 10,000 churches and 10,000 ministers, and 1,000,000 believers have not been reached. We haven’t even hit 50% of our missional goal yet. Can we make it? I think we can. God thinks we can.

I was listening to a podcast the other day and they said this phrase, “God has a fast forward button.” They were referring to being engaged in mission or, more specifically, working hard but not seeing all the results yet, and then suddenly, God hits the fast forward button and accelerates the pace towards the finish line. An achievement such as this is not just miraculous; we must put in our work too.

Job had a season of lack and loss. It looked grim, but then God hit that fast forward button and Job ended up with twice as much as he lost. Joseph wandered through a lot of delays and even ended up in prison before his dream came true. God pushed the fast forward button! There are many “sudden lies” in the Bible. As Pentecostals, we love the suddenly of Acts 2. It took several thousand years to get the ‘suddenly’ of the angels appearing to announce Jesus’ birth. It took another 33 ½ years to get the commandment to tarry in Jerusalem, and then it took 10 more days before the ‘suddenly’ of the mighty rushing wind, the fire, the infilling of the Holy Spirit accompanied with speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance, and the dispensation of the Holy Spirit to be ushered in.

God knows how to accelerate things and get them across the finish line! We can’t be content with just a church service pace, or a pace of tradition and habit. One Mission—One Movement established a missional pace or a better, more united missional pace for a PCG 2.0. As we move into the next pages of our “One Story,” there are so many opportunities and there is so much untapped potential in front of us.

What can we do to prepare for the fast forward button? What will it take for God to push that button before the end of the decade? Let’s discover the answers to these questions together with hearts full of faith and excitement for the potential of these next 5 years! May God Excel-erate us into the next chapter of our One Story!

‍