Meeting Minutes List

Describe the item or answer the question so that site visitors who are interested get more information. You can emphasiMinutes from Kingdom Advancement Commission
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Bishop in Attendance: Kimba Evariste
Members in Attendance: Wes Griffin, Paul Lawler, Linda Davis, Sherri Tabaka-Morrissey, Max Wilkins, Kabah Kasongo Mwenze, Steve Cordle, Simon Mafunda, Jeff Jernigan, Mariela Mihailova, Musa Danjuma Umar, Luciano Pereira da Silva, YoonHee Kang, Mwenge Muyombi, Heather Carter Young, Terry Vanderslice, Amber Tolbert
Incoming Members in Attendance: Diana Briselli, Bill Brown, Robby Kalitongi, Angelo (Leo) Perez, Laura Saffell
Staff Liaison in Attendance: Teresa Marcus
Welcome and Opening Prayer – Wes Griffin
Opened at 9:15 a.m. ET.
Minutes from Thursday, August 6, 2026
Minutes were approved online via email prior to today’s meeting.
GENERAL UPDATES – Wes Griffin
The purpose of today’s meeting is to both conduct commission business and help onboard incoming commission members. Orientation will continue over multiple meetings.
Thanks to outgoing commission members for laying a strong foundation during the GMC’s formative years. During the transitional phase, a decision was made to create a unified Commission that included church multiplication, evangelism, missions mobilization, unreached people groups and disaster response rather than multiple separate commissions given the importance of collaboration across related ministry areas. Several hundred people from around the world have contributed to the commission's development since the transitional period, reflecting a great breadth and intentionality behind the years of work to this point.
Wes welcomed the incoming members. Additional appointments will be made in future meetings to strengthen expertise and diverse representation.
Kingdom Advancement’s work already aligns with the denomination's newly adopted Strategic Planning Framework. The updated statement defining the commission's responsibilities as outlined in the Book of Doctrines and Discipline is expected to be available by November 5.
The commission's primary role remains serving local churches, annual conferences, and the global church by aligning, equipping, and resourcing ministry under the leadership of bishops and conference superintendents.
Vice Chair Report – Paul Lawler
The Kingdom Advancement Commission is strategically positioned to equip the church. Sound doctrine alone will not renew the church, but doctrine rooted in Scripture and brought to life through the Holy Spirit can serve as a catalyst for renewal. The commission will play a key role in equipping bishops, conference superintendents, presiding elders, pastors, and local churches with practical tools to advance the GMC’s vision over the next six years.
The incoming commission should approach this responsibility with seriousness and humility, depending on God, remaining attentive to His will, embracing innovation, and demonstrating sensitivity to the diverse cultures of the global church. He thanked those who have served and welcomed new members.
TEAM UPDATES
Missions Mobilization & Unreached People Groups – Sherri Tabaka-Morrissey
Sherri provided an overview of the commission's organization and scope, noting the commission’s commitment to kingdom building and intercessory prayer and its alignment to the Strategic Planning Framework. She introduced the Kingdom Advancement portal and specifically the Missions Mobilization and Unreached People Groups team’s focus.
Highlights included:
• Continued development of the multilingual Kingdom Advancement Portal and resource library.
• Collaboration with the Discipleship, Doctrine, and Just Ministry Commission around disciple-making resources.
• Ongoing expansion of ENGAGE trainings and ENGAGE multilingual resources. • Development of short-term mission team resources.
• Promotion of missional engagement tools, Stratus and Joshua Project.
• Centrality of Acts 1:8 to missions mobilization and encouraging Acts 1:8 churches • Transitional assistance and missional partnership resources.
Partnership Update – Jeff Jernigan
Jeff reviewed the history and structure of transitional assistance partnerships. The hope is for transitional partnerships to move toward missional partnerships.
Highlights included:
• Continued support for annual conferences that entered the GMC with limited resources. • Five-year sustainability plans for transitional partners.
• Growing emphasis on "from everywhere to everywhere" mission relationships.
• Continued need for partners in multiple areas. Urgent need in Grain Coast, Zambia, and East Congo.
The upcoming Beyond These Walls conference (February 25-27, 2027) is an opportunity for networking, mission equipping, and in-person commission meetings.
Church Multiplication & Evangelism – Max Wilkins
Max reviewed the foundational philosophy behind the Church Multiplication and Evangelism work. Key themes included:
• The GMC’s mission is to make disciples and spread scriptural holiness. Healthy disciple making naturally results in church multiplication.
• Evangelism and discipleship must remain closely connected.
• A movement must replace at least 3% of its churches annually through growth to be sustainable.
• Church multiplication should be locally owned while being supported through denominational equipping.
Highlights included:
• Continued work through regional coordination teams across seven global regions.
• Significant growth in emerging areas across Europe, Asia, Central Asia, North Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
• Recent progress in Brazil Emerging Area, including the ordination of 53 new pastors.
• Ongoing partnerships with Exponential, River Network, OMS Village Church Planting, and others.
• Continued challenges in global data collection, accountability, and follow-up. • Several emerging areas currently in process with several new areas expected.
Max noted the significant amount of work required of CM&E team members and emphasized the need to strengthen regional leadership, noting that much of the current work continues to rely on volunteers.
Disaster Response – Linda Davis
Linda provided an update on global Disaster Response efforts, reporting that the ministry has responded to 65 disasters over the past two years, distributed more than $1.9 million in relief, and served over 100,000 people. Critical assistance is provided through medical care, food distribution, clean water, emergency supplies, housing restoration, and spiritual support.
Highlights included:
• Continued Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in Western North Carolina, with more than 1,200 rebuilding projects completed.
• Earthquake relief in Venezuela including humanitarian assistance alongside gospel engagement.
• $18,500 in aid for flooding and landslides in Nepal.
• Ongoing flood recovery efforts in Indiana and Southeast Ohio.
• Relief efforts underway in East Congo and in the US following Hurricane Isaias.
The Commission provides support when a disaster exceeds an annual conference's capacity to respond. Therefore, the report does not convey the full scope of disaster response as annual conference efforts are not included.
Additional Updates, Questions & Discussion
Simon emphasized the importance of completing ABLAZE training across Africa. Wes noted that training has been completed in West, Central, and East Africa, with Southern Africa now planned for Q1 or Q2.
Mariela reflected on the importance of global partnerships for smaller conferences, sharing how those relationships have strengthened ministry in Eastern Europe and created opportunities to partner with churches in Rwanda.
Incoming members received information from Mike Shaffer regarding an orientation meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 5 at 9:00 a.m. ET, when it is anticipated the commission will elect a chair and continue the onboarding process.
Wes outlined the budget process, with a recommendation from incoming members needed by November 6 so the budget can be finalized before December. (Note: Mike Schafer has extended this deadline by another week.) Contractor agreements supporting various commission initiatives expire at the end of the year. The incoming commission will determine future contracts, contractors, and any staffing recommendations.
It was recommended that the Commission hold an in-person meeting during the next Beyond These Walls conference to strengthen collaboration early in the new six-year term.
Closing Prayer – Wes Griffin
Adjourned at 11:05 a.m. ETze this text with bullets, italics or bold, and add links.