How We Came Into Being

National Campaign of Hope
The National Proclaim Hope! Campaign

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How We Came
Into Being

PROCLAIM HOPE!
HELPING THE CHURCH AWAKE TO CHRIST FOR ALL THAT HE IS

Formerly president of Concerts of Prayer International (COPI) and chairman of America's National Prayer Committee, David Bryant has been defined by many as a "messenger of hope" to the Body of Christ. Through citywide mass prayer rallies; national conferences; training videos, seminars and manuals; development of leadership coalitions; and media outreach, over the past 30 years David has played a visible role in the emergence of an unprecedented worldwide prayer movement.

However, following a "Council of Elders" in Chicago (convened by some 20 national Christian leaders who believed it was time for David Bryant to pour himself full-bore into a proclamation ministry), and in consultation with the COPI national Board of Directors, in 2003 we "retired" Concerts of Prayer International in favor of a new thrust called: "PROCLAIM HOPE!" Transitioning from an exclusive focus on raising up concerted prayer, we are now actively propagating increased clarity about the hope the Church is praying toward - which is a fuller manifestation of Christ's supremacy among God's people and among the nations.

Despite the many PROCLAIM HOPE! activities, action-steps and alliances that our National Campaign Proposal presents, our main passion is not for our own programming. Above everything else, we are calling God's people to capture God's agenda for this generation - to give His Son the pre-eminence in all that the Church does, in fresh, bold ways.

"PROCLAIM HOPE!" defines its mission this way:
To awaken throughout the Church fresh hope, passion, prayer and the mission, focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, by proclaiming the full extent of His supremacy and by empowering others to do the same.

Accordingly, we summarize the primary emphasis for PROCLAIM HOPE! "envisioning fostering and serving a nationwide Christ-awakening movment."

THE ROOTS OF PROCLAIM HOPE!
Previously, in David Bryant's service to the national and international prayer movement, Christ's glory and Kingdom were always central to his teaching and training efforts. Increasingly, however, it became clear to David and many other leaders that the time had come to make Christ's supremacy the pre-eminent agenda for every believer who prays with a burden for renewal. The modern prayer movement, as strong as it is, desperately needs to sharpen its focus. Along with the Church-at-large, it needs to discover a more comprehensive vision of, and passion toward, the Lord Jesus Christ for all that He wants to be over us, within us, through us and out ahead of us. PROCLAIM HOPE! addresses this vital concern head-on.

One word is key to understanding PROCLAIM HOPE! The word is culmination. PROCLAIM HOPE! represents a culmination of over 30 years of ministry for David Bryant. It reaches back to his years as a local church pastor, through his time with Ralph Winter and the founding of the U. S. Center for World Mission, on to his twelve-year tenure as a Minister-At-Large for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and more recently to his leadership of Concerts of Prayer International and America's National Prayer Committee.

As one Board member put it: "The past 30 years have formed a strong spear-shaft for which PROCLAIM HOPE! is the sharp point of the spear leading the way." With that same certainty, 70 national Christian leaders have now issued an "Open Letter to the Church", putting their signatures to a call to Christians everywhere to see the urgent need for, and the essential mission of, PROCLAIM HOPE!

THE CRISIS THAT REQUIRES "PROCLAIM HOPE!"

We believe PROCLAIM HOPE! has been raised up to help confront and cure what is possibly the greatest crisis facing the Church today. Some call it a "crisis of Christology". David Bryant calls it a "crisis of supremacy". It is the dramatic shortfall in how the evangelical movement sees, seeks, shows, serves and speaks about the glorious greatness of God's Son.

Dr. J. I. Packer suggests, for example, that the Church's current vision of Christ is much like Humpty-Dumpty! It has broken into a hundred pieces. Everyone has a piece of the picture. But no one is putting all the pieces back together in a way that gives God's people a comprehensive message about His Son, a message that can transform congregations and their mission to the world.

The dean of Beeson School of Theology, Dr. Timothy George, warns:

The erosion of Christ-centered faith threatens to undermine the identity of evangelical Christianity. Real revival and genuine reformation will not be built on flimsy foundations.

To which Dr. Dallas Willard, University of Southern California professor, adds:

Why is today's church so weak? Why are we able to claim many conversions and enroll many church members but have less and less impact on our culture? Why are Christians indistinguishable from the world? This poor result is not in spite of what we teach and how we teach, but precisely because of it. The power of Jesus and his gospel has been cut off from ordinary human existence.

Dr. Chuck Swindoll in his book, The Grace Awakening, suggests that the greatest heresy in the evangelical church is our emphasis on what we should be doing for God, rather than on what God has done and is getting ready to do for us in Jesus Christ.

No wonder Dr. George Barna, respected demographer of the American evangelical church, concluded his research with this troubling observation:

Overall, Christian ministry is stuck in a deep rut. Too many Christians and churches in America have traded in spiritual passion for empty rituals, clever methods and mindless practices. The challenge to today's Church is not methodological. It is a challenge to resuscitate the spiritual passion and fervor of the nation's Christians.

In most evangelical churches, many would claim that "Christ is preached." Yet a closer look reveals that the message is more often about how Christ fits into who we are, where we're headed, what we're doing and how we're blessed. To "preach the supremacy of Christ" means to help Christians discover how they fit into who Christ is, where Christ is headed, what Christ is doing and how Christ is blessed. This is a huge paradigm shift for many evangelicals and holds the potential for deep repercussions for all we become for Christ.

The impact of this "crisis of supremacy" can be seen everywhere. In fact,in David Bryant's most recent book, CHRIST IS ALL!, he includes in-depth analyses and illustrations of this crisis. Here is a sampling of his findings:

It is statistically verifiable that the number of people in pastoral leadership in America living in quiet desperation is epidemic. Every month 1400 leave the ministry. In addition, each week 53,000 parishioners forsake the Church, never to return. Over 80% of U.S. congregations are either stagnant or dying.

Biblical illiteracy in many churches (consistently confirmed by Gallup polls), often coupled with parochial, self-serving agendas, has not helped the situation. Millions of Americans declaring themselves to be Christ-followers concede, when surveyed, that Jesus was just like the rest of us when it comes to sin-guilty, impure, struggling with defeat. A recent finding about youth from evangelical families says it all: Only 35% claim to be "absolutely committed" to Christ as their supreme Lord and Savior.

Thousands of churches are experiencing a drop in financial giving, a shortfall of laborers, and a general atmosphere of apathy toward the things of Christ's Kingdom. All of this, despite the fact that U. S. Christians have spent over $500 billion on themselves the past ten years to shore up commitment to Christ.

Evangelical "urbanologist" Dr. Ray Bakke talks about the "spirit of hopelessness" inside urban churches as the single greatest barrier to outreach for Christ in our cities. Dr. Os Guinness documents the exhaustion that many pastors experience due to nearly 15 major roles they are expected to play for their congregations, as many of their parishioners look to their shepherds to be for them what Christ alone should be for them.

These are just a few characteristics of the crisis that is increasingly manifested throughout the Church, especially in America. As we suggest at PROCLAIM HOPE!, in many ways the general diminishment of vision for Christ's supremacy and His power among His people makes Him seem to be more of a "mascot" for self-absorbed churchly activities, rather than the Monarch of a Body focused on His Kingdom's advance.

David's new mission centers on this singular crisis. Shaped by years of ministry, including his travels into all parts of the Body of Christ worldwide, David proclaims the glory of Christ and the full extent of His supremacy in such a way as to help bring about a fuller "re-conversion" of God's people back to Christ for ALL that He is. We want to awaken and mobilize Christians to serve our Lord Jesus with a revived and fully informed zeal for His glory. We believe that "purpose- driven" lives and churches need to become, first of all, "Person-driven" as Christians come alive again to Christ with abounding hope and passion for the full extent of His reign. The need for such a ministry is clear and has never been more urgent.

THE EMPHASES OF "PROCLAIM HOPE!"

With this sobering landscape in view, the thrust of PROCLAIM HOPE! involves a two-fold emphasis:

PROCLAIMING: David is personally expanding his work of proclaiming a more comprehensive vision of Christ, spreading it throughout the Church, revitalizing committed Christians, restoring them to a dynamic hope in the Lord Jesus, and mobilizing them to serve Him with renewed passion for His Kingdom.
EMPOWERING: He is also mentoring other Christ-proclaimers to flood our churches as "Messengers of Hope". These agents of change are key to fostering the God-given awakening to His Son that our generation desperately needs.

To that end, PROCLAIM HOPE! targets special ministry to leaders at every level: pastors, lay leadership and younger leaders as well as regional, national, denominational and "servant -ministry" leaders. Many of them sense they have lost the sharpness of their vision and passion for the glorious greatness of God's Son. Demands and distractions of ministry often overwhelm them. Many feel vulnerable, ineffective, discouraged and exhausted. Therefore, they are prime candidates for a renewed hope based on a transforming encounter with our Redeemer for all that He is. In their leadership roles, they in turn will themselves impact the Body of Christ as Messengers of Hope, helping God's people to purposefully re-engage Christ in light of everything His supremacy encompasses. Equipping leaders to serve our churches this way is at the heart of the PROCLAIM HOPE! campaign.

WE HAVE A CLEAR BIBLICAL MANDATE

A few verses after Colossians 1:18, Scripture undergirds our mission to awaken the Church to the supremacy of Christ. This one text reveals how the glory of Christ was Paul's message and ministry. It sets the direction for PROCLAIM HOPE! as well. It captures the heart and soul of our calling...

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you,
and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking
in regard to Christ's afflictions,
for the sake of his body, which is the Church.
I have become its servant
by the commission God gave me
to present to you the word of God
in its fullness -
that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden
for ages and generations,
but is now disclosed to the saints.
To them God has chosen to make known among
the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery,
which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory.
We proclaim him,
admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy?

~Colossians 1:24-29

To learn more about the PROCLAIM HOPE! "National Campaign of Hope", with all of its specific goals for the next five years, read our ministry vision by clicking here.

To find out more about how PROCLAIM HOPE! might serve you, read about inviting David Bryant's Ministry.

For further information on the vision and ministries of PROCLAIM HOPE!, or to explore David Bryant's ministry to your community or congregation visit our contact page.

Proclaim Hope!

Helping The Church Awake To Christ For All That He Is!

How We Came
Into Being