Source: Catalyst Services Postings
Whenever your church makes missions decisions, you are looking at the options through a particular set of lenses. Those lenses focus on an approach to missions that determines what opportunities you will pursue and when you will say “no.”
This Postings describes eight of the most common missions approaches in roughly the chronological order in which they have appeared on the North American missions scene. Understanding these different approaches can help you more objectively evaluate them and the priorities that they represent. Each has strengths and weaknesses. While it may be possible to use more than one lens, it is not possible to employ all of them, and some combinations are incongruous.
Readers might also be interested in the Church Missions Assessment from Missio Nexus. It could help you and your church evaluate and strengthen your global mission contribution.