May 01, 1983 by

If the best way to lead is by example, then Pastor Paul Cedar and the Lake Avenue Congregational Church of Pasadena, California, are leaders indeed. This congregation f 3,400 members, part of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, was one of the earliest to participate in the Frontier Fellowship movement, and during the past year has progressively adopted the disciplines suggested for Frontier Fellowship congregations.

April 10, 1983, marked another milestone for Lake Avenue Church. In the morning service, Frontier Fellowship National Coordinator Len Bartlotti presented Pastor Cedar, also chairman of the board of the National Coordinating Office, with a framed certificate honoring Lake Avenue Church as a 'Frontier Mission Outpost.' Such an "outpost' adopts five goals: establishing a frontier mission fund; beginning a congregational Frontier Fellowship program; providing opportunities for further study and training, adopting a frontier people group by name for long¬term congregational emphasis; and sharing frontier vision with other individuals and three other congregations.

The April 10 evening service was set aside as a special Frontier Fellowship meeting for the entire congregation. John Gustavsen, Lake Avenue Church Frontier Fellowship coordinator, shaped the service around the five Frontier Fellowship disciplines of saving, reading, praying, gathering, and sharing. First, while men and women, boys and girls marched to the front of the sanctuary to deposit their coins in a special Frontier Fellowship wagon. Margaret Jacobsen, Lake Avenue Church director of missions, reported on Lake Avenue's use of $9,500 in loose change offerings collected in the past year; half of these funds have gone, by the church's choice, to the U.S. Center for World Mission, and the other half has been allocated to frontier work done by North Africa Mission Associates among Berber tribes. (Lake Avenue Church recently commissioned a young couple of its own for ministry among Berbers in Morocco.)

Second, the congregation read together the April to section of the Prayer Guide. Third, small groups of tree or four huddled to pray as the Daily Prayer Guide had suggested. Fourth, Johntiavsen interviewed Harry Burke, Lake Avenue Church missionary with the Latin America Mission related Spearhead ministry, about the work Spearhead is doing among bypassed urban populations of Latin America.

Finally, USCWM staff member Darrell Dorr, also a member of Lake Avenue Church, walked the congregation of 500 through the "Five Global Facts" booklet, designed to help believers to share their missions vision in a brief and simple way. Lake Avenue Church members were challenged to use this tool in sharing their frontier mission vision with other believers and congregations.

Praise the Lord for the example of Lake Avenue Congregational Church and its pastor! For more information on how your church, large or small, can become a "Frontier Mission Outpost' or to order copies of the "Five Global Facts" booklet, check the appropriate boxes on pages 23 & 24 of this Issue of Mission Frontiers.