Letter to Pastors and Church Leaders

To Pastors and Church Leaders

Thank you for your tireless commitment to the Church and the body of Christ! As leaders, God has called each of us to do our part to take His vision and mission to the world. And many of you are doing that today in your own unique way. But God wants more from us. In John 17 Jesus outlines His desire for the body of Christ and prays for us asking the Father that we would be brought to complete unity so that the world would know that He sent Jesus and that He loves them in the same way God loves Him. In Ephesians 4:13 Paul tells us how to “reach unity” by becoming mature in our faith and knowledge of Jesus and attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. And in 1 Corinthians 12:12 Paul defines what it means to be One as Christ, by being one body with many parts. God’s vision for the Church is that each one of us would become mature in our faith and the fullness of Christ, become one in the Spirit of unity and step into our unique calling in the body, so that the world would know God is alive and loves them.

In 2009, God met me in a dream and gave me a vision and a blueprint to unite His Church.  I had no idea then how hard that would be and how much warfare we would receive. I also didn’t understand then that the blueprint He gave me was for a time much further in the future and that the first season of execution would be more for equipping me and allowing me to see the whole Church so that I knew how to move forward when it was time. During that equipping season, He allowed me to meet thousands of leaders in the Church and hundreds of churches and faith-based ministries in the community. And I and my team were blessed to see the Church operating independently in its different expressions, while getting small glimpses of how the Church could work together and how God designed us for that purpose. But we also saw division, a lot of it.  And we saw how that division blocked the City from being blessed by the Church. I now understand the author of that division is Satan and he puts an incredible amount of effort into dividing the church so that we can never become what God designed us to be and unbelievers never get to experience the love of the diverse and unified Church. But he can’t succeed if we don’t partner with it. Division in the Church is driven by sin. It’s not that hard to discern. But it is more difficult to address. Why?

To answer that question we have to look at the Church as a whole meaning the entire body of Christ, and then break down the parts including each individual church and believer. And we have to ask ourselves “who is the Church supposed to be and why does the Church exist?”. And in our efforts to do what God has called us to do, “are we succeeding in the way He instructed us to succeed?” or, are we following and partnering with the systems of the world around us, instead of the His ways.  Through the lens of John 17, Ephesians 4:13 and 1 Corinthians 12:12, we are failing. We are failing because we are trying to achieve our mission partnered with the systems of the world instead of those given to us by God, demonstrated by Jesus and guided by the Holy Spirit. And because of this, much of the church has settled into a narrowly construed belief system that is more concerned with keeping people out of the church instead of welcoming them in. And we are known more for division than unity; for shutting down and limiting leaders, instead of empowering the entire body of Christ to step into their God designed calling. And we are sadly known more for our hatred of oppressed people groups instead of healing and setting those groups free; and for using Scripture to divide us, rather than unite us.

Here's what I learned after 15+ years of uniting the Church. First, that we are one body with many parts and every part is necessary and good, despite not looking like what your denomination or church thinks they should look. Second, most people in the church have relied so much on their Pastor to teach them the Bible, they haven’t read it enough for themselves to become established in it. And worst, they believe that only Pastors are called to ministry. Third, in the glimpses of unity I have seen, that produce the outcomes Jesus demonstrated and prayed for, namely setting people free, they are a result of the Spirit of unity. Without the Holy Spirit, the church is a religion with no power. “Unity is a diverse people, speaking with diverse sounds, woven together to show the world God is alive and loves them, with one collective voice derived from many established voices.”  Tamera Vallejo- In other words, when mature believers know their authentic identity and purpose and it has been incubated and nurtured into maturity of faith and knowledge of the fullness of Jesus, we are able to step into leadership assignments and our true calling, in the Spirit of unity. And when the church operates in the Spirit of unity, the outcome is people knowing that God exists and Jesus loves them, releasing peace and blessing in Cities, Regions, and Nations. This is our mission, and this is where God is shifting the Church.

To that end, the way forward is for us to look at the outcomes we are producing and readdress our vision and mission.  As a woman in leadership in the church, I have witnessed firsthand through the limiting belief systems that many of you hold, that not only eroded my own identity and voice, but it also silenced me in culture. And it is the same type of belief system that results in a similar disruption of identity to other oppressed groups both inside and outside of the church. The very people we hope to bring to Christ, are so angry with Him because of how the Church represents who He is and rejects them on His behalf, that there is little hope, peace, or good will in our communities. The best way to set the oppressed free is to speak life into their God given Identity and Purpose that only they and God really know in a way that hits the target. And then to walk with them to maturity in their faith. Church, it’s time to speak up and step into who God called you to be! Instead of using Scripture to disqualify believers, we need to equip and commission the entire body of Christ to move into their spiritual identity, purpose, leadership and calling. And then, we can recognize our callings and work together in unity to build up the church and set the oppressed free in our communities. Jesus always healed people first and then He said, now go and sin no more. He is the hope of the world, but we are His Church, intended to further His mission together in the Spirit of unity. That unity releases blessing and peace into the community and the Church becomes a prophetic voice to the world.

Tamera Vallejo, MBA, CEO, Apostolic Leader

Jesus in Pink, Restoring the Power of She/Her

The Unleashed Church, An Ecosystem approach to Unity