Great Commission Churches GCC Home
Chronology of Key Events in Great Commission Church History

 

To download this in PDF format click here.

 

The Movement's Early Formation

The Great Commission church movement began in 1970 with a focus on planting and building churches that are devoted to Jesus Christ and to fulfilling the command given by Jesus to "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28: 19, 20). The movement began when a group of approximately thirty college-age Christians (who were associated with a Plymouth Brethren assembly) at Southern Colorado University embarked on a summer-long evangelistic outreach (which they called "the blitz") to several university campuses in the southwestern United States. Involved with this outreach were three of the movement's founders, Jim McCotter, Herschel Martindale, and Dennis Clark. Jim and Herschel were a part of the Plymouth Brethren assemblies and Dennis had been a staff member of Campus Crusade for Christ. The Navigators and Operation Mobilization also influenced the ministry in its early years.

 

The leaders that were left behind from this outreach started some of the first churches of the Great Commission movement. In the next few years, additional mission outreaches and training conferences took place and the gospel went out to many campuses. By the end of 1973, there were about 15 "works" established.


The Great Commission Church Movement in the 1970's

The early Great Commission church movement was characterized by a commitment to fulfill the Great Commission by following the pattern laid out in the New Testament. Years later the phrase "New Testament Christianity in Action Today" was used to describe the vision of the movement.

 

The founders of the movement taught that the New Testament church was to be the primary vehicle for fulfilling the Great Commission. They believed that since all believers are priests, a person need not be a clergyman to baptize or serve the Lord 's Supper. From the beginning, the campus fellowships that were started considered themselves churches, baptized new believers, and observed communion. Their structure was very simple, usually meeting in homes or in campus buildings.

 

The leaders emphasized that the church should be governed by a plurality of elders, also called "overseers" and "pastors" (Acts 20: 17, 28; 1 Peter 5:1). Elders were trained within the church and were appointed based upon the character qualities described in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

 

Initially, these fellowships were quite loosely affiliated, with a unity based, not upon any formal association or doctrinal creed, but upon four factors: a common love for Christ and the Scriptures; a zeal to fulfill the Great Commission through the New Testament Church; a devotion to a covenant love and unity that went beyond the local church; and a commitment to meet together nationally and regionally as elders and as churches in conferences. The present day summertime GCC Pastors conference and the Christmas-time Faithwalkers conference are both designed to capture the spirit of those early conferences and to continue imparting the vision, mission and values of the movement.


The Formation of Great Commission International (GCI)

By the late 1970's, as the number of fellowships grew to over 30, several of the movement's leaders recognized the need to have a more formal association of churches on a national level.

 

In 1983, ten leaders from various fellowships around the country moved to the Washington D.C. area to seek the Lord as to how He might want the movement to organize nationally. These men recognized that during New Testament times, as well as throughout all of church history, God has raised up men to minister regionally, nationally, and internationally by starting churches and providing continuing guidance and oversight to those churches. Over the next few years, these leaders began to give direction to the association and provide pastoral care and oversight to local churches and leaders.

 

In 1983, Great Commission International, led by Jim McCotter and Dennis Clark, was formed to provide services such as publishing and fund raising for the developing association. In 1986, Jim McCotter announced his resignation from GCI. Jim believed that God wanted him to utilize his entrepreneurial abilities within the secular media field. In 1988, Jim moved to Florida and has not been part of Great Commission since that time. Since Jim McCotter's departure in 1986, God has continued to expand and multiply the movement, from over 5,000 attenders in 1986 to over 43,000 in 2005.


The Development of Great Commission Churches

In 1987, the new national leadership team (Dennis Clark, John Hopler, and Rick Whitney) focused on the basic ministry of prayer and teaching the Word in churches and in regions. It was at this time that Daylights, a daily devotional, began to be published.

 

In 1987 and 1988, more leaders were appointed to provide oversight to the national and regional ministry. Soon after, the movement experienced another period of growth. The majority of the new churches were planted in U.S. communities, rather than college campuses. The community churches were started mostly with college graduates in cities that were near campus locations.

 

During the late 1980's and early 1990's a concerted effort was made to reach out to people who felt that they had been hurt by GCI and GCI churches. At the initial urging of Tom Short, the GCI leaders and pastors published a paper as part of a plan to follow the Biblical standard of humility and reconciliation in relationships. (For a copy of this paper, click here.) This effort towards reconciliation, formally called Project CARE, was led by Dave Bovenmyer and was instrumental in building unity with Christians within and outside of Great Commission. (For an explanation of Great Commission Churches' response to past and present criticisms, click here.)

 

In 1989 GCI changed its name to "Great Commission Association of Churches." (Today, the shortened name "Great Commission Churches" is used in public communications, in order to promote the central and historical vision of this movement.) In the early 1990's Great Commission pastors developed a book of government, called the Articles of Association, which were formally approved in 1994. According to the Articles, local churches have final authority over their affairs, under the Lord Jesus Christ. Although each church is autonomously governed, each church is united with the other churches in the association and with national and regional ministries for fellowship, accountability, and mission (US and international church planting.) For information about the accountability process for churches in Great Commission Churches, click here.

 

In the 1990's a formal process was established for the appointment of pastors (elders) in churches in the association. In 1999, the Great Commission Leadership Institute was formed as a ministry to support the training of pastors within the local church.

 

In 2002, Great Commission Association of Churches was accepted into the Evangelical Council for Accountability.

 

In 2003 the first Faithwalkers conference was held, spearheaded by Mark Darling. The purpose of Faithwalkers is to teach the vision and core values of the Great Commission church movement, primarily to young people.

 

In 2006 Great Commission Churches was clarified to be a membership association for US based churches and ministries only. The Great Commission Association is a "right hand of fellowship" ministry to international churches and ministries which are united with Great Commission Churches in beliefs, values and in the mission of reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Presently (2007), the Executive Committee is Dave Bovenmyer (Ames, Iowa), John Hopler (Columbus, Ohio) and Rick Whitney (Denver, Colorado).

 

In 2007, Great Commission Churches joined the National Association of Evangelicals.

 

Campus Ministry in Great Commission Churches

The Great Commission church movement began on college campuses and has always had a focus on campus ministry.

 

In 1983, GCI launched the first summer Leadership Training conference which attracted college students for a summer of intensive training in evangelism and discipleship.

 

In 1985, GCI undertook a mass outreach and expansion effort (Invasion '85) with the goal of starting fifty new campus ministries. While the gospel was proclaimed and many churches were successfully established during I-85, most of the churches did not continue. As a follow-up to I-85 GCI did a series of "Vision" fund drives (1987-1989) in order to provide financial support to campus workers.

 

In 1989, under the leadership of Dave Bovenmyer, Great Commission Ministries (GCM ) was formed to mobilize people for campus ministry by training them to raise financial support. Over the next fifteen years, GCM became a ministry through which many leaders (Tom Schroeder, Jeff Kern, Greg Van Nada and others) equipped churches in Great Commission for campus ministry.

 

In 2005 GCM, which had been providing leadership and pastoral care for a group of campus churches, was redefined and refocused as a service ministry serving the entire Great Commission movement. GCM exists to support the movement by helping mobilize Christian workers for ministry in the US and around the world through training them to raise financial support and other missionary support services.

 

Today in Great Commission Churches, as in the beginning, local churches provide leadership in reaching out to college campuses. Presently in GCC there are ministries to over thirty-five college campuses. This mission to reach college students is also supported by regional and national coaching and conferences in Great Commission Churches, such as Faithwalkers.


International Ministry and other Ministries affiliated with GCC

Great Commission Churches partners with fellow ministries and churches that are part of the Great Commission movement around the world. The Great Commission Association was formed as a ministry of Great Commission Churches to encourage and support international churches and ministries that share the Great Commission Church vision. Outside of the United States, there are Great Commission churches in Asia, Canada, Europe and Latin America.

 

The Asia ministry was started in 1987, primarily through sending teams of international students from US colleges back to their home countries. Today there are churches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal and the Philippines. Doug Brown provides leadership for GCC's ministry to Asia.

 

The Great Commission church in Canada, led by John Fairchild, was begun in 1975.

 

The European ministry, founded by Herschel Martindale, began in 1991 with an outreach to Dortmund, Germany led by Dan Goering. Today, there are Great Commission churches in Germany, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Amsterdam, and Poland. Joe Dunn, Dan Goering, and Tim Powers provide leadership for the ministry in Europe.

 

The Latin American ministry began in 1976. Today Great Commission Latin America (GCLA), led by Nelson Guerra and a team of others, is based in Miami, Florida. Great Commission churches have been planted in countries throughout Latin America, including Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Mexico.

 

In addition to the international ministries above, Herschel Martindale leads the GCC International Ministry Team designed to mobilize U.S. churches for overseas expansion. Also, Jim Wiebelhaus leads the GCC ministry focusing on reaching international students who live in the United States. Finally, GCC churches mobilize hundreds of people for short-term mission trips, all with the hope of establishing new churches or strengthening existing churches.

 

In the US, GCC partners with GCM-Churches, which was formed in 2006 as a new U.S. church association with a primary focus on campus ministry.

 

Great Commission Churches is practically united with these affiliated ministries in many ways, working shoulder to shoulder to make disciples of all nations. Leaders from these ministries gather periodically in the Great Commission Global Fellowship for prayer and strategic planning in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

As of December, 2005, Great Commission Churches is affiliated with churches in 20 countries throughout the world.

 

For more information about Great Commission Churches contact our office at info@gccweb.org.