ZURICH — As nearly 400 European ministry leaders and pastors gathered September 4-6 in Zurich, Switzerland, for the Global Church Network’s FINISH Europe Summit, there was a resounding theme – synergize and mobilize to finalize the Great Commission.
For more than 20 years, the Global Church Network (GCN) has synergistically partnered with thousands of organizations and more than 700,000 churches, spanning virtually every denomination and world region. In 2017, they added a finish line: 2030 — the 2,000th birthday of the Church.
Referred to as FINISH 2030, the collaboration includes regional FINISH 2030 Summits, where targeted leaders gather to establish a collective goal of the number of pastors and ministers needed to be trained in the next 10 years to complete the Great Commission in their region.
“A vision becomes a goal when it has a deadline,” stated Dr. James O. Davis, Founder and President of GCN. “One of the reasons the Great Commission hasn’t been fulfilled yet is because we never established a deadline. FINISH 2030 offers a new overarching strategy — one that is synergistic, global in scope and capable of getting the Church to the finish line sooner than we ever dreamed possible.”
GCN currently has 159 Global Hubs of Christianity, with 39 new Hubs set to launch in Europe during 2024. These Hubs synergize the best relationships, systematize the best training and strategize for unreached people groups. During the FINISH Europe Summit, Dr. Davis outlined a seven-step plan to multiply the European Hubs to 640 and for more than 100,000 pastors to be trained there in 9 years or less.
“The European nations represent some of the most difficult places to plant churches, to network leaders and to equip pastors,” said Dr. Davis. “Meanwhile, the long-established models of training and preparation for full-time ministry cannot keep pace with the unprecedented growth of the global Christian Church, resulting in a significant shortage of trained pastors and ministers.”
Dr. Timothy Hill, General Overseer of the Church of God, spoke in the first plenary session of the summit, outlining the FINISH acronym: Find, Intercede, Network, Invest, Send and Harvest. He stated, “We are living in the greatest time in history, where it is possible to finish the Great Commission in our lifetime. It is time for us to become Great Commission leaders!”
On day two, the leaders heard presentations on Networking, Investing and Sending. Rev. Doug Clay, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, challenged everyone to find their calling and focus on it. “Regardless of your Christian background, your sacred calling is just as important to you, and mine is important to me. It is imperative for us to live out our calling each day.”
Dr. Dave Roever, Founder of the Dave Roever Evangelistic Association, shared, “The level of our pain tolerance will determine how far we will go in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. There will be people who will hurt you and life circumstances that will try to crush you. Yet, we must be willing to bear the scars of suffering for our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
During the last plenary on Wednesday, September 6, the focus was on Harvest. Dr. Valery Reshtesky, a Spiritual Statesman and Bishop of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, from Kyiv, Ukraine, stated, “We will win the war with Russia, and will become the breadbasket of the Gospel for the world.”
Dr. David Sobrepena, founding president and Senior Pastor of Word of Hope Christian Church, affirmed Reshtesky’s vision, stating, “We are called to do even greater things in our world today. Just as the Lord has sustained me to build the Word of Hope, He will sustain and strengthen you!”
Throughout the summit, Dr. Davis and other GCN leaders met individually with every key leader from all 39 European nations represented. Together, attendees established a collective goal of targeting and equipping 110,000 new ministers to be trained at the Global Hubs of Christianity launched across Europe and online through Global Church Divinity School (GCDS.tv).
Rev. Amgad Girgis, pastor of the Church of God in Egypt and GCN Co-Chair shared, “When we launched our Cairo Hub in March, 2023, 297 pastors and leaders chose to join us. Today, we have nearly 400 leaders attending the hub. There are 18 denominations in the nation and all 18 are represented in our Hub. We have identified where seven more hubs will launch in August 2024, where at least 3,000 pastors will be trained to plant churches and preach the Gospel.”
Dr. Leonard Sweet, renowned author and leading Evangelical, reinforced the simplicity of God’s calling to all believers in the Church, saying, “It seems that tens of thousands of churches updated their mission statements because they did not like the mission statement the Lord Jesus Christ gave them. We are called to go into the world and preach the Gospel.”
Dr. Davis ended the summit with a powerful reminder. “So many Christian leaders today doubt their beliefs and believe their doubts. It is time for us to doubt our doubts and believe our beliefs. We will claim, climb and conquer our Mount Everest, the Great Commission.”
At the close of the FINISH Europe Summit, Dr. Davis announced the upcoming Jerusalem 2030 Summit, scheduled for June 9-11, 2030, to celebrate the 2000th birthday of the Church. GCN will invite 3,000 key leaders worldwide to honor the 3,000 who were saved during the first Pentecost.
The Global Church Network has nine more FINISH Summits scheduled throughout the world over the next eighteen months. For more information, visit FINISH2030.com.
About Global Church Network
Established in 2001, Global Church Network is a growing coalition of more than 2,600 Christian ministries and denominations synergizing their efforts to build the premier community of pastors worldwide to help plant five million new churches for a billion soul harvest. The Global Church Network now consists of more than 700,000 churches and has become the largest pastors network in the world. For more information, visit gcnw.tv.
About Finish 2030
On November 1, 2017, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, Finish 2030 was launched at the graveside of Martin Luther at Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. More than 600 distinguished leaders representing every major stream of Christianity and all 12 world regions together declared they would work collaboratively to finish the Great Commission by the 2,000th birthday of the Church. FINISH 2030 seeks to network and partner with synergistic-minded leaders, churches, and organizations from every denomination, every stream and every region of the world. The Western Church cannot finish the Great Commission by 2030, but the Global Church can — and working together with effective, proven global strategies to FIND, INTERCEDE, NETWORK, INVEST, SEND, and HARVEST, we will. For more information, visit finish2030.com.