There is more to Mission than the Mission Statement
This series has addressed evangelism in terms used most often by people in marketing and advertising. Again:
Advertising is getting the word out.
Evangelism is getting the Word out.
We’ve concentrated in this series on branding, applying this term to a favorite strategy of church developers — beginning a ministry with the tactic of writing a Mission Statement.
Often that’s where this sort of evangelism program both begins and ends. The Mission Statement is written and it’s back to business as usual.
One of the leading voices in the marketing world is businessman Seth Godin. He recently presented a concept and granted permission to share it. So let’s take a look at what he has to say.
Seth Godin’s Acute Heptagram of Impact
According to Godin (who has initiated countless ventures and helps many more kick-start their dreams) all of these seven qualities must be present if a project is to succeed. The absence of even one can snuff out the light! I revised his Heptogram to make it make sense to me. The concepts crisscross as if you are drawing a star, but otherwise it is Seth’s.
Start at the top of the star. Godin says you can have a STRATEGY but if you do not define your TACTICS and if you lack the SKILLS to EXECUTE those tactics. the STRATEGY won’t matter. Your ability to garner support from sponsors or workers depends on your REPUTATION. Nothing mentioned so far matters if the DESIRE to succeed is not present and the individuals involved do not PERSIST. The biggest enemy of PERSISTENCE is FEAR. And with this, you return to STRATEGY, completing your seven-pointed star.
Each point on this Marketing Star applies to any Congregation engaged in forging a new mission.
- The strategy to create a Mission Statement is the tip of this seven-pointed star.
- Start to draw the star and you come to tactic. That is the Mission Statement!
- Keep drawing. You now need tp decide what skills and assets you already have or need to help you execute your Mission Statement.
- Cross over to reputation. If you have a problem with reputation, begin to address it immediately. It may take a while!
- Work with your membership to foster desire. Chances are your leaders understand the need to evangelize better than other church members. Leaders must find a way to communicate their enthusiasm to the rest of the congregation.
- Then you have to start working your plan. Chalk up some success. Address each failure (and you will have some).
- Don’t let fear of failure or making mistakes keep you from trying.
Godin claims that when things aren’t working, one or more of these elements are amiss. Often, he says, none of them are quite right. The biggest danger, he suggests, is the concentration on tactics before the full scope of the project is understood.
And that’s a problem with concentrating so hard on the Mission Statement that we miss everything else!