Using Your Mission Statement to Strengthen Networks
We can’t do it all ourselves, but we live in a world where we like to think we can.
In the world of corporate marketing, the “brand” is sacred. Corporate branders would cringe to think of sending their customers to a competitor. They would take one of these approaches.
Convince the customer they are wrong for needing something they do not offer.
You like contemporary worship? Our liturgies are much richer and more meaningful! Take a seat and listen!
You are being bullied? We are so sorry, but our mission is more about feeding the hungry. Our food pantry is open on Tuesday and Friday afternoons! Stop by!
Promise an answer so far down the line that it is likely to be useless to the person in need today.
You want youth programming? Come back in two years. We’re training someone right now in exactly what you are looking for.
This type of thinking can affect how congregations interpret their Mission Statements. Governing boards can start to weigh every challenge by measuring it against their published Mission Statement and what they are prepared to provide—not the actual needs of the neighborhood. The Mission Statement then becomes an excuse to turn a blind eye to the changing needs.
Part of the decline of the neighborhood church is that the church as a whole is unprepared for change. Denominational leaders strive to find long-term pastors for stable (they call them “settled”) positions. When this becomes problematic, lay people tend to pay the price.
Let’s learn from this failure. Do not use your Mission Statement as a rigid gatekeeper in approving every congregational venture. Instead, use it as an indicator of how you need to change.
Also realize, that the approved Mission of your congregation may not resonate with each member. Similarly, visitors to your congregation may not care at all about your mission. Most people first attend church for personal reasons. They come to be healed. They come to have their needs met.
- Don’t expect everyone to embrace your lofty words.
- Make sure that all the good intentions in creating a Mission do not blind you to reality.
- Seekers coming to your door may not seem to fit into your Mission.
- Your sense of Mission must be flexible. Otherwise, you may be a congregation with a sense of mission but no one to serve.
This can happen at every level of Church life. A congregation can go to their Regional Body and ask for help with a challenge that their neighborhood has encountered. After all, when neighborhoods change, you can expect challenges to. But it is not uncommon for the response from leaders to be some form of “That’s not in our Mission.”
What they are saying is “We don’t know how to help you.” And that’s OK, but churches and denominations must be aware of the needs and be prepared to direct people to those who can help.
Today’s Mission needs are bigger than congregations of any size! It is inappropriate to turn seekers with problems away without hope. We have to start building networks for serving. We have to start thinking in terms of team.
If a need is beyond your ability to serve, help seekers find direction. Don’t just give them a phone number. Accompany them to the agency or office that can serve them. Personally introduce them to individuals with the expertise to help. Your personal attention will build your reputation in your changing neighborhood. By personally taking part in finding help, you will strengthen your own abilities.
You Mission must be active and flexible and ideally linked to other Christians and neighborhood organizations that can help.
Start building those networks!