3. Understanding Mission in the Church

Third in Series on Planning

Whereas vision describes a future identity, mission describes the present reality, examining what directions a church must take now to move from where we are to where we want to be. Mission groups activities into categories so we can better understand the reasons they move us toward the vision. This must be done so understanding can be shared by many without having multiple programs to explain that can confuse the congregation and others.

Let us look again at Moses and the Exodus. The vision is to reach the promised land as free people rather than as slaves trapped in Egypt. To fulfill this vision, the people need to leave Egypt behind, organize as a community, survive in the wilderness and figure how to cross the Jordan into the promised land. Each of these general directions has multiple activities needed to accomplish this mission and fulfill the vision, across various timeframes.

Take as another example the sacrament of holy communion. The vision is becoming the body of Christ. The mission has four directives that move us toward the vision: we take bread, give thanks to God, break the bread, and give the bread to others. Each of these four categories of actions has multiple steps of preparation so that the bread is present, worship happens, people are prepared to distribute the elements and ushers prepared to guide people in the process used to receive in each local community. These four directions are easily remembered and have guided Christians for over 2000 years.

Multiple benefits come by having three or four general directions that group ministries in a church. It provides a framework to explain these ministries in a way that is memorable and easily communicated. A church might have close to a hundred different ministries, but they can be grouped in three or four categories that bring clarity and are easily shared with others. One church describes that we use our heads, our hands and our hearts for Jesus, and that summarizes a much more complex number of overall ministries.

Another benefit relates to the diversity found in many churches regarding the gifts possessed by its members. People want to find a ministry that matches their gifts. A mission that includes three or four general directions can offer diversity and guides members and those interested in ministry in choosing a way for them to belong.

One church's mission is to Care, Explore, Serve and Worship, recognizing that some prefer to offer care for members, while others want to learn and teach about faith, while others want to act on faith, and others are drawn to help with worship. Such diversity gives everyone a group of activities that match their preferences, but still moves in the direction of the church's vision.

I suggest three or four general directions for mission because the size of the church does dictate the amount of ministries. Smaller churches might be more effective having three general directions for ministries, while larger churches benefit from four. Remember, that in either case, every church needs another group of supportive ministries that provides for facilities, finances and leadership, both paid and unpaid.

Mission has been described by some as the purpose of an organization. I prefer to see mission as purposeful directions that clearly support movement toward the vision. But in addition, having three or four directions allows us to diversify and involve people with a variety of gifts. There are many ways to do this, but let me suggest a general model that might prove helpful.

Jesus answered the greatest commandment question by quoting the Shema, Love the Lord your God with all your mind, heart, strength and soul. I believe this recognizes that some prefer to love God with their mind or reason, others with their heart or compassion, others with their strength or actions, and yet others with their soul or spirituality. If a church organizes mission in four directions, then each of these preferences can be captured in a total picture.

Virginia, my wife, participated in a Bible study on the Shema years ago, during which we happened to see a production of the Wizard of Oz. She connected the four main characters of the show to the mind (scarecrow), heart (tin man), strength (lion) and soul (Dorothy) categories. She went on to discover the same diversity in the four Gospels and I would suggest the same diversity as the four Major Prophets. We now see the same diversity reflected in good literature, television shows and other works that stand the test of time.

Some argue that every church has the same mission, to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Gil Rendel and Alice Mann in their book, Holy Conversations, explain that this is an axiomatic mission statement but not a unique mission statement. This is like stating that restaurants cook and serve food, which is true across the board. But some restaurants serve seafood while others serve Italian or Asian or vegetarian dishes, marking them as set apart for those preferring such tastes.

Churches are unique as well, giving those who live in an area choices as to how they express their faith. While we often have axiomatic mission statements set by denominational leadership, we can and must also determine how those of us as Christians in a community have the unique gifts needed by God to meet a need where we live. If we all have the same mission, why has God allowed so many different churches to be in the same place? God values diversity and each church meets differing needs.

With an understanding of vision as God's call on a church and a clarification of mission as those directions we need to move in order to fulfill this calling, we can now turn to structure which determines how things get done. Keeping these tools sharp and available to the leaders of a church enables a faith community to be well on the way to implementing an effective ministry.

2. Understanding Vision in the Church

Second in Series on Planning

To understand vision, we turn to scripture and the stories of the faithful. Some verses address the concept directly such as Where there is no vision, the people perish: Proverbs 29:18a KJV

Other stories demonstrate how vision makes a difference to those following God. Ezekiel shares his vision of a valley of dried bones being raised to new life as breath enters their renewed bodies. In this case, people viewed as dead and buried because of the exile become fully alive and whole, describing a resurrection change in identity.

In the story of Moses, God speaks from a burning bush that is not consumed reflecting God as a source of unending energy. This vision is compelling and hard to overlook. After this experience, Moses casts a vision for the people of Israel, bringing about a new identity for those who go from being slaves to those who are free.

Once freed, God offers the vision through Moses of a promised land for these former slaves, reflecting their new identity as people of God, and this vision motivates the Israelites for forty years. Do you have a vision that carries you through your wilderness experiences, even over a prolonged period of time?

Vision transforms people's lives. Paul loses his sight in order to find a new vision as a disciple of Christ rather than his former identity as a persecutor of Christ. Even his name is changed from Saul to Paul. In the Gospels, Jesus invites fishermen to follow him and gives them a new identity as fishers for people. Peter, after the resurrection of Christ, resists reaching out to the Gentiles who refuse to follow Jewish laws and traditions until his vision as recorded in Acts, after which Peter is changed:

About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.  

Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.      (Acts 10:9-11, 13-16 NIV)

Peter is able to walk on water until he looks at the waves instead of keeping his eyes on Jesus. Jesus is able to cause angry men to drop their stones by casting a vision that only those without sin can cast stones. Each one of these illustrations speaks of people being transformed by God, changed by hope, joy, peace and love, and formed into a community that lives for God rather than for themselves.

I associate vision with baptism because both have to do with identity, an understanding of who we are. Even before we understand, in infant baptism, we claim the identity of being a child of God, and a part of the family of God. When we say, "Remember your baptism and be thankful," we are not saying to remember the day of our baptism, but rather to remember the fact that we are among the baptized, our identity as Christian.

A vision can shape the identity of people of faith. We can use this tool in spiritual discernment asking what is God's call upon our church. Why has God brought together any particular group of people in any particular place if not to do the will of God on earth as it is in heaven in that place? Vision is the call of God to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

Will Mancini helps us to understand how we can use vision as a tool in the church. As a leader of Auxano, his consulting firm, he leads churches through a process to discern a vision that is rooted in meeting the needs of the community where they live and work. He has written a series of books including, Church Unique, Innovating Discipleship and God Dreams, all with the hope of helping churches to discern a vision leading to significant kingdom impact.

Mancini stresses that every church has strengths that can meet a need in the community where they live. Notice he does not say all the needs, but rather a need. Some churches try to meet all the needs of everyone, but they become exhausted in their efforts. Mancini suggest that making a list of a church's strengths and seeing where it intersects with another list of their community's needs is a good place to begin. Then among those intersections, leaders can discern which issues they feel most passionate about, recognizing that leaders will follow through on things that excite them the most.

Susan Beaumont in her book, Inside a Large Church, and Gil Rendel and Alice Mann in their book, Holy Conversations, all stress the importance of churches discerning vision and then bringing mission, structure and strategy into alignment with that vision. This is, for me, a key point. Vision and Mission statements do not reside on a piece of paper somewhere in a file drawer simply to be pulled out for a report to an annual meeting. Vision, mission, structure and strategy must work together as one unit to bring clarity and understanding to the complex and involved tasks required to be a church.

The larger the church, the more important clarity and understanding become. Larger churches offer a wide variety of activities, which is good for attracting new people. But if those activities move off in various directions without an overarching vision to unite them, they can become competing entities vying for resources of time, space and money, which can lead to fragmentation and division. But if aligned with a central vision, such as the Body of Christ with various parts, these different activities learn to value how each benefits the other.

Here are some examples of church visions. One church states, "We are people who put our faith into action." Another proudly states that "We build bridges together." The Annual Conference has as its vision that we are "Connected Christians offering the Hope of Jesus Christ in Today's World." Another church states, "We are a church for all ages."

Each of these real examples describes the call of God upon the lives of these unique groups of people striving to be faithful followers. These visions do not reflect the reality of the present, but set up a future orientation of how they are being transformed into the people they believe God is calling them to be. A vision looks ahead and dreams dreams as beautifully stated in Joel, And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. (Joel 2:28 NIV)

A vision works best when fewer words are used. It needs to be memorable and easy for those active in the church to share with people they know. The target audience for vision is everyone, so keeping the vision simple works best. When members of a community begin to identify your church by your vision, then you know that it is working. We see this in the marketing world all the time. Nike has "Just do it" while Staples has "That was easy."

If a church has the strength of demonstrating compassion and finds itself in an area suffering from a depressed economy where many are struggling, then a vision such as "People of God who Care" makes sense. If another church has as a strength its educational ministry and finds itself in an area where many adults are biblically illiterate, then a vision such as "Learning to Trust in God" works well.

Remember to stay away from describing the current reality since vision as a tool describes the way things can be in the future with God's guidance and the church's willingness. But vision does have its roots connected to the natural strengths of that community of faith along with the needs of people who live nearby. Let us be in prayer asking for insight and discernment around the call of God upon our church at this time and in this place.