Mission and Vision
Studies
Why bother with this
mission and vision stuff? Do we have
any control over it? Aren't people going
to do what they're going to do, regardless?
Fair
questions. There are times when it is a
waste of time to do a mission and vision study.
Perhaps the congregation already has such a clearly defined mission (due
to external circumstances or through previous studies) that spending the time
required is not productive.
However,
there are times in the life of any congregation when a process to discern
mission and vision are especially helpful:
- when a pastor leaves and
it's important to figure out who you are and where God wants you to be and
what qualities you should be seeking in a new pastor.
- when congregational trends
are out of whack - perhaps the membership is declining, perhaps it's
growing too much and you're not sure who you are anymore - you need to
regroup and pay attention to the Spirit.
- when there is conflict - a clear mission
and vision that is widely held will give leaders clarity and immunize them
against excess anxiety.
- when the congregation and
pastor(s) seem to be in a rut - all need a boost and new direction.
- when the community and
society is changing rapidly and the congregation isn't. How is God calling the church to
minister in changing circumstances?
An
important question is: "if we keep on doing the same things, what is the
likely outcome?"
If you
aren't pleased with the likely outcome, then you probably need to do a
mission/vision study.
There are
many excellent books about doing a mission study. I like Discerning
God's Will Together, by Charles Olson and Danny Morris, Take the Next Step, by Lovett Weems, and
Holy Conversations, by Rendle and
Mann. I encourage you to read these
books.
Definitions - Mission and Vision
While there
are varying definitions of mission and vision, I use the ones that many leaders
in management theory use. I find that
these communicate with those who have worked through similar processes in
business or the public sector. These
definitions draw especially from Lovett Weems' book Take the Next Step.
Mission - is what
God is calling your church to be. It is
your reason for being. It should reflect
some of the key concerns of your church and culture.
Vision - is what
you believe God wants your church to emphasize and accomplish in the next 3-5
years. What are you going to do? What will you look like? How will you be different?
First Person Plural
- I think that churches benefit from having these written in the first person
plural, i.e. "We believe God is calling us to..."
When they are written this way, you can use them in liturgies or other
meetings, thus affirming God's call to you
Discernment: a
Spiritual Process
As I have
explored doing a mission/vision study, leaders in several churches responded
something like "We did a mission study a few years ago and nothing ever came of
it. It's sitting somewhere in a filing
cabinet or on a shelf."
Probing
for more data, it quickly became clear that a small group of leaders studied
and worked and came up with a proposed mission and vision statement. The governing board approved it and that was
the end of it. Few people in the
congregation were part of the process.
Often their only part was to formally vote on the final product.
I have
found that a congregational discernment process is much more effective. Discernment is a process of trying
to listen and see with ears and eyes of the spirit. It is to ask "given who we have been, what
and who is God leading us to be and do in this place and at this time?"
Olson and
Morris contrast a discernment approach to a typical parliamentary
approach. They note that Robert's Rules
of Order were developed by General Henry Martyn Robert in 1876 to help his own
church, the American Baptist Church, handle meetings more effectively. They were based on Thomas Jefferson's rules
for the U.S. Congress.
Parliamentary processes lead to votes and votes seem to
resolve the questions quickly. But too
often they only seem to resolve the questions, don't they. The mainline churches (especially my own
Presbyterian denomination) have voted year after year on some of the
contentious issues of our day. One year
side A wins the vote with 55% or so and side B loses. The next year side B wins with 55%. The result is that all the people are upset
most of the time. There is much talking
and little listening. People listen
neither to each other nor to God.
Discernment involves a lot of prayerful listening. It's important to listen for God's voice
through scripture, through the voices of members of the church, through voices
from the community, and voices of those with particular insight into where Christ
might be leading the church.
I have led seven churches through a discernment process that
involves a dialogue with scripture, the community, and the congregation. It depends on prayerful discernment. It builds on strengths. It involves a significant percentage of the
congregation and leads to clarity about what needs to be done and when. It energizes and gives direction.
I am available to consult with churches doing such a process
and/or coach the pastor who leads such a process.
The key questions are:
·
if you keep doing things the way you have been
doing them, what is the likely outcome?
·
what kind of church does God yearn for your
church to be and what does that mean you emphasize?
