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Section 15 - Developing a Mission

9. The Power of Vision 10. Vision Has Its Price Create a summary of one of these chapters. Study chapter 5 in ASP Study chapters 9-10 in Visioneering. Print an article on vision and strategic leadership to share with your learning team

Developing a mission
What we are supposed to be doing

Discovering the core values of a church is the 1st step of the planning process for your church / ministry. The 2nd step is developing an effective mission statement. Malphurs suggests Jesus thought this so important that after his resurrection but before the ascension he gave the church its mission. Matt 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:45-49, Acts 1:8 This chapter is about developing an effective mission statement describing the churchs port of destination.

The development of an effective, biblical mission statement should be the goal of every church leader. Malphurs The task of the leader is to dene the mission Warren Bennis What matters is not the leaders charisma. What matters is the leaders mission. Therefore the rst task of the leader should be to think through and dene the mission of the organisation Peter Drucker

Mission answers the vital question: what are we supposed to be doing, or, where are we supposed to be going? People need to know the destination they are headed for.

Why a Mission is Important? It indicates the ministrys direction. It formulates the ministrys function. It focuses the ministrys future. It inspires ministry unity. It shapes the strategy. It provides a guideline for decision making.

The importance of the mission

It enhances ministry effectiveness. It ensures an enduring organization. It facilitates evaluation.

Why a Mission is Important? It indicates the ministrys direction. It formulates the ministrys function. It focuses the ministrys future. It provides a guideline for decision making. It inspires ministry unity. It shapes the strategy. It enhances ministry effectiveness. It ensures an enduring organization. It facilitates evaluation.

Why a Mission is Important? It indicates the ministrys direction. It formulates the ministrys function. It focuses the ministrys future. It provides a guideline for decision making. It inspires ministry unity. It shapes the strategy. It enhances ministry effectiveness. It ensures an enduring organization. It facilitates evaluation.

It indicates the ministrys direction

If you dont know where youre going, you might end up somewhere else Yogi Berra The mission of a church answers the question where are we going? It directs us to the target, gives us a port to land at. Adam & Eve - Gen 1:28 Moses, Joshua, David, Nehemiah all had a strong sense of direction - as did Jesus Mk 10:45 and Paul Acts 21:12-14, Rom 15:20

It formulates the ministrys function

You wont do well in ministry until you dene what really matters. What are we supposed to be doing, what has God called us to perform? In affect you ask: What matters? Mission states your intent - and the people hear it and nod in agreement. A church must know what business it is in - and what function it performs.

It focuses the ministrys future

A clear biblical mission serves to bring into focus the churchs ministry future. Conversely: no mission - no future. A future focus stops you living in the past. Php 3:12-14.

It provides a guideline for decision making

Leaders make decisions - it comes with the territory. Mission denes boundaries within which a church can work - it tells you when to say yes and when to say no. A shared mission protects you from all the good works that are not necessarily part of what the Lord has called you to.

It inspires ministry unity

God likes unity: Jn 17:20-23, Eph 4:3, Psalm 133 Clear direction in mission gives unity and draws people together as a team or community. It says, Lets all pull together and we can achieve this People working together can achieve great things.

It shapes the strategy

Mission tells us where we are going - strategy tells us how we will get there. So a strategy is only as good as the mission it directs, the mission has to be good and comes rst. Strategy determines what the key activities are in a given business. And strategy requires knowing what our business is and should be Peter Drucker

It enhances ministry effectiveness

Understanding what the church wants to do makes you more effective in your efforts. Good performance starts with clear direction. People who know where they are going, go the extra mile.

It ensures an enduring organization

Every pastor should try to ensure ministry success after he has gone. A good biblical mission can ensure the church goes forward for a long time and has great success.

It facilitates evaluation
Knowing what your mission is means you can tell if you are doing it or getting there. 2 Cor 13:5 The church that fails to evaluate its people and its effectiveness as a ministry in light of its mission does itself an injustice.otherwise how will the church know if it is fullling its mission? Remember though: most organisations, and people, do not like living under scrutiny!

The denition of a mission

The Definition of a Mission A mission is broad. A mission is brief. A mission is biblical. A mission is a statement. A mission is what the ministry is supposed to be doing.

What a mission is not

Although Malphurs spends some time drawing the distinction between purpose and mission this is [arguably] not really relevant to our programme - a sample of the argument is given below, Mission is not: Purpose - this answers the why questions, why are we here, why do we exist... Mission answers the what questions, what are we meant to be doing etc. See also the following slide summarising the issue

The Difference between Purpose and Mission Purpose Mission Question Scope Intent Focus Use Why do we exist? Broad To glorify God God Internal and external What are we supposed to be doing? Narrow To make disciples Man Internal

What a mission is

Mission is a broad, brief, biblical statement of what the ministry is supposed to be doing. There are 5 points to this denition:

1. Mission is broad
A good mission is broad, expansive, overarching - it covers all other goals, mandates etc of the ministry. Caution should be taken not to be too broad though - in that case you can lose the meaning and not communicate what the church will actually do. Picture: broad-winged hawk

2. Mission is brief
One person suggests no more than 75 words - others allow more leeway. Biblical examples are usually one sentence: Mosess mission was to lead Gods people, Israel, out of bondage in Egypt. Davids mission was to shepherd Israel and become their ruler. Nehemiahs mission was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It was suggested that the mission of a church should be able to t on a T shirt.

3. Mission is biblical
That is it is based on the Bible - we have to ask what does God say our mission is? Malphurs says it is summed up in the Great Commission - and he provides this chart to summarise it. Making and maturing disciples at home and around the world was, and always will be, the churchs mission.

4. Mission is a statement

This is simply a way of saying it must be communicated to the congregation. Just as the Gt Comm. was a verbal statement articulated by Jesus so we need a clear articulated mission statement.

5. A mission is what the ministry is supposed to be doing

The functional question - what should we be doing? Gt Comm - make disciples Malphurs gives 4 questions to ask of any church - or their leaders. 1. What is this church meant to be doing? 2. What is this church doing? 3. Why are you not doing what you are supposed to be doing? 4. What will it take for you to change and do what you are supposed to be doing?

Question 1 asks people to think biblically 2 asks them if they have missed Christs directive - are they retirement centres, community or youth centres etc. 3 is very pointed - Malphurs suggests it can produce silence! 4 asks about willingness to obey Christ

The kinds of missions

Many of these categories are the same as for those applied to the discovery of values

A conscious versus unconscious mission

The church is on a mission whether it knows it or not - it is going somewhere that its values are taking it. In such situations the church needs to discover and articulate its mission. Work out the core values then ask the church SLT, where have these taken you? Put this into a statement and you have the mission.

2. Personal or organisational
The church has a mission - but most individuals also have one in mind for the church too. The personal side often happens early in life - e.g. When someone gets born again they are likely to adopt the mission of the rst church they attend. Pastors will bring their own personal vision to a church they work at. The churchs mission must be superior to any personal mission.

3. Shared or unshared mission

Once a mission is stated by a church you nd out which people disagree with it. Unshared ministry missions pull people apart, create disunity and can cause disaster. A church has to address this situation and ensure all people are on board with the churchs mission. A new members class is a helpful way of ensuring all who join the church agree to this.

4. Correct versus incorrect mission

Churches might have a ministry mission - but Malphurs suggests most of them are wrong. They have to be about the Gt. Comm - making and maturing believers. Anything other than this, no matter how noble, is wrong. Worship, fellowship, community are all found in the Bible but are not the Gt. Comm. If your mission is not the Gt. Comm - then change it!

5. Actual versus aspirational mission

If a church has a wrong mission then it needs to change to the Gt Comm model - however this does not then become their mission but is their aspiration. Changing the mission takes time - and key to the change is examining and changing values. Malphurs suggests those of Acts 2:41-47 are the correct ones with evangelism most important.

The development of a mission

Being convinced of the need for a mission you then need to craft a dynamic memorable statement for the church

The personnel

The SLT develop the mission as they did with the values. Again you must involve the congregation - ask their ideas, get their feedback, develop trust...

Guidelines
1. Determine what your church is supposed to do Essentially the church should ask, What business are we in? Malphurs suggests this is summed up for all churches in the idea of making disciples. Whom will we serve? who are the people we are targeting - as Christ died for people (sinners) those are the people we should be looking at.

There are two groups within this the churched and the unchurched (potential members.) Malphurs suggests you look at the people who are already part of your ministry to get an idea of what new people might (will probably) look like. How will we serve these people? what is God telling you to do for them? Salvation and then sanctication - all else we do, even in serving felt needs, should aim towards these two aspects.

Malphurs give two examples: Our mission is to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the people of New Hope community and beyond That answers both the who and how questions. Our mission is to lead the people of North Tarrant County to faith in Christ and growth in Christlikeness.

2. Write your mission statement Write down what you are thinking use the words that best communicate with your congregation - does it need a traditional or modern approach, something catchy or cliched etc.? Do people understand what you have written? Is it clear? Willow Creek turned Matt 28:18-20 into: Willow Creek exists to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

2. Write your mission statement Write down what you are thinking use the words that best communicate with your congregation - does it need a traditional or modern approach, something catchy or cliched etc.? Do people understand what you have written? Is it clear? Willow Creek turned Matt 28:18-20 into: Willow Creek exists to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

The mission of Northwood Community Church is to be used of God in helping people become fully functioning followers of Jesus Christ. Make sure the format is good Malphurs suggests the following 3: The mission of (church name) is to __________________________ Our mission is to _____________ (Church name) seeks to _______

3. Make your mission statement broad but clear Holding boldness and clarity in tension. Is it broad, overarching and comprehensive? A poor example does not include the Gt Comm: Our mission is to teach the Scriptures so well that people will hunger and thirst for righteousness

Is it clear? Easy here - ask people if they can understand and then explain it. A poor example: Our mission is to glorify God by responding to the Saviour through exalting him as Lord, edifying his church, and evangelising the world. The problem is using the world glorify - what does it mean, how should it be interpreted? Additionally the mission leads to glorifying God - it is not the mission.

4. Make your mission statement brief and simple Does it pass the T shirt test? Say more by saying less! Faith community church exists to make disciples by loving Christ, loving one another, and living to reach our world for Christ. This should be changed to (the by is part of the strategy): Faith community church exists to make disciples Finally - is it memorable? Too long makes it hard to remember.

The process of developing a mission

Option 1: identify your current mission statement

- then, if necessary, correct this - if not be happy with it! However if it is not the Gt Comm then you have to follow steps 2 or 3

Option 2: develop a new mission statement

This needs to focus on what your future mission should be. Address your current values - will they support and accomplish the Gt Comm? Use the Matt 28:19 model - what is a disciple (using the terms your congregation understands) follower of Christ, Christian, believer etc.

Rene your term for disciple: Malphurs suggests Jesus was looking for mature disciples - fully devoted, functioning, committed, totally committed etc. Which term in your church most suggests maturity? Use the right verb - willow creek talked of turning people into followers - assist, empower, develop, follow, fulll, help, inuence, lead, promote, provide, transform etc.

Remember you always need the work of the Holy Spirit to do this - but we are told to make disciples! Who are you working with? Malphurs suggests this part is optional - it might include the unchurched, irreligious, religious, unsaved, ordinary etc.

Option 3: adopt an existing mission statement

Our mission is to provide living proof of a loving God to a watching world. Our mission is to present Christ as saviour and pursue christ as Lord. Our mission is to follow and make followers of Christ. Our mission is to help our community nd real life in Christ. Our mission is to lead ordinary people to extraordinary life in Christ

The mission challenge

Is to remain on track - there are many many distractions. Malphurs suggests that passion is a key - the senior leader must be pasisonate - and from him passionate people live and breathe the mission. Passion is the difference between mediocrity and excellence. Are you passionate about your mission statement?

The communication of the mission

The mission must be communicated or it is almost pointless. Use every opportunity you can - and every good method you can think of.

Guidelines for the Mission Statement 1. Determine your churchs purpose. Who will you serve? How will you serve these people? 2. Write your mission statement. What words communicate best with your target group? 3. Make your mission statement broad and clear cut. 4. Make your mission statement brief and simple.