Forging a Vision for Mission
“True vocation is where your deep gladness
meets the world’s deep need.”
~Frederick Buechner (1926- )
Last week, I used this space to share the renewal exerises taking place at Good Shepherd, Augusta, following on an assessment of that congregation’s Life Cycle. This week, I want to share some of what follows as a congregation decides to forge a common sense of mission (which is much more than simply crafting a mission statement).
The Common Call to Mission
No congregation can be faithful in responding to what God has done in Jesus Christ simply by gathering weekly for Word and Sacrament. We must put our faith into action in response to Christ’s call to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Every church then is a group of Christians called by God to reach out to its community in love. Certainly this happens as each parishioner lives out his or her faith in their daily lives and in their work. Mission undertaken as a congregation is also an essential component of the work of the church. But the shape the mission takes will vary with every congregation as each will have its own unique gifts and each is in a different setting. The key is to discover what God is calling your congregation to do now in order to positively impact your community and the world.
The Process
Bishop Benhase Covenant Process offers the perfect opportunity for the parishes and missions of the Diocese of Georgia to assess their current mission efforts and to determine what to keep, what to drop, and what to take on. Full information on the expectations for this process are found online here: Congregational Covenants. While the final product may be the work of a Vestry, the process leading toward the Covenant must involve input from all interested persons in a church if the final product is to be meaningful. The goal is to use the covenant as a way to discover the ways in which your church will proclaim the Gospel, serve the lost and left out, and be good stewards of its gifts from God.
Newsletter articles, a Rector’s (Vicar’s or Senior Warden’s) forum after church, and bulletin notices are among the ways you can share the process. Surveys (online and in print) and congregation-wide meetings are two excellent ways to get feedback for the process. Ask what your congregation can do to better serve the needs of the community. While this will turn up a lot of wonderful ideas, no congregation can or should meet all the needs of the area it serves.
Leadership is Critical
Your church is not being called by God to take on any ministry for which there is not already potential leadership in the congregation. For example, Scouting is a great program, but if you have no potential Boy or Girl Scout leaders in the congregation, that may well be a good idea for another church in your town. On the other hand, if you have a person with a passion for creating dolls who wants to teach others how to do so and you develop a vision for using the dolls to show love to children in the hospital, then you have found one way your congregation can share the love you have for God with your neighbors.
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What Are You Going to Stop?
Doing something new either requires new people to take it on, or discontinuing something else. That is good. Sometimes needs change and a church should be willing to stop doing what it has been doing in order to focus its energies on current needs. Rather than assume that what has worked in the past is what you should do now, ask whether there is anything at your church that is ready to be dropped in favor of something else.
What Would They Miss?
If your church closed its doors today and never opened them again, what would be missed by those in your community who never attended your worship? The answer to this question, reveals your current mission work. Now begin the process of discovering what God has for you next. Then when that question is asked in another five years, the answer should be those ministries you take on through the covenant process.
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries
“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’
Start where you stand, and work with
whatever tools you may have at your command,
and better tools will be found as you go along.”
~George Herbert (1593-1633)
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