Your church HAS a mission, I am sure of that. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be where you are, doing what you are doing day in and day out! But do you have a church mission statement…in writing?
Have you ever had difficulty describing your church’s mission or purpose? Writing a mission statement or revisiting the one you have now is the solution.
Your mission statement is important and foundational to everything your church does. Ministries, events, and outreach should all flow from your mission statement. It will make clear to people what you do so you can share it easily with others.
Having it in writing and available to share will also keep the branches of ministries in your church from heading in a million different directions.
Not convinced you a mission statement for church is important? Here are three solid reasons why your mission statement should be described in words.
1. Casts Vision and Inspires
Every person in your church from the once-a-month attenders to volunteers and staff members need to know the vision or purpose of the church they attend. It’s hard to get buy-in and participation when the purpose of the church is not evident. There’s nothing like the unity that emerges when an entire community is on board with a mission.
Writing a mission statement for the church will define your church’s purpose and cast a vision that people can wrap their minds around and get excited to be involved with.
It can even prove personally inspirational to mentally go back to the beginning and think about why your church was started. Or maybe the church has a completely different mission than when it first began. A fresh perspective, if it’s God-given, might be a catalyst for renewal.
2. Makes decision-making easier
Because your mission statement is foundational, like the rudder of a sailboat, it will guide the ship. When something doesn’t seem right you can always refer back to it and ask, does this align with the mission God has given us?
Anytime there are questions or uncertainties, the mission statement can act as a tool to realign you to the course you originally set out on. You’ll end up spending more time and energy on the things God designed for you instead of on things that just don’t make sense for your church.
3. Evaluates
Writing a mission statement for the church should be done over a period of time, and with care…not in a 10-minute session. When you commit to writing a mission statement the right way, values and purpose will become clear and concise.
THEN you can begin to ask questions like, “How are we doing in fulfilling our mission? Are we living out the values and philosophy in our statement?”
Using the statement as your guide, you can then make adjustments in the necessary areas.
Keep in mind, your mission statement may not stay the same. It will need to be tweaked and refined over time. Revisiting it at appropriate meetings on quarterly basis is a good practice to see where you stand and if changes need to be made.
