John 18:31

31Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

   “But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected.

Acts 7:54-57 The Stoning of Stephen
54When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56″Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

In the case of Jesus they bring Him to Pilate and claim to have no right to execute anyone, but in the case of Stephen, they execute him immediately. what are your thoughts on these contradictory positions taken by the the Jews of Jerusalem, which in both cases at least included members of the religious establishment and leadership. Share your comments…..

Simply put, Mission answers the questions of who we are and why we exist; Vision talks about who and, or what we want to become; while Strategy addresses how we will fulfill our Mission and experience or achieve our Vision.   As such they should be addressed in order - Mission, Vision, and then Strategy.

It is important to know who you are.  What is unique or special about your congregation?  This is not about taking an inventory of your assets and liabilities, but more of a look at what makes you tick.  What matters to you?  Where are your values.  While all churches should hold the basic values of Christianity at their core and will possess some degree of a large number of values in common, there are certain things about your congregation that really define who you are.  Maybe it is a burden for the inner city or the poor.  Maybe it is a connection with youth or the elderly.  While there can be many, it is important to try and get it down to those that really seem to strike at the core of where your desire and hunger as Christians are.  We need to believe that God has brought our congregation together for a purpose, including our common ministry desires.

Once we understand who we are we can define our mission.  Our mission will be to be the best and most effective we can be at accomplishing that which God has ladi on our hearts.  A Mission Statement should always be positive and challenging.

Our Vision, while different, will be similar to our Mission Statement.  Where do we want our mission to take us?  Remove the barriers and where would be if we could carry out the desires of our hearts in ministry.  That is your vision.

How can we be successful?  How do we get to where we want to be, more importantly to where God wants us to be?  Those are questions that Strategy will answer.  

Strategy is more than just a collection of good ideas.  Strategy must be the partner of Mission and Vision.  It is the face of Mission and Vision.   There are several good ideas, not all of them fit into your congregation’s vision and mission.  

Strategy provides actionable ways to carry out the mission and to reach toward the vision.   Years ago Bus ministry was the hot ticket to church growth.  We see a church using Bus ministry and growing so we figure that will work for us.   But do we consider that it will require capital, bus drivers, bus captains, maintenance, more operating costs, etc.  Bus ministry is a lot of work and takes a certain set of skills.  It brings in a certain type people to our congregation.  Can we effectively minister to them when they get here?  Several churches tried a bus ministry because they saw another church grow after they started.  That’s not a strategy.

Similarly we often jump to Strategy before we have a clear understanding of our mission and vision.  Again, we are looking for something to make us grow rather than how we can fulfill the mission and vision that is on our heart.  Sometimes we jump to Strategy because it requires the least amount of discipline.  We love to sit around and talk about good ideas, dreaming of the miraculous results. 

Brainstorming and dreaming are good, but we should never act on them until they pass the test of mission and vision.   Does the ministry or activity we are talking about fit into our mission?  Is it who we are in our hearts?  Does this ministry lead to our vision or does it just produce excitement and/or more numbers? 

The classic phrase that I like to use in illustrating the leap to strategy before mission and vision comes from the Movie, ‘Field of Dreams’ (1); “If you build it they will come”.  While that made for a good movie and even challenges to operate in faith, it is not a good standard to live by or to minister by.

(1) Field of Dreams, Directed and Adapted by Phil Alden Robinson

Church boards and leadership gather together and go through the exercise of coming up with a mission statement and a vision statement.   They get it printed and put it in a frame or on a plaque and hang it on a wall.  Then, happy and content, they go about business as usual. 

The power is not in the mission or vision statement, but rather in the fact that we have a vision or have a mission.  When we have a vision and have a mission and understand what they are, we can be empowered.

In helping churches define their mission and vision I have discovered a simple, but powerful truth.  Every person in the church has, to some degree, an idea of what the mission of the church is and a vision for the church.  Pastors, board members, deacons, teachers, all have an idea of what the mission of the church is.  They all have a vision for the church.

The key for the church is to understand its mission and to effectively communicate it and live by it.   In regard to the vision of the church it is critical to make sure it is a God given, God driven vision rather than our ambitions and self-serving dreams.  Then the church must discover and understand what will be required to fulfill the mission and vision.

Next Post - Understanding the differences between Vision, Mission, and Strategy.

Refreshing Rain Ministries can be scheduled for Revivals or other special speaking and teaching such as Christian Financial management, Marriage Enrichment seminars and more.  Just contact me at   Revraney@yahoo.com or 859-803-0025.

We are not called to build our legacy. We are not called to be seen. Any kingdom that we build will fall and how many will be crushed in its rubble. The Kingdom of Christ will not fall and provides the safe haven for all that abide therein. May we all take care not to build our kingdom but to be servants for Christ as He builds His kingdom.

Refreshing Rain Ministries can design, create, host, and maintain your website. RRM can work with you to put together your website and get it on the internet. We then can maintain and update the content on it, placing your articles, stories, events, podcasts, and more on a regular basis. All for as low as $11 per month. We can provide basis websites to complex websites. RRM partners with Apax Software in Lexington for complex web design.

Contact Keith Raney at email (Revraney@yahoo.com)

…>> 50% of pastors will not retire as pastors – How can we reverse this?

When I heard this figure myself, I was sitting in one of the Society for Church Consulting’s training conferences. Gary McIntosh, a prolific writer on church health and growth, was teaching that too many pastors are hurting and need help before they burn out….
Read More Here

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email (Revraney@yahoo.com)