I didn't major in math in college. I didn't major in anything that required a math course being taken. Math was not my strong suit. Unlike my brother who got math, who loved math, who tried to teach me math and who made the highest grade in the math section of The Ohio State University entrance exam, math didn't always make sense to me.
In high school I took algebra (1 and 2), plane geometry, solid geometry, calculus and trigonometry and hated them all. All of them but algebra. I loved algebra. To me, algebra wasn't like math. Algebra makes sense. It is about logic. Ever since it took algebra I have liked formulas. They make sense to me.
When looking at the ideas of church growth, transformation and living and functioning as a healthy church, a formula comes to mind. We, as a church, took a look at that formula during our first Event where we began the process of developing our Mission Statement. That formula is a logical look at what we, the church, must do to start producing positive, productive ministry. It is a roadmap toward being a healthy, growing church.
That formula is simply this: M + V +(=) V = M. M-Mission (Statement) + plus V, our Values = V, our Vision. Our Mission plus our Values plus our Vision equals or produces M, our Ministries. Each section of the formula builds on the other parts to produce the why and how of the ministries we invest our resources in.
Our mission statement is the "message" we have received from God as to what He wants us to do. We add to that message our values, or we filter that calling through our values to produce the vision. Our values are those things that motivate us, the thoughts and concepts that dictate how we respond to our world, how and why we do what we do, invest our time, energy and resources as we do.
In many ways, the values part of this process (formula) is the most difficult part. It is difficult because most of us have not verbalized our values and thus don't realize what our values are. And when we do take the time and energy to articulate our values we discover that our values are not as holy and righteous as we would like to believe they are. We tend to claim values that are not really the values we are guided by, but the values we think we should be guided by.
If God's call on this church is to share the Gospel and make disciples, then our values speak into the how and the why of us getting that done. This produces our vision which is the means and methods we will use to fulfill our mission.
Add all of this together and we start producing ministries: Ministries that, in the context of our values and vision, make our mission a reality. Our Mission and our Mission Statement is what we, as a church, are called to do. Our ministries are the ways and means we use to carry out our mission. Our values and vision are the things the direct and bring focus to where we are going and what we do. Each of these things – Mission – Values – Vision – Ministries – are unique and important. But taken together and as a whole, they are what direct and empower us as a church.
So, we must get together and figure out our formula. Again let me invite you to Part B of our first session on finding our Mission. We will meet in just a few days to finish up our Mission Statement. We will meet Friday evening, May 18th, 6:30 till 8:30 and Saturday morning, May 19th, 9:00 until noon. Please make every effort to be there.
With our Mission Statement ready to go, we can then move ahead with working on our Values. This will be our Second Big Event. To accomplish this we will meet the weekend of June 8-9. It is important that you take the time to be a part of these important events. I hope to see you there.
Copyright © 2012, William T. McConnell
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