Wordsmithing can be a very intimidating and challenging task, even for the most experienced writers. This is even more true when leaders want to draft their church’s mission statement. The hope is to define a statement that will be memorable and simple, but that will also express the heart and purpose of the local church. Gone are the days of mission statements that are 5, 7 or 12 paragraphs. A good mission statement today should be one sentence! Below are a few recommendations to help leaders accomplish this important activity. Enjoy!
1. Do it together.
Defining your mission statement should be a team sport. Pull together select leaders, elders or deacons to engage the conversation with you. Strategic thinking is much easier with a team!
2. Pray.
The best guide and leader is the Holy Spirit. Invite the Presence of God into the room and let Him bring unity and clarity to the conversation.
3. Start from Scratch.
You may have a mission statement already. I suggest you consider setting it aside and begin afresh. The process of revisiting why you do what you do will bring clarity to your church and either confirm or clarify if your current statement is relevant or not.
4. Ask, “Why are we here?”.
This is the question your mission statement will eventually answer. Why does your church exist?
5. Make it Biblical
The Scriptures are our guide. Consequently, all church mission statements should reflect a few of the same clearly defined purposes of the local church: Loving God, Loving Others, Discipleship and Outreach. There may be more, but I recommend you ensure you aren’t missing those elements!
6. Brainstorm and Refine.
You will want to do a lot of brainstorming and a lot of refining. Develop lists of ideas, words and sentences. Categorize them, refine them, and update them. You may go through this process several times. There will also be key words that resonate with you and your team. Note them and set them aside for future consideration. You may not use them all, but you will want to consider them when you get to the final stages of your statement construction.
7. Don’t confuse Values with Mission.
Don’t confuse your core values with your mission statement. For instance, you hopefully have a core value of being bible-based. That shouldn’t be part of your mission statement. You probably have a value of being caring or generational, etc. Those should be summarized in a list of vision statements rather than in the mission statement. Similarly, don’t confuse mission with beliefs – those should remain in your Statement of Faith.
8. Keep it Simple and Brief.
This is the perhaps the hardest part (well, the second hardest). Allen Cox defined a mission as ‘an organization’s brief, compelling statement of purpose.’ I recommend your mission statement be one sentence or no more than two sentences – and if possible short ones. Don’t use a lot of adjectives, Christianeze, or run-on sentences. Also, if it requires an extra paragraph explaining the reasoning behind something, it’s too complicated.
9. Evaluate EVERY Word.
That’s right. When you near the end of the process you should ask yourselves if every word accurately reflects what you want to say and why. You will also evaluate whether every word is necessary or not.
10. Make it Memorable.
I said above that making the statement brief is the second hardest part. This is probably the hardest for most of us. It needs to be memorable. Something that almost rolls off your tongue. Easy to remember. There’s no point in having a mission statement if your congregation can’t remember it.