Ran across this sign at a restaurant and wanted to share it with you:
“What’s with the mission statement? I cook the food – you eat the food – you pay for the food and then you go home. And you don’t make a mess!”
Although I suppose I do value mission statements more than Crabby Joe, he does put his finger on an important point. Instead of spending a lot of time developing and refining a mission statement, let’s just keep it simple and live it.
I just started at a church with a complicated and confusing mission statement. I asked our lead team what it was supposed to mean and no one could tell me. Obviously it needs clarified and simplified. Should I enlist a team to work on the statement or is it OK to draft one first and bring it back to the lead team to discuss?
That’s a difficult question to answer without more background. How long have you been at the church? What is your role? To what degree do you have the trust and confidence of the leadership? In general, it’s a good idea to involve people in the process. This increases ownership and commitment.
preacherman,
I wouldn’t worry about the mission statement for a while. I’d start preaching and living into your own internal “mission statement” , making clear what you are choosing to do, and allowing the church to follow your lead. Once you’ve lived into ministry a bit together, you can bring together some leaders to work with you on a new mission statement that should resonate better with everyone.