Mission, visions, and values are valuable tools to help us clarify and focus on our true goals and develop strategies to reach those goals. Without mission and vision we lose sight of our true objectives. Accordingly, the church as an organization tends to drift; being swayed by personalities, trends, and moods from within and without. We conflate pleasing God; our ultimate goal; with pleasing ourselves, our traditions, our kids, our friends, or even the world. When this happens the church ceases to be the church. When the church ceases to be the church, it ceases to act with power and influence in the world. It becomes irrelevant. To avoid drifting the church must be married to its mission. It's vision must be relevant to its world, while remaining true to that mission. The values we hold arise out of and at the same time sustain the mission and vision. Together they work to create who we are as a church. However, these essential elements are meaningless unless the
Pastoral Musings