By the bye, I've decided (admittedly inspired by Dr. Piepkorn) that each and every congregation of the Synod should scrap their mission statements and adopt a new one. And here it is:
"To be the Church of God in this place."
That would cover all the bases wouldn't it?
9 comments:
yes and no. The statement ends up being a wax nose, shapeable by the whims and opinions of the people. The mission statements that exist serve as definitions of what the people in that place (or at least, the people who wrote the constitution) think it means to be the church of God in that place.
I grant you your point. It takes a grasp of what the Church IS, but once we see that: the colony of the future, the Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the presence as gift and joy of the age that is to come already in this age as "a refuge of peace for a weary world" - then it works!
What are your thoughts on this one?:
The mission of Holy Cross Lutheran Church is to serve our Lord Jesus Christ as He calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies and keeps a congregation of saints in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Hmm. You've got a mix there of Second and Third article, no? Might it be remedied along these lines, also adding a complete Trinitarian reference?
The mission of Holy Cross Lutheran Church is to serve our Lord Jesus Christ as by His Gospel the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies and keeps a congregation of saints in Bismarck, North Dakota to the glory of God the Father.
The statement ends up being a wax nose
If that is true, then there is a deeper problem. Because "what it means to be the Church of God" is not a matter of the whims and opinions of the people; it is something that is given to us in the Church's rule of faith. A congregation that is orthodox will not have an idea of the meaning of "being the Church" that is wildly different from every other congregation.
"One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic" are concrete terms which describe what it means to be the Church. They are not simply placeholders into which we substitute our own ideas of what we want "our" Church to be like.
Hey, Billy, long time lurker, first time poster.
Let me say that I am just pleased that you think churches should have mission statements. I'm touched! (and astounded...)
Maybe even you could even preach about it one Sunday, about how the church fulfulls its mission.
Of course, it is hard to have a mission statement that doesn't mention Christ at all--but still, a great start for you and for your parishoners.
How do one "be" the church? Saying that "it's our mission to be the Church of God in this place" sounds like a tautology -- "we're going to be what we are." That's OK, but perhaps begs the question of whether the church can "be" something else, and if it can, does it then cease to be the church?
Jim,
No, I think there's much to be said for reminding people to BE whom God has declared them to be. Satan would always wish to deceive us about who we are - he wants us to define ourselves by our failure, our sin, our dying. But God gives us the gift of another way of defining ourselves - a call to grow and grow in what He has declared us to be. We need faith to live that out, but what a calling!
Mark,
I hope you know that I firmly believe that the whole notion was ridiculous to begin with. The Church NEEDS no mission statement; the Church NEEDS only to be the Church. That was the point!
I love it. The church needs to be reminded of its mission and it probably should end up being what church is described in Augsburg (Gospel and Sacraments). If it aint those things, then we aint doing it!
By the way, any good confessional mission statements to follow?
Post a Comment