Missional - More than a word - seeing with different eyes

Looking at statistics and engaging with people, people of faith and no faith, I am increasing drawn to the desperation, despair, denial and dedication before me. The dedication and commitment of some, their tenacious acts of defiance for the hope that is Christ spur me and inspire.

The vision of hands used to working wood, of nostrils used to the aroma of wood as it is hewn or worked loom, once again, before me. How real was the despair of those around Him as His senses combine to assess, smell, caress that wood; the cross member which was to become for Him a vertical deathbed that led, Narnia-like, into a different world where death is vanquished and sin is rendered impotent and done for.

Every step proclaiming something awful to those whose eyes, whose reality, was grounded in the 'what is'; but surely there were some who gazed upon that scene and saw something full of awe?

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life . . .

Tear down this Temple and in three days . . .

It is written that the Son of Man must . . .

How hindsight informs the past and denies the present; how the present denies the past and fails to live in either the future or the past. How the future is a hope like the hope of those seeking six numbers on the Lottery - the place where all is well; all is at peace.
 
And so day-by-day, step-by-step, we - the Bride of Christ - sit in the garden of our lives waiting and watching for flowers to appear and bloom even though we have planted none - we wait hoping to benefit from the toil of others, perhaps gone. We look to God to dress the vines and tend His garden so we might be blessed.

God? Watches and waits wiling us to pick up the shovel, the rake and fork; to clear the leaves, remove the litter and pull up the weeds.

How hard it is to see the world with God's eyes; to engage with people with His heart and yet that is our call.

Faithfully some wait,  tenaciously, but 'what is faith without works' and yet 'what are our works without faith; without prayer and vision'?

I hear time and time again the words, 'those who plan to fail fail to plan!' The problem is that many who do plan fail to involve the author of all and merely set the scene for well-meaning dissipation.

So what do we do and how do we do it?

We seek the Lord and discern that which we, individually and corporately, are called to be [the dreaded 'mission statement'].

We imagine that which we will see if we are living out the mission [the equally dreaded (and dreadful) 'vision statement'] and discern the ways we can make it real.

We convert these into reality [goal setting] and get others to work with us too!

Why do we really make it all so difficult - it's as easy as picking up a piece of wood ;-)

Mission Action Plan Season (2)

One of the most common complaints I hear about the MAP is that churches are 'forced' to do them and this, it seems, makes the MAP a chore rather than a blessing. As a result some of those I come across a solo efforts intended merely to tick the box (which is actually worse than useless)!

Others are seen as an invitation to 'dream dreams'. One of these saw what was a declining and critically failing church reversing the trends and growing to a thriving community of hundreds. When I looked at the ageing congregation and experienced the desperate 'we're declining and doomed' atmosphere my first question was to ask how they (the church) thought they were going to reach their goals. The answer was a bit of a surprise: "We're expecting God to send them in!" The same answer was given as to the workers they would need, the skill sets and any other resource.*

Now, I am often troubled by those with whom I engage in that one of the critical factors in creating a MAP, having a vision and engaging with it, is the often perceived lack of prayer. Obviously this wasn't the case for this church, they had prayed and had faith a plenty - but the goal and expectations weren't realistic. This caused me great problems because I had found myself in the role of doubting what they believed God could do, and of course He could, couldn't He?

As conversations with both of the two examples here progressed it was obvious that timescales and performance indicators (i.e. did it happen?) were the missing, and much needed, elements here.

One of the common problems with the MAP is that like the one-armed fisherman, there is no way of understanding just how big the result of their efforts was! ("It was this big," they cry, "Holding out one arm!").

A PLEA

When you set about writing your MAP (we'll revisit the process some time soon) PLEASE:

1. Set timescales for the things (goals or objectives) you are planning/hoping/praying to see.

2. Review them at regular (predetermined) periods (6/12/18/24 months?)

3. Be realistic. If you have expected to see 50% growth and the result is different, review the goal and the means by which you were hoping to achieve it and modify (or even 'bin') the goal and/or process.

4. Keep the congregation informed and 'on side'. A congregation that owns and works towards the goals is one that is engaged and 'doing' rather than 'done to'.

5. Pray. In small groups, in services, in special events and anywhere and everywhere (ouch! Do I do enough of this? Probably not, but I can resolve that now!).

I hope this provides some stimulation for those who are struggling with MAPs. If you have problems, contact you local missioner (or mail me and I'll help if and where I can).

Happy Friday

* The goals for the 'church of hundreds had been in place for two years during which there had been rather rapid decline and the MAP hadn't been visited since it was written. If we don't understand where we are how can we hope to move towards our intended/hoped for destination?

Mission Action Plan Season (1)

As the heady round of Annual Church Meetings draws to a close I wonder how many of us have presented our Mission Action Plans (MAP) as part of those meetings.

A MAP should contain three vital statements:

Mission statement:
Tells you what it's called, what it does, how it exists and how it relates to the church (if applicable). An example of this:
The outreach team exists to engage with the community by means of social, social and practical work. It raises it's own money to support its work and informs, trains and releases church members to be engaged and work within it.

Vision statement:
Tells exactly what you will have when the aims are met and what you expect to feel like. Keep it simple as there's a danger of ending up with the Athanasian Creed if you try to pin everything down!
"In the church plant new families will come to faith in a place with an informal worship style and obvious and practical, pastoral, concern for the community. By being involved with the practical we will encourage people to belong and develop deeper spiritual realities by nurture and discipleship teaching."

Outcome/Success criteria statement
This sets targets and allows you to see whether they were met, exceeded of missed and this helps us celebrate and refine or rethink (even if you're successful, you still need to be revisiting and managing the targets).

Evidence of outcomes (or lack of them) which might include (or focus upon) income, numbers, outings, events, services - all fit here within a set period. Here's an example from our 'Kid's Club':
Goals 2011
See the numbers stabilise and a consistent and identifiable community emerge
Upgrade the facilities to ensure that the provision remains fresh and current (games)
Develop craft and cooking elements
Increase provision for children with special needs
Be self-supporting

MAPs do not pin the church down or render it 'less spiritual' but enables it to see what is working and what needs to be revisited and perhaps revised (or even merely shot!).

I hope this is of use

'lucky church'

If anything is destined to light the blue touchpaper with me it us those people who tell me we are a 'lucky' church!

Recently, I was given a lecture from a couple of local church members telling me how 'lucky' we were to have children on our services when they had none. Not only that but we were also 'lucky' to be growing and having new members and were even 'more lucky' to have so many people working and doing stuff in our church. Apparently everything that is happening to others around them is the result of nothing more than 'luck' - which explains it all I guess.

Sadly, the application of facts tends to pull down the 'lucky' label because:

1. When we started out the only children in church were ours!

2. The people who have joined us have done so because of a number of reasons, which include community involvement and contact, a gobby dogcollar and the church building being the focal point for much that happens in our patch.

3. Percentage-wise we have a large number of our members who are active. The services regularly involves a number of people and there are usually at least six voices heard in the services. But of course when you are running with an ASA of forty something, even 100% involvement is always less than fifty!

The church the 'unlucky' observers came from boasts perhaps twice the number of helpers we have (but of course that's a lower percentage). It also has an ageing congregation and a bag of excuses for not growing or attracting the young. It has a greater passing trade in young people and greater potential for much - but it is still a church in decline.

Seems there are some who are ridiculously optimistic when it comes to growth and mission. They expect God to bless and fill where the congregation fails to act.

There are others who see the game as lost and cling in holy huddles to the days when people queued to get in to Evensnog. They sit within their empty mausoleum and reflect on how the 'Spirit has left' and merely wait for God (getting more forlorn and vitriolic as time (and members) pads away.

Then there are those who work to understand their patch, struggle with Mission Action Plans, engage with the community and seek to bless what God is doing rather than wait for people to return to where they've never been.

When I became a Christian I was told that we 'didn't do luck, but did mission, obedience and love', perhaps that's the key?

Pax

ps. For those who know where home is, don't assume you know the church in question - you might just be wrong!