When you’re involved in the administration and oversight of a church (or any organization, really), discussions about the importance of the organization's mission and vision are pretty common.
After all, those two statements often guide and inform decision-making. Your church’s mission and vision statement likely impact the types of programs and ministries your church enacts, the strategies it uses to connect with people, and how it implements new ideas or initiatives.
For as important as these two statements can be for your church, there’s often some confusion about the difference between mission and vision. Sometimes, we lump mission and vision together, thinking they’re the same thing. Other times, churches have two seemingly-competing statements that lead to further confusion. While the two statements ought to complement each other, one doesn’t replace the other. Here’s a look at how vision, mission, and organizational goals all fit together.
Your church’s vision statement
A vision looks forward to an idealized version of the church—it’s who you want the church to be as a collective people or organization. What impact do you want to make? What can you be the best at in the world? What do you want to be known for?
The church’s vision should be something your members and the broader community can rally around. A vision should stir emotion as it dreams for the future.
When crafting your church’s vision statement, include other stakeholders, like church members and members of the community, in the visioning process. Make your vision specific and memorable. Keep it simple enough that people can easily share it. Push yourself to go beyond something generic.
Vision statement examples
- LEGO emphasizes the importance of play in fostering creativity, imagination, and educational development among children and adults alike in its vision: “A global force for Learning-through-Play.”
- The Coca-Cola Company’s vision is, “to craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body & spirit.” Helps shine new light on that Coke commercial, doesn’t it?
- Fraser Lands Church in Vancouver, BC, envisions “to be a church of all nations transformed through Faith and love in Christ.”
- Mars Hill Church in Grandville, MI has a compelling 9-word vision statement: “A Jesus people for the sake of the world.”
- “Multiply disciples, leaders, and churches for King Jesus” is the simple vision statement at King’s Church in Charlotte, NC.
Your church’s mission statement
Once your church’s vision is in place, it’s time to work on the mission statement. A mission statement provides more specific and practical points on how your organization will carry out or accomplish its vision. What are you going to do, and why are you doing it? Why do you exist?
Some organizations will express their mission, or support their statement, through listing core values. However you choose to craft your mission statement, it ought to be a roadmap for how your church will see its vision come to fruition. And, like your vision, your mission doesn’t need to be an essay, but instead something people can easily consume and share.
Mission statement examples
Let’s return to the examples from above to see how their mission supports the organization’s vision:
LEGO uses a framework as building blocks to get to its vision. The organization’s mission is to “Inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow,” further emphaszing its vision for learning-throug-play, using children as their role models.
The Coca-Cola Company has a simple purpose statement that drives toward its greater vision by stating their purpose is to “Refresh the world. Make a difference.”
Fraser Lands Church reinforces their inclusive and global vision through a five part mission: To befriend others and love people unconditionally; Believe in Jesus Christ and grow in our belief; BELONG to the church family and connect with other believers; BECOME more like Jesus daily in attitude and action; and BE SENT to make disciples of all nations.
Mars Hill Church uses their mission to prescribe how they plan to accomplish the church’s vision through its ministries and church life: “Living out the way of Jesus in missional communities, announcing the arrival of God's kingdom, working for measurable change among the oppressed.”
King's Church uses the idea of equipping in their mission to achieve their vision of multiplying: "Equip disciples who enjoy christ and evangelize the lost."
Creating organizational goals for your church
Now that you’ve laid out where you want to go (vision) and how you hope to get there (mission), it’s time to look at the nuts and bolts of living out the mission to make the vision a reality.
Organizational goals establish a framework for how your team works to bring your mission to life. A common goal-setting framework is using SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-based.
When your church’s leadership has a better understanding of its vision and mission, you can be a better communicator. A well-crafted vision and mission should influence priorities and strategies in how we connect with people—how, and what, you choose to communicate to your congregation and the broader community. When your church owns its mission and vision, as the church communicator, you should have a better idea of what’s important and where to focus your efforts and attention, including how to set your own goals. These two statements should also make it easier to say yes to the best and no to rest.
This article was originally written by Jerod Clark and published for Church Juice in 2013. The article was updated before publishing.
