When I first started here at Oak Flats Anglican back in October last year, I was quick to try and find out if our church had its own mission statement.
A mission statement is simply a short and pithy sentence that describes just what it is that any particular organisation is on about.
In other words, it’s kind of like a mini ‘job description’ for the whole organisation, something that tells us what we should and shouldn’t be doing.
When I had a look around, I couldn’t find one.
But that’s fine. It’s not essential. It’s useful, but it’s not the end of the world if we don’t have one.
So, my assumption is that our mission statement is actually the same mission statement as the whole Anglican Diocese of Sydney… which goes like this:
“To glorify God by proclaiming our saviour the Lord Jesus Christ in prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit, so that everyone will hear his call to repent, trust and serve Christ in love, and be established in the fellowship of his disciples while they await his return.”
I’ve got to tell you… I really love this mission statement. It’s a bit of a mouthful, but it really sums up just what we should be doing as Oak Flats Anglican Church.
But how do we personalise it? How do we make it our own?
Well, this week I put down my thoughts in an article I wrote for a new online ‘Christian thought leadership’ website called Communitas.
It’s called ‘Recycling a Mission Statement’, and I’d be interested for you to read it and give me your thoughts.
And as you finish reading it, you’ll see why we need to get working on our ‘values’ as a church… a project for sometime soon in the future!