The notes based on chapter 5 of Aubrey Malphurs' Advanced Strategic Planning - as used at LTCi, Siliguri

1. Section 15 - Developing a Mission
9. The Power of Vision
10. Vision Has Its Price
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2. Developing a
mission
What we are supposed to
be doing

3. Discovering the core values of a
church is the 1st step of the planning
process for your church / ministry.
The 2nd step is developing an
effective mission statement.
Malphurs suggests Jesus thought
this so important that after his
resurrection but before the ascension
he gave the church its mission.
Matt 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke
24:45-49, Acts 1:8
This chapter is about developing an
effective mission statement -
describing the church’s port of
destination.

4. “The development of an
effective, biblical mission
statement should be the goal of
every church leader.” Malphurs
“The task of the leader is to
define the mission” Warren
Bennis
“What matters is not the leaders
charisma. What matters is the
leaders mission. Therefore the
first task of the leader should be
to think through and define the
mission of the organisation”
Peter Drucker

5. Mission answers the vital
question: what are we
supposed to be doing,
or, where are we
supposed to be going?
People need to know the
destination they are
headed for.

6. Why a Mission is Important?
It indicates the ministry’s direction.
It formulates the ministry’s function.
It focuses the ministry’s future.
The importance
It provides a guideline for decision making.
of the mission
It inspires ministry unity.
It shapes the strategy.
It enhances ministry effectiveness.
It ensures an enduring organization.
It facilitates evaluation.

7. Why a Mission is Important?
It indicates the ministry’s direction.
It formulates the ministry’s function.
It focuses the ministry’s future.
It provides a guideline for decision making.
It inspires ministry unity.
It shapes the strategy.
It enhances ministry effectiveness.
It ensures an enduring organization.
It facilitates evaluation.

8. Why a Mission is Important?
It indicates the ministry’s direction.
It formulates the ministry’s function.
It focuses the ministry’s future.
It provides a guideline for decision making.
It inspires ministry unity.
It shapes the strategy.
It enhances ministry effectiveness.
It ensures an enduring organization.
It facilitates evaluation.

9. It indicates the ministry’s direction
“If you don’t know where you’re
going, you might end up
somewhere else” Yogi Berra
The mission of a church answers
the question “where are we going?”
It directs us to the target, gives us a
port to land at.
Adam & Eve - Gen 1:28
Moses, Joshua, David, Nehemiah all
had a strong sense of direction - as
did Jesus Mk 10:45 and Paul Acts
21:12-14, Rom 15:20

10. It formulates the ministry’s function
You won’t do well in ministry until
you define what really matters.
What are we supposed to be
doing, what has God called us to
perform?
In affect you ask: What matters?
Mission states your intent - and
the people hear it and nod in
agreement.
A church must know what
business it is in - and what
function it performs.

11. It focuses the ministry’s future
A clear biblical mission
serves to bring into
focus the church’s
ministry future.
Conversely: no mission
- no future.
A future focus stops
you living in the past.
Php 3:12-14.

12. It provides a guideline for decision making
Leaders make decisions - it
comes with the territory.
Mission defines boundaries
within which a church can
work - it tells you when to
say yes and when to say no.
A shared mission protects
you from all the “good
works” that are not
necessarily part of what the
Lord has called you to.

13. It inspires ministry unity
God likes unity: Jn
17:20-23, Eph 4:3, Psalm
133
Clear direction in mission
gives unity and draws
people together as a team
or community.
It says, “Let’s all pull
together and we can
achieve this”
People working together
can achieve great things.

14. It shapes the strategy
Mission tells us where we are
going - strategy tells us how we
will get there. So a strategy is
only as good as the mission it
directs, the mission has to be
good and comes first.
“Strategy determines what
the key activities are in a
given business. And strategy
requires knowing what our
business is and should be”
Peter Drucker

15. It enhances ministry effectiveness
Understanding what the
church wants to do makes
you more effective in your
efforts.
Good performance starts
with clear direction. People
who know where they are
going, go the extra mile.

16. It ensures an enduring organization
Every pastor should try to
ensure ministry success
after he has gone.
A good biblical mission can
ensure the church goes
forward for a long time and
has great success.

17. It facilitates evaluation
Knowing what your mission is means
you can tell if you are doing it or
getting there. 2 Cor 13:5
“The church that fails to evaluate
its people and its effectiveness
as a ministry in light of its
mission does itself an
injustice.otherwise how will the
church know if it is fulfilling its
mission?”
Remember though: most
organisations, and people, do not
like living under scrutiny!

18. The definition of
a mission

20. The Definition of a Mission
A mission is broad.
A mission is brief.
A mission is biblical.
A mission is a statement.
A mission is what the ministry is supposed
to be doing.

21. What a mission is not
Although Malphurs spends some time
drawing the distinction between
purpose and mission this is [arguably]
not really relevant to our programme - a
sample of the argument is given below,
Mission is not:
Purpose - this answers the why
questions, why are we here, why do
we exist... Mission answers the what
questions, what are we meant to be
doing etc.
See also the following slide
summarising the issue

22. The Difference between Purpose and
Mission
Purpose Mission
Question Why do we What are we
exist? supposed to be
doing?
Scope Broad Narrow
Intent To glorify God To make
disciples
Focus God Man
Use Internal and Internal
external

23. What a mission is
Mission is a broad, brief,
biblical statement of what
the ministry is supposed to
be doing. There are 5 points
to this definition:

24. 1. Mission is broad
A good mission is broad,
expansive, overarching - it covers
all other goals, mandates etc of
the ministry.
Caution should be taken not to be
too broad though - in that case
you can lose the meaning and not
communicate what the church will
actually do.
Picture: broad-winged hawk

25. 2. Mission is brief
One person suggests no more than 75
words - others allow more leeway.
Biblical examples are usually one
sentence:
Moses’s mission was to lead God’s
people, Israel, out of bondage in Egypt.
David’s mission was to shepherd Israel
and become their ruler. Nehemiah’s
mission was to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem.
It was suggested that the mission of a
church should be able to fit on a T
shirt.

26. 3. Mission is biblical
That is it is based on the Bible - we have to ask what
does God say our mission is? Malphurs says it is
summed up in the Great Commission - and he
provides this chart to summarise it. Making and
maturing disciples at home and around the world was,
and always will be, the church’s mission.

27. 4. Mission is a statement
This is simply a way of saying
it must be communicated to
the congregation. Just as the
Gt Comm. was a verbal
statement articulated by Jesus
so we need a clear articulated
mission statement.

28. 5. A mission is what the ministry is
supposed to be doing
The functional question - what should we
be doing?
Gt Comm - make disciples
Malphurs gives 4 questions to ask of any
church - or their leaders.
1. What is this church meant to be
doing?
2. What is this church doing?
3. Why are you not doing what you are
supposed to be doing?
4. What will it take for you to change and
do what you are supposed to be doing?

29. Question 1 asks people to
think biblically
2 asks them if they have
missed Christ’s directive - are
they retirement centres,
community or youth centres
etc.
3 is very pointed - Malphurs
suggests it can produce
silence!
4 asks about willingness to
obey Christ