Congregational Life Centre
Our mission is to encourage possibilities
Exploring Possibilities
Sharpening our Centre Mission Statement
Every three months at the Centre we take a day for planning. This summer, it was several days. We have been using a weekend to work with congregations who want to sharpen their understanding of their mission. What if we did the same? "Let's," was our response.
We started where we ask congregations to start - with the mission Jesus defined for his ministry and left as a heritage for his followers. It's there in Luke 4: "bring good news to the poor, … proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, and announce that the time has come when God will save this people."
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Our mission is to
encourage possibilities
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When the Centre began some 17 years ago, we saw our mission "to assist congregations to be more effective in their ministry." A year ago we realized a congregation's effectiveness is very much tied to the strength of its leadership. We sharpened the focus to say "Our mission is to help leaders acquire the skills and attitudes they need to lead."
We called the weekend we have used with a number of congregations "Exploring Possibilities." It is a process that helps a congregation focus more clearly on the ministry they do best. It explores the possibilities for a congregation's ministry based on the skills and sense of call found in the clergy and lay leadership.
It was on our second day of exploring our possibilities that we renamed our mission as "encouraging leaders and congregations to identify their possibilities." On day three we realized the only way of encouraging congregations was through its leaders, and dropped the word congregations. Then we realized there was a much shorter way of saying it all, and our new mission statement emerged. Our mission is to encourage possibilities.
We are clear that the only person we can change is ourselves. Our mission is to encourage others to recognize their own power. We have a vision for society and for the organizations that contribute to making society vibrant and healthy. Our particular role, however, is to encourage the individuals who are part of those organizations to see, develop and put to work their potential.
Our weekend with a congregation - we spend Friday morning with staff and add core lay leaders in the afternoon. Saturday explores possibilities for the congregation in a workshop that starts to identify the congregation's mission focus. Sunday celebrates the ministries people are doing in the community and opens possibilities there.
Just as it took us several days to get clear about our mission, we know the process has to go on in a congregation. We leave behind some tools to help that happen.
Contact us for more information.
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| Clair Woodbury 780-619-0386 clair@congregationallife.com |
Joyce Madsen 780-438-6016 joyce@congregationallife.com |
"Leadership Ventures" Congregational Life Newsletter. September 2011. Volume 18 No. 1.