Effective or Missional?
Source: Holston Conference UMC
NET RESULTS: New Ideas in Church Vitality and Leadership, is a very focused and “on target” church magazine. A recent issue provided an interesting contrast between a “maintenance-mode” congregation (one that is concerned primarily with preserving the life of the institution) and a “mission-mode” congregation (one that is concerned primarily with meeting the needs of persons and groups outside the congregation. Here are some differences between the two:
1. In measuring effectiveness, the maintenance congregation asks: “How many pastoral visits are being made?” The mission congregation asks, “How many disciples are being made?”
2. When thinking about change, the majority of members in a maintenance congregation will ask, “How will this change affect me?” The majority of members in a mission congregation will ask, “How will this change increase our ability to reach others outside of our fellowship?”
3. When thinking about its vision for ministry, the maintenance congregation says, “We have to be faithful to our past.” The mission congregation says, “We have to be faithful to our future.”
4. The maintenance congregation looks at the community and asks, “How can we get these people to support our Church?” The mission congregation asks, “How can the Church support these people?”
5. When thinking about growth, the maintenance congregation asks, “How many Methodists live within our parish area?” The mission congregation asks, “How many unchurched people live within a twenty minute drive of our congregation?”
6. When confronted with a legitimate pastoral concern, the pastor in the maintenance congregation asks, “How can I meet this need?” The pastor in the mission congregation asks, “How can this need be met?”
7. The maintenance congregation is concerned with the church, its institutional nature, organizations, structures and committees. The mission congregation is concerned with the culture, with understanding how secular people think and what makes them tick. It tries to determine their needs and the ways in which they might be reached with the Gospel message.
Churches might well ponder the question, “What kind of congregation are we…a maintenance congregation or a mission congregation?” The answer to that question could very well hold the key to future growth and development!