Who Are We, and Why Are We Here (Introduction to a Work in Progress)

Who are we, and why are we here?  Every organization needs a mission statement, and the Church is no exception.  The mission statement answers those two basic questions.  It gives the organization its identity and it purpose.  With the mission ever in mind, the organization's leaders identify goals and strategies to assist in attaining those goals.  Leaders establish the mission, and set the vision and values that guide the organization toward accomplishing it.

I'm not a theologian.  I'm an MBA, not an M.Div., but I'll stack my 16 years of fundamentalist Christian education against their three years of seminary and state with confidence that I know and understand the Bible at least as well as the majority of ministers, and far better than quite a few I've met and worked with in 32 years as a church musician.  That MBA gives me an insight into the strategic management of organizations that makes me look at the Church as a global enterprise, and consider its mission, vision and values as established by its founder and Eternal CEO, and articulated by his original senior management team, the apostles.

This series of posts (which might eventually become a book) is my attempt to re-focus (small-c) church leaders, workers, and members on the (Big-C) Church's foundational mission, vision, and values.  My hope is that a fresh look from a strategic perspective will improve the performance of the total enterprise (the Church) by targeting the efforts of its local units (churches) toward accomplishing the Founder's mission, vision, and values, as laid out in the scriptures.