The Secret to a Great Mission/Vision Statement

I never liked mission statements. This is why our church and my nonprofit ministry Courage With Grace has never had one. I never liked them because they were too generic and made me want to yawn. I believe that a great mission statement can help you understand who a church or a business is. What makes a great mission statement?

Simon Senik once said, “Value are not “Provide value, Honesty or innovation’ they are verbs like, ‘Always tell the truth’ or ‘look at the problem at a different angle’”. I love that approach because it’s not just general it doesn’t speak to something vague. Romantic movies are famous for being out of touch

A good mission statement and vision statement should be understood by the customer by those who know the ministry without you even telling them what you are doing. 

I hate writing these things because it’s like taking the church the Bible and all his people all the beliefs and packing it into a small briefcase you just can’t fit everything in there. That is basically what you’re doing because you are defining what you believe a small sentence.

I can definitely relate to the pastor down the street who just holds up his Bible and says is my mission statement is my purpose statement it is my vision statement. Because it is really hard ice the Bible into the small sentences and paragraphs. Plus most church mission statements are basically the same just worded differently. These are love God, love people, make disciples. If you want a horrible mission statement add a lot of feathers. Yes just pack it on like your fairgrounds stuffed animal. Make it fluffier and more full of words than a Build a Bear.

What at makes a good mission statement is concrete language. In fact that is what Jesus used many times. He talked about parables and stories. Concrete language is something you can hear, taste, smell, and see. When we use big words they can be too far in the sky and not on the ground level.

Here is our (High Five) churches new mission statement, “We make heaven crowded by picking people up with God’s Grace and helping them win at life.” This is a statement you can see.