Church consultant and Lutheran pastor Peter Steinke recognizes the cultural shifts and systemic pressures that can lead congregations to lose their focus. At the same time, though, he emphasizes that a focus on mission is essential to navigating those shifts and pressures. His August 30 Alban Weekly article (“Avoiding Mission Drift,” excerpted from his recently published book, A Door Set Open) defines “mission drift” as the conditions that result from either not having a clear sense of mission or losing sight of mission. These conditions—which range from “succumbing to a pressure group” to “exchanging core beliefs for more marketable ones,” can take shape, gain power, and derail congregations when people lose sight of mission.

What is the mission that can effectively preserve a congregation’s integrity and vitality? For Steinke, it is “the expression of the church’s deep, abiding beliefs” and “the major standard against which all activities, services, and decisions are valued.” Ultimately, says Steinke, “It is about God’s love for the world, not what I like or don’t like about my church.”

What resources can support you and your congregation in avoiding mission drift and reclaiming mission? In addition to the resources listed at the end of the article, you might consider the items in the “Mission and Vision” section of the Congregational Resource Guide—particularly Fredric Roberts’s Be Not Afraid: Building Your Church on Faith and Knowledge.

What are your stories and ideas regarding mission and mission drift? And what resources do you recommend? We look forward to hearing from you! 

 

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Clergy Burnout

Wayne Floyd on August 23rd, 2010

The attention given the past few weeks in the national media about clergy burnout seems to be news to everyone … except clergy.  National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” show did a half-hour special under the banner “ Clergy Members Suffer From Burnout, Poor Health .”   Drawing on the work of studies like Duke [...]

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Drawing on the biblical story of Hagar and Ishmael in the desert, Carol Howard Merritt invites readers to envision the living waters that can renew their congregations and make possible the missions and ministries to which God has called them. Merritt’s Alban Weekly article of August 23 (“A Well in the Distance“) explains how old [...]

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In “Ironies, Paradoxes, and Balance” (the August 16, 2010 issue of Alban Weekly, adapted from Beating Burnout in Congregations), Lynne Baab points to a paradox in congregational life: the work required to fulfill the life-giving goals of congregations often lead to levels of burnout among volunteers that are life-depleting. As Baab puts it, “If a [...]

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In the August 9, 2010 issue of Alban Weekly (“Craving Community,” excerpted and adapted from “Downtown Judaism: In Our Own Image,” an essay in Living Our Story), New York Rabbi Niles Elliot Goldstein relays his memories of the longing for community and for the safe haven of sanctuary that arose in lower Manhattan and in [...]

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Interested in presenting an Alban webinar?

Wayne Floyd on August 6th, 2010

For those of you who are considering presenting a webinar as part of Alban’s Online Learning Center, watch the following short video to see what’s involved.

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How’s Your Hopefulness Index?

Claudia Greer on August 2nd, 2010

Bob Sitze, author of It’s Not Too Late: A Field Guide to Hope and this week’s Alban Weekly, writes: This book started as an attempt to thwart “eco-despair,” something I saw building in the environmental movement and bleeding into the social justice enterprises of which I was a part.  No one was out-and-out giving up, but many [...]

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The July 27, 2010 Alban Weekly (“Friend, Foe, or Fiasco,” excerpted from Bruce Epperly and Daryl Hollinger’s From a Mustard Seed: Enlivening Worship and Music in the Small Church) stresses the importance of strong partnerships between pastors and music leaders, particularly in small churches. Such partnerships are fostered, say Epperly and Hollinger, by good communication; [...]

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The July 19, 2010 issue of Alban Weekly (“Evangelism and the Under-Thirty Crowd“) is adapted from the article, “Resurrected Lives,” published in the Spring 2010 issue of Congregations magazine. The article discusses the role of Christian evangelism with young adults and the ways that congregations might respond more fully to both the spiritual questions of young [...]

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In the July 12 issue of Alban Weekly (“Why Do We Worship the Way We Have Always Worshiped When People Keep Changing?“), Graham Standish asserts that forms of worship need to be adapted to the trends that emerge with each new generation. Forms that were vital thirty or forty years ago fail as time passes [...]

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