Essay 1 - Mission or Maintenance?

Are We a "Mission" or "Maintenance" Congregation?

How can we tell and what difference does it make?

It is one thing to look into the mirror each morning. It's quite another thing to do something about what we see.

Jesus asked us to be salt, light and leaven in order to impact the world. How does what we discover by a look in the mirror create shifts and callings to impact the gathered and scattered church that is lead by the Holy Spirit to work and live in the secular world, week by week? The following chart helps us see the difference between"maintenance" and "mission" oriented congregations.

Maintenance

Asks the question of new ideas, "How does this fit into our present programs?"
Bases success on how many people are coming to the church's events and programs.
Devotes a lot of energy and resources to keeping the church running smoothly.
Has strong central governance with a recognizable chain of command.
Has very little sharing of hurts, habits, and hang-ups.
The Pastor is seen as a "Chaplain," one who "takes care of our needs."

Mission

Asks the question of new ideas, "What is its disciple-making function?"
Challenges past definitions of "success" and reorients effectiveness to how many people are doing ministry outside the walls of the church.
Welcomes chaos and sees it as a sign that God is up to something.
Views everyone as involved in ministry. Ministry leaders exist to resource, support, and encourage those in ministry (which is everyone)
Welcomes the broken and offers a safe place for everyone who comes.
The Pastor is seen as a 'Coach" for leaders who will engage the world, "out there."

Over 65% of churches in the United States today are either on a plateau or in decline . Only by determining if the congregation is in "maintenance" or "mission" can we start to see the way out. This means that, in order to achieve vitality, a majority of the adult population in any given congregation must be in some accountability group working on spiritual disciplines.

A Prayer: Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we dream too little, when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life. Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, have allowed our vision of the New Heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where even in losing sight of land, we shall find the stars...[1]

Roger Sizemore, Ph.D.
19 Aug 06

Endnotes:

Edward H. Hammett, Spiritual Leadership in a Secular Age (St. Louis: Lake Hickory Resources, 2005), p. 35f

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." Gandalf, in The Fellowship of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien

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