Response to “TSL, Strategy, Self-Sacrifice and Christian Ministry // CM1”

Please see original post here!

Thank you so much, Oliver, for responding to these questions in such an appropriate and “mind-opening” way. There was one specific section that I want to quote,

” Though a church may be growing in its numbers it may not be serving its purpose. In some cases, churches may look foolish to others as they cut a program that appears to be thriving, or is bringing in significant revenue, but is not helping lead and grow people into mature disciples of Christ.”

Individuals and teams enact strategic leadership when they create the direction, alignment, and commitment needed to achieve the enduring performance potential of the organization (Hughes, Beatty, and Dinwoodie, 2014, p.259). Where I am going with this is that I believe mission and vision are essential to living out transformational servant leadership. I had experienced this myself when my wife and I had to create a vision for our church with the help of our Mission Board (church board). We noticed that the church was running programs, people were coming through our doors, new people were coming on Sundays; however, we (as a church) were not aiming for anything; we had no meaning or purpose. I am a pastor/Officer with The Salvation Army, and I believe that sometimes we cling to our name more than our mission – we let other people fight in the trenches while we’ll hold down the fort. I, 100 percent, disagree with this. I think the church, in general, has gone this way of looking at numbers attending more than souls saved. I believe the church is looking at how much they have in their bank accounts more than looking at what percentage of income real ministries are using.

Imbenzi, Williaume, and Page say that spiritual leadership starts with creating a vision through which a sense of calling can be experienced and establishing a culture that helps to intrinsically motivate both oneself as leader and the people within one’s team or organization and helps followers find a sense of meaning (Para 9, 2013). We need to know what we’re aiming for, and then fit our ministry around that. I wonder what the church would look like if we all understood our mission and strived to reach our visions?
Also, just in case you want to know, here is the vision statement we came up with: “To be a Christ-Centred church focused on serving others by being relevant in the community, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, and making and growing disciples.”

References:

Hughes, R. L., Beatty, Collarelli-Beatty, K., & Dinwoodie, D. L. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organization’s enduring success. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Imbenzi, G., Williaume, D. & Page, D. (2013). Transformational servant leadership. Unpublished manuscript, Master of Arts in Leadership. Trinity Western University: Langley, Canada.