Mission & Missional and all that: STOP IT!

There is much talk of Mission Shaped Church and Mission Action Plans and even being "Missional", whatever that is supposed to mean. If you speak like this next you will be "doing ministry." But that is another story.

But how much difference does it all make in real ministry?

Research by CPAS suggests that 60-70% of church vision statements make no real difference.

So much of the the pastor's work is probably concerned with keeping the show on the road and the church will tend to try to do what it has always done whether it works or not.

The thing is to hold before oneself the mission of Christ and his church: the call to make disciples.

And then we need to ask, "Does this contribute to disciple-making?" If not we need to consider STOPPING IT. We even need to ask "Is this the most effective way to contribute to disciple-making?".

No doubt the 8am Communion for the 6 customers is a good thing that could contribute to disciple-making, but is it the best use of everyone's time and energy? Would you start it for the sake of mission if it didn't exist? Have you ever considered STOPPING IT.