What is Your Mission and Vision
Written By // Gary Stidham
Where there is no vision, the people perish – Proverbs 29:18
If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. – Zig Ziglar
Why do you do campus ministry? What’s your mission? Can you put it into a concise and compelling statement?
A good mission statement becomes an anchor that reminds you of “why” and “what” you’re doing. It also allows you to share the mission with others and invite them to join!
Lots of campus ministers know WHAT they do. They engage in outreach and promotion, organize Bible studies and worship services, and plan mission trips. Fewer still can clearly and concisely articulate WHY they doing it and how it connects to Jesus’s Great Commission in Matthew 28. A good mission statement communicates both the “what” and “why” of your ministry.
Will Mancini differentiates a mission statement and a vision statement. In Church Unique, he describes five facets involved in building out your “Vision Frame” for your ministry.
MISSION (mandate) - What are we doing. A clear and concise statement explaining what your ministry is committed to be doing. Mission is connected to Jesus’s Great Commission but applied to your specific context.
VALUES (motives) - Why are we doing it? These are shared convictions that guide actions and reveal the strength of the ministry.
STRATEGY (map) - How are we going to do it? Strategy is the process or picture that demonstrates how your ministry will accomplish its mission on the broadest level.
MEASURES (marker) - When are we successful? A set of attributes that define or reflect the accomplishment of the mission. These are measurable milestones that allow you to evaluate progress. Measures could include number of small groups, number of students engaged, number of alumni joining staff or being sent, etc.
VISION PROPER (mountaintop + milestones) - Where is God taking us? Vision Proper describes an anticipated future. These are God-sized but measurable and attainable goals. Ideally Vision Proper describes success 2-5 years in the future.
Mission never ends because the work is never done until Jesus returns. Vision keeps us motivated because, by faith, we can see God accomplish it in the intermediate future. Andy Stanley says, "Vision is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be." Mission is a not-until-Jesus-returns activity of the church. Vision CAN be accomplished. We can't just stay motivated by mission because it's too far off. We need a
VISION of where our ministry could be, by God's grace, in 3-5 years.
For my campus ministry, the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of Texas Arlington, here are ours:
MISSION: To lead college students to become lifelong disciples of Jesus.
VALUES: Christ as Lord, God’s Word, Prayer, Accountable Community, and Witness. (You might recognize these from the Navigators Discipleship Wheel, a resource we utilize in our discipleship. Don’t be afraid to borrow stuff that works!)
STRATEGY: Evangelism, Discipleship, Missions. We strive to WIN college students to faith in Christ, BUILD them into mature disciples of Jesus, and SEND them as lifelong Gospel workers.
MEASURES: We track lots of stuff 😊
VISION PROPER: To increasingly saturate the campus with a gospel witness by pioneering one new niche ministry per year and to pioneer a new campus ministry on two additional local campuses in the next 3 years. To have 10% more students meaningfully engaged in discipleship every year for the next 3 years. To send 20 graduates to campus ministry staff or the mission field in the next 5 years.
If your mission statement is CLEAR and also EMPHASIZED then it helps keep your ministry from drifting away from mission. In our campus ministry, we repeat it like a broken record. Sometimes paraphrased, sometimes word-for word. “God put you on the campus to help reach others for Christ.” “God wants to grow our faith so we can reach people for Jesus for the rest of our lives. One key to creating a strong culture in your ministry is repeating the mission. And then repeating the mission. And then repeating the mission.
So what are yours? Do you already have a thoughtful statement of your mission, values, and vision? Does it need improving? If not, take some time to pray, dream, and create a God-sized, Great Commission mission statement!