Statement of Mission and Directional Signals
Statement of Mission
"The mission of the Presbytery of Lake Huron is to partner with congregations, helping people to know, grow, share and serve as disciples of Jesus Christ."
Directional Signals
Moving Away From .....Moving Towards
From Legalism to Grace: Recovering Our Spiritual Center
We want to move away from acting out a belief that God rewards us for our adherence to rules for their own sake. That spirit asks "What must we do to please God?" We want to move toward a more grace oriented faith that asks, "What can God do through us, if we allow God to work?"
- To move toward a grace centered existence.
- To move toward a spirit of responding to God's grace in our lives.
- To move toward a model of being a servant to the servants of God.
- To move toward being a mission-centered Presbytery focused on Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.
- To move toward celebrating our shared life in response to grace.
- To move toward a welcoming of change as opportunity to grow.
From Serving the Institution To Serving the Kingdom: Recovering our Focus
In relating to congregations, we want to move from a primary emphasis on Presbytery as regulatory agency, promoter of denominational programs, and tax collector to Presbytery as mentor, catalyst, consultant, encourager and developer of pastors and lay leaders.
- To move from the primary focus on Presbytery as legislative assembly to Presbytery as community of mutual support, educator, networker, provider of resources.
- To move from emphasizing institutional accountability (rules and regulations) toward more emphasis on spiritual accountability (faithfulness to our mission, vision, and values).
- To move from preoccupation with structure, order and control (permission withholding) to encouraging flexibility, creative risk taking, and grassroots initiatives (permission giving).
- To move beyond the struggle in filling committee vacancies to empowering people to use their gifts and energy.
- To move away from a climate of indifference toward a climate of gratitude and trust where people will feel free to be themselves and to reveal their thoughts and feelings.
- From preoccupation with doing things the right way to a focus on doing the right thing.
From "Acquiring Members" to "Making Disciples": Recovering our Purpose
To move from the mindset of maintenance and membership to the mindset of service and discipleship. Members perceive service to be limited to attending church, contributing money and helping out by serving on a committee. Disciples, first of all, pursue the spiritual disciplines that they may grow in the faith; discover, develop and exercise their God given gifts; find their vocation or calling in daily life; and enthusiastically share their faith and resources with others.
We want to make disciples and create the expectation that people grow and change as followers of Jesus.
- To move from thinking of ministry as what the clergy do to seeing ministry as what the whole people of God do. Baptism/confirmation is the call to active discipleship and each person is called to a ministry.
- To move from seeing Christian life as only church related activities, to seeing it as ministry in daily life, in the workplace, home and community.
- To move from emphasis on clergy as the sole ministers to clergy as equippers and mentors of disciples.
- To see the success of the church's ministry in terms of the quality and faithfulness of the way lives are changed.
- To move from a church that is growing older and smaller to one that reaches the unchurched of all generations, that seeks and builds disciples.
Revised - May 22, 2000
Adopted at the October 3, 2000 Presbytery meeting
October 17, 1999, by the Mission Study Task Force
