Vision, Mission and Money

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Vision, Mission and Money

• The Key to Stewardship.

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Introduction

• We will talk about what a VISION OF MISSION is in
  our time together today. We will also talk about
  the fact that a congregation begins to be
  involved in good stewardship when it balances a
  budget that addresses mission.
• We will not tell you today how to run your annual
  campaign..but you may pick up some helpful
  hints.

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Some quotes.

• "The miracle is this ... the more we share, the
  more we have." -- Leonard Nimoy
• If we are to use anything as the gift of God, we
  are to use everything as God's gift. William
  Law

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Some more quotes.

• "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be
  also." --Gospel according to Luke 1234
• "We make a living by what we get, but we make a
  life by what we give." -- Winston Churchill

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Even More quotes.

• "The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ,
  to come together week by week for corporate
  worship and to work, pray and give for the
  spread of the kingdom of God." -- Book of Common
  prayer, page 856

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And the Last Quote

• What a man loves with all his heart and soul and
  might, this for him is God
• -- Origen
• Non-inclusive language not withstanding, this is
  all too true.
• It is especially true when we are dealing with
  money.
• Its now time to turn this around.

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What Stewardship is NOT

• Stewardship is not about giving money to meet a
  budget
• Stewardship is not fund raising.

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What Stewardship IS

• Stewardship is what we do after we say I
  believe.
• Stewardship is living into a VISION OF MINISTRY
  in a concrete way.
• Stewardship is the main work of the church.
• Stewardship is the way we use all our resources,
  including our time, talent and treasure, to
  continue Christs work of reconciliation in the
  world.

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What is Mission?

• Mission is what God calls us to do.
• If mission is what God calls us to do, ministry
  is a way of answering that call. Our ministry is
  the particular way we respond to Gods call.
• Each persons particular personality, background
  and circumstance influences his or her ministry.
  This is also true for the ministry of the local
  congregation.

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Four Sources for Understanding Mission

• Scripture
• Reason
• Tradition
• Personal Faith

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Scripture

• The bible is the central document of the Church.
• We find in scripture the call of God to the
  people of God throughout the Old and New
  Testaments, including
• The call to love (John 1512)
• The call to service (Matthew 2537-39)
• The call to discipleship (Matthew 286-20)

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Reason

• Reason enables us to understand and test our
  perception of Gods will.
• By reason we apply eternal truths to todays
  times.
• By reason we determine how to respond to Gods
  will today.
• Reason makes a most valuable contribution when it
  prevents us from an unquestioning obedience to
  how we have always done things, or to authority
  figures, or to popular sentiment, or even to our
  own prejudices.

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Tradition

• The tradition of the Church is embodied in the
  historical record of Church practices and
  teachings.
• Church tradition provides many understandings for
  the mission of the church.
• The Book of Common Prayer and the Hymnal are
  great sources of our traditions understanding of
  the mission of the Church.

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Personal Faith

• Our relationship with our living Lord Jesus
  Christ is our fourth resource.
• The key to this resource is in private devotions
  as well as corporate worship.
• It is especially because of this resource that we
  should always be asking people to prayerfully
  consider the gifts that they have been given, and
  their response to those gifts!

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The Vision Statement

• "Where there is no vision the people perish."
  Book of Proverbs (2918).
• "Worse than being blind would be to be able to
  see but not have any vision." --Helen Keller
• A Churchs vision statement is the BEING
  statement for the Church. What are we called to
  BE?
• The best vision statements are short and catchy,
  thereby easy to remember.
• We are called to be fed as we feed

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The Mission Statement

• Once we develop the vision statement, the mission
  statement can be developed.
• Some congregations prefer to have just one
  statement thats fine as well.
• The mission statement is an answer to the
  question What is Christ calling this community
  of faith in our diocese to DO now?

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Why have a Mission Statement?

• Everyone benefits when the congregation has
  articulated a clear vision of its mission in the
  form of a mission statement.
• The clergy, vestry and general membership then
  become partners in discipleship and leadership.
• The mission statement is a tool to use in
  evaluating congregational activities.

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Mission Statement How To.

• Develop your mission statement in a group with
  group consensus.
• There are different methods of doing this.from
  the complex to the simple. Choose the one thats
  right for you.
• Make sure your mission statement is included on
  EVERYTHING you publish in your parishbulletin,
  newsletters, etc.

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Mission Statement Ideas

• You may want to tie your mission statement to the
  Mission Statement of the Diocese.
• Check out other churchs mission statements for
  ideas.
• You want to make the statement specific enough to
  have people understand what it is you as a parish
  or organization consider yourselves called to DO.

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Mission Statement of the Diocese of Los Angeles

• The ministries of the Diocese of Los Angeles are
  informed by the following mission statement,
  which was adopted by Diocesan Convention 1998
• Joined in prayer and worship, we are communities
  of disciples of Jesus uplifted by our calling of
  God's reign of justice, peace and love.
• Rejoicing in our region's diversity, we will be
  God's pentecost people, inviting and welcoming
  and seeking to build congregations of service by
  being wise and enlightened in our faith and
  ministering with all our youth.

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Mission Statement of the National Church

• The mission of the whole church is to seek and
  serve Christ in others, and we do that by
  teaching, working, and living our lives according
  to our beliefs. The mission of the Episcopal
  Church is to follow this plan in keeping with our
  tradition, and also to live in cooperation and
  harmony with every other christian church as we
  do so. We do this by participating in the World
  Council of Churches and the National Council of
  Churches, and by participating in the ecumenical
  movement with our brothers and sisters of
  different churches and with seeking understanding
  with people of all the world's other faiths.

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What to do now

• Once the Vision and Mission Statements, or simply
  the Mission Statement has been developed.
• Use it!
• The ministries of the parish should be reviewed
  in light of your vision and/or mission statements
  but especially in light of your mission
  statement.

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Mission and Ministry

• Mission Statement Follow Christ through the way
  we live and love, spreading the good news of God
  in Christ, opening our hearts to all, and
  experience/spread joy in the process.
• Outreach Spreading the good news that St.
  Clements is here to assist the community to be
  more Christ-like through service.
• Buildings and Grounds Available to help in a
  loving way to whatever comes up an example of
  cooperation.
• Finance How money is dispersed look at people
  in parish and community and their needs
  integrity in use of funds openness in
  communication and reporting.
• Christian Education To learn and to teach in
  order to better understand God in Christ and to
  expand ourselves to spread the good news.
• Youth Having a reliable youth program in which
  the youth of St. Clements can come together to
  learn about and serve God.

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Review the Current Budget

• Evaluate all current expenses in light of the
  mission statement.
• How is the mission statement served by line-items
  in the current budget?
• Involve many people, especially the people that
  have responsibility for ministry areas to
  critique their portion of the budget and invite
  their input.

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More on the Current Budget

• The process may call for redefining job
  descriptions.
• Participants in the process should challenge
  programming that does not seem to contribute to
  mission.
• Make sure to evaluate volunteer ministries as
  well. How are the gifts of time and talent used
  to further the mission statement?

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Devising an Action Plan

• After using the mission statement to evaluate the
  current budget, its time to devise an action
  plan for the coming year.
• Organize the action plan into mission categories
  such as service, worship, education, evangelism
  and pastoral care.
• Set priorities for mission, giving a brief
  rationale.
• Make sure you address how each program or
  ministry area addresses the mission statement.

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More on the Action Plan

• The action plan is the document which canvassers
  can take with them when they visit parishioners
  during the annual pledge drive.
• Canvassers can show what the congregations
  vision of mission is, and how time, talent and
  treasure will be used.
• This outline of the mission and ministries of the
  congregation can inform all members (new and
  long-time members) about programs and ministries
  to which to contribute time and talents.

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The Annual Canvass

• The focus of the annual canvass must be people,
  not budget.
• Once the results of the canvass are in, the
  vestry will then work to draw up the new budget,
  based on
• the action plan for the coming year,
• the financial support pledged, and
• the commitments of time and talents pledged to
  the various programs and ministries.

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Organizing the New Budget

• Once the action plan is in place, it serves as
  the reason for the new budget figures.
• The advantage of the action plan is that the
  budget shows which ministries require, or have
  been requiring, what resources.
• The action plan and new budget paint a clearer
  picture for the congregation of how the offerings
  of the congregation carry out the mission of the
  parish.

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Budget Stuff.
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Helpful Hints.and Things to Think About..

• We do not fulfill the mission of the Church
  alone. We are partners with all baptized people.
  We are partners in mission with our Diocese, our
  national church, the Anglican Communion, and most
  importantly, we are partners in Mission with God.

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More tips.

• Make sure that your parish vision and mission
  statements are clearly identified on all that you
  publish, not just on the pledge card, but on
  EVERYTHING. By the time you get to your
  stewardship campaign, your mission statement
  and/or vision statement should be VERY familiar
  to your congregation.
• Include specific prayers in with your pledge card
  as you give them out to people this is
  something that people need to pray about!

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You knew ittheres more.

• You have to talk to people about vision, mission
  and money regularly, Sunday School on up through
  adult.
• A great way is with a vestry witness on Sunday
  mornings once per month. A member of the vestry
  talks at each of your services during the
  announcements about what they do on the vestry,
  and about how what they do on the vestry supports
  the mission of the church. They also talk about
  how they came to be at the parish, and why they
  give of their time, talent and treasure. This is
  short about 5 minutes, but very powerful.
• Teach....not only during the annual campaign but
  every day. Actually, if we teach and preach
  vision, mission and money, the annual campaign
  drive goes quite smoothly.

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..and Finally!

• Your budget should be realistic, and should be
  ministry-based. You need to make sure that the
  congregations funds and other resources are
  being distributed for mission.
• Non-profit organizations should be reporting in
  detail their income and expenses full, open,
  consistent and honest disclosure will help
  develop trust and understanding in the
  congregation.
• The Rector and vestry should be scrutinizing
  parish expenses as well as income each month in
  light of the parish mission statement. If the
  clergy, wardens and vestry dont have a handle on
  exactly how money is being spent, the people in
  the congregation will not feel comfortable that
  you are meeting your fiduciary responsibility.