ReVision

by Rev. Jim HollandIf you stay at anything long enough, you will experience what is known as mission drift. Mission drift is when you wake up one day and realize that the goals and objectives you set out to achieve are not being realized, and you find yourself filling time or just reacting to the next thing.  Or, perhaps you are doing good things, just not really the things you set out to do. Notice: it is a drift, not a sudden turn in the road, but a slow slipping off the path.I have been married for over thirty years now, and I can’t tell you how many times Teri and I would look at the state or pace of our family, and finally, in frustration, have a “come to Jesus talk” about what our family goals were and how we would get back to intentionally making our home a place of joy, peace and fruitfulness. I suppose the frustration has to get bad enough, and you have to stay with a thing long enough, for you to ever get to this place. If you haven’t experienced this, you are probably much holier than most people I know, or you just move on to the next thing rather than addressing the core issues in your own home. The point is, in a fallen world—with the speed of life, the pressing demands of daily circumstances, and the competing options of good things that confront you—every organization, family, individual or group experiences a drift from purpose at some point.For the past eight months our Session has talked, prayed, debated, discussed and pondered St. Patrick as a whole, and have come to realize that we have experienced mission drift as a church. Many soul-searching conversations have been had and many factors have been dissected: the economy changed and we didn’t build in 2008, we have engaged in very difficult ministry since that time, our current building is not adequate, and our families are extremely busy. After looking at all these factors, we went back to look at our original purpose statement and core values and asked ourselves, “Do we really believe that God has called us to be a true force for gospel restoration in Collierville and the surrounding areas?”What the leadership of St. Patrick—staff and elders—believe is that God has given us a vision of what to be as a church, but that we have drifted away from it. Of course there are factors and circumstances that make it is easy to see how this happened, but having identified this drift, the question that must be asked is, “What do we do about it?” As leaders, we are compelled to ask, “How do we ignite the imaginations and hearts of the people of St. Patrick? How do we show them they really are part of a Kingdom movement of Gospel grace that impacts peoples’ lives and is worth sacrificing for, living for, and dying for?”We genuinely believe that God has St. Patrick here for a reason. Fourteen years ago, before I knew a soul in Collierville, and it was just “me and Jesus,” as I was walking around the Square, coming to grips with thispeople and this place, I wrote this: “We believe God has given us a purpose—to bring the resources of the historic Christian Faith to this community, making a visible difference in the quality of it’s life.” We believe that to realize that vision is not a matter of novelty, or of finding a “magic bullet,” but to get back to our original vision and core values.I will confess to you, the last few years have been the hardest of any time I have had as a pastor. Our church has done many of good things, but there is a widespread sense that we haven’t been what we could be as a church. So, how does leadership, whether in a family, a large company, a sports organization, or a church address this? You have to go back to your original vision and ask hard questions. “Is what we’re doing part of our vision?” “Has our vision changed?” “Have we changed?” “Do our people really know and embrace this vision?”After much discussion, prayer, and fasting, our leadership is going to RE-Vision. We are going to lay out the vision and core values of St. Patrick, and we are going to do it using multiple avenues: sermons, community group discussions, Sunday School lessons, discipleship groups, men’s and women’s ministries, and a newly-redesigned website. We are going to “shout it from rooftops” in conversation, email, social media and newsletters. And as we do this, we are asking our ministry leaders to pour all the programs and activities they do through the filter of our vision, and cut out anything that is not moving us, as a people, to that end. They will devise strategies that will fulfill our stated purpose. Nothing is more important to a group of people than vision; it is like blinders—it keeps you on task.What we believe will happen, God willing, is a greater intentionality in the mission to which God has called us, less time spent doing superfluous things at church, and more time spent in real life-on-life ministry. Further, we deeply believe that a key part of implementing our vision is building our church home on our property in the heart of Collierville. Yet, please listen: the building is not our vision; it is a means to an end. Our vision is to make more and better disciples, to share and shape more lives with the joy of the gospel, to spread Jesus’ fame, and to see God’s kingdom come in power. That is our vision, whether we are in our current facility, in a tent, in homes, or wherever. But will a building help us achieve our vision? Will a building help us as we expand the transforming power of Jesus to more people? Absolutely.So, there it is. In the next few months, you will hear a re-articulation of our vision, more information concerning the building we are praying about and planning to build, and something else I am very excited about—a brief summary statement of our purpose that really captures what St. Patrick Presbyterian Church is all about. I can’t wait to share all this gospel stuff with you!  Most is old, some is new—but all of it is an attempt to make a big fuss about Jesus!