Assisting, Not Enlisting

Last week's blog addressed the strategic language rationale for calling our building in Decatur the Mission Center instead of the office. For the next few weeks I want to highlight some of the components on what I refer to as the Mission Wall in the Mission Center. As you enter the front door of the Mission Center and step into the reception area, you would notice a wall to your right with several framed statements. One of them says,

Harvest Baptist Association exists for the purpose of assisting our partner congregations, individually and collectively, in fulfilling the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV), Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The Mission Wall reinforces the mission of the association. Our partner congregations are called to the Great Commission. The association does not enlist congregations to "help with" or "participate in" association activities. The association exists to assist these congregations in fulfilling their mission. In other words, the organizational methodology is assisting, not enlisting. So, the question of the week is, "How may we assist you in fulfilling you mission?"

Strategically Speaking - The Mission Center

Since I came on board as Director of Missions of HBA, I have started using some different terminology that sometimes causes confusion. The building at 603 N. Business 287 is most commonly referred to as the association or HBA office. I refer to it as the Mission Center. As a result of that, sometimes people have gone to the wrong location for a meeting. I really don't take wicked pleasure in confusing people (I promise). The motivation behind it is to speak and think strategically--by that I mean to look at the desired result and cast the vision over and over until the message gets first into the eyes and ears, then into the mind, and finally into the DNA of the organization. So, now I say that association staff members have offices in the association Mission Center. Harvest Baptist Association is not a building. It is a missional network of cooperating congregations who are connected by the MISSION of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. An office is a place for work, for meetings, for decisions. Those things are all necessary components of what we do, but the mission is our heartbeat. The mission is our center. The mission is why we go to our offices. The Mission Center should be a visible reminder of the mission for every person who walks through the doors. It may not have reached DNA level yet, but we are on the way.

On Mission

Got word from one of our HBA Churches today that they voted yesterday to be missional in their approach. Now, the word "missional" wasn't used in the meeting, nor was there a motion for the church to become something new. What happened was that they voted to take two actions. The first is to add much-needed space to their small facilities. This congregation of about 50 people is almost at the capacity of their current meeting space. They also voted to begin monthly financial support of a sister congregation in need as a part of our partnership with Bay Lakes Baptist Association in northeastern Wisconsin. Here's where the missional mindset shows up. For their building, they voted to begin the process of planning and of exploring what their financial resources might be and to build when the resources are there. For the financial support of a sister congregation, they put a dollar figure--a very generous one for a congregation their size--with no end date specified. In other words, they are on mission for the sake of the kingdom of God first and for their own needs second. They could easily have said, "Let's see what resources we have for missions after we get our building done." Rather, they said, "Let's see what resources we have for building after we fulfill our mission calling." Missional. On mission from God. Just one example, but a good one. What's your church's story? I'd love to share it here.