If someone came up to you and asked you, “Who is Lord of Life Lutheran Church?”, what would you say to them? As people that are part of this community, we should be ready to answer that question. So, what would your answer be? I encourage you to post your answer on our social media and use #LordOfLifeExplained.
The main thing that defines us as Christians is our belief in a loving God and our gift of faith, which is placed in knowing that Jesus Christ came to show us a path to salvation. But what makes Lord of Life Lutheran Church different from other Christian churches? Our unique identity as a church is expressed in our mission statement, vision statement, and core values. Can you name one or all of those?
A mission statement explains why your organization exists. We say our mission statement at the end of every church service: “To live, share, and celebrate, with all people, God’s love in Jesus Christ.” That mission is what compels us into action when we gather and when we go out into the world to serve God's mission and God’s people.
You might not know our vision statement or core values because they are just now being developed. Our vision statement is what we believe God is doing to change the world and how we fit into that plan. A good vision statement often seems insurmountable, but it motivates our actions and decisions to keep working toward that goal. Pray for our church council as they are currently working diligently through prayer and discussion to come up with our church’s vision statement.
Finally, whether an organization knows it or not, they have core values. These are the underlying principles that make up the culture of the organization. Mike Ward, a non-profit consultant from GSB, puts it this way, “Your core values are the things that if not attended to (paid attention to) will cause problems in your organization.” Many churches that are experiencing panic, anger, and extreme frustration during this time of COVID-19 are likely not paying attention to their core values in how they are now interacting with congregation members.
Our church council, with much prayer and discernment, have identified our core values at Lord of Life as: Worship, Outreach, Inclusion, and Faith Formation. What do you think? Did they get it right? There may be other things we hold dear to us, but these are the main four that direct most of what we do as a congregation. I believe the reason that our congregation has continued to thrive during this time of physical distancing is because we have remained true to those core values. We are still producing quality worship, we are reaching out to help others, we are making choices in our worship presentation that make it more welcoming for worship guests to participate, and we are continuing to offer opportunities to grow in faith through Bible studies, book studies, and more.
After we are done defining our key identity pieces (mission, vision, and core values) our church council will use these guiding statements to develop a road map for our immediate future, also known as a strategic plan. We will be including the congregation in portions of this strategic plan development and look forward to you helping us figure out how we can continue to “live, share, and celebrate, with all people, God’s love in Jesus Christ,” in new and exciting ways.
What is Lord of Life Lutheran Church to you? Once again, I encourage you to post your answer on our social media and use #LordOfLifeExplained.
Venturing Forward,
Pastor Corey