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The Mission of the Peninsula Vineyard—FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the new mission?
2. It's awfully short and simple! What have you been doing all
this time?
3. Why are we doing this now?
4. Why such a narrow focus? Why doesn't the mission include ______?
5. Are you saying that we should stop doing ______?
6. What has held us back from doing this before?
7. Is this just a "program" or are we
following the Holy Spirit?
8. How can we follow the Holy Spirit in walking
out this mission? Or are we supposed to "just do it"?
9. Are we going to change into a seeker-focused church?
10. I don't know what I think of all this / I'm a little uncomfortable
with it. What should I do about that?
11. Is this a done deal or are you open to input?
12. I am a part of a ministry that could be called "inward
focused": we focus on the nurture / healing / serving of Christians.
Is my ministry now invalidated? Will the church not be encouraging
people to join/participate in my ministry?
13. How can I do this / what is expected of me / what are you really
asking me to do?
14. Where in the church can I engage / do this now?
1. What is the new mission?
"To extend the transforming love of Jesus to our world".
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2. It's awfully short and simple! What have you
been doing all this time?
We have been praying ... asking God to help us put our mission
into words, working hard to find a simple way to sum up the great
things God is speaking to our church. In a way we recognize that
this statement confirms the obvious. But we wanted to be careful
with our words, because we think God is very careful with his words,
and we wanted to know that our mission was aligned with
what God is saying to us for this season. We also wanted it to
be simple, but meaningful: each of the words in our mission statement
has a deep significance and has lots of passion behind it. As we
set out now to embrace this mission, we will take time as a church
to explore all the rich meaning of the words in this statement.
Our mission statement does not try to sum up all of God's heart
for our church, let alone for the world: it is simple and short
by design, to more fully embrace the individual ways we each
may share the transforming love of Jesus.
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3. Why are we doing this now?
Some months ago, while Mark was discussing vision-setting with
his VLI students, it was pointed out that our church has never
gone beyond a general "vision statement" to put down
on paper a "mission statement." To put it another way,
we had never tried to express what we think God is calling us
to today: our vision statement describes how we see our place
in the world--our long-term purpose. A mission statement, in
contrast, describes the specific purpose God has for us for right
now, our near-term purpose. It felt to the pastoral staff like
the right time for our church to set out on this process.
Another way of answering this question is that "now" is
when God wanted us to do it. We see this planning process, and
the mission statement that has come out of it, as obedience to
God. We are trying to do God's will in our church for this season.
And we have been encouraged in our decision to embrace these things.
When some of our pastors and leaders attended the Vineyard's National
Leadership conference (in May), we were surprised and blessed to
hear that God has been saying many of the same things to our national
leaders that we have been hearing in our church in recent months.
It seems that the Vineyard as a whole is being directed in similar
ways, and that we have been truly hearing God.
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4. Why such a narrow focus? Why doesn't the mission
include ______?
The mission statement is not a statement of all that
is important to us (our vision statement does a better job of expressing
that).
The mission statement is certainly not a statement of all that
is important to God! The mission statement is merely an expression
of
the specific purpose our church been given as we seek to be obedient
to God today. Like a science student who focuses on math classes
for a season to support the long-term goal of being a better scientist,
we are focusing on one crucial aspect of growing into well-rounded,
mature Christians. This mission is for today: it very well might
be different in three years. It is also important to say that we
don't pretend that this mission will ever really be completed.
But we hope that it will become a natural part of life at the Vineyard,
and that we grow in it. We suspect our purpose will undergo natural
shifts as we mature as a church and grow in the life of God.
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5. Are you saying that we should stop doing ______?
We
are not saying that "Now we will only do things that clearly
fulfill the mission." The mission highlights
a focus for the coming season, but doesn't imply that we will stop
doing the ministries God has given us to do in the past. We will
hopefully continue to grow as a worshipping, healing, equipping
community as we reach out to our communities and to the world.
It may also
be said that the vibrant ministries that we have always supported
will be an essential component of our success in achieving our
mission. We will continue to encourage everyone in our church family
to nurture
a personal, deep, and healing relationship with Jesus. As individuals,
we need to continue in an intimate, growing relationship with the
Lord, which is the foundation for our effectiveness in any ministry.
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6. What has held us back from doing this before?
There
are a number of possible answers to this question. It is very important
to recognize at the outset that some of our people have
not been held back at all! They have been active in reaching out,
sharing the Gospel, loving their neighbors, and blessing the poor.
But as a whole our church has faltered in turning our focus outward.
One answer to why we have not been active in this area, is that
in the Vineyard (on the peninsula and, indeed, across the movement)
we have focused on calling people to an intimate, personal relationship
with God (an inward focus), and this has at times been done at
the
expense of calling them to reach out and give themselves up for
their neighbors (an outward focus). It reflects a classic (and
good) Vineyard
value that we have helped many people get in touch with their hearts,
understand themselves better, and experience God's intimate healing
presence. Our church has been blessed with gifts in practicing
this kind of "inner healing", and you can be sure that
we will continue to faithfully exercise these gifts. However, now
God is
calling us to more faithfully walk out the ministry of Jesus in
the world, to preach the Gospel, to share what we have been given,
and
receive the kind of "outer" healing Isaiah talks about
(Isaiah 58), where we are healed when we minister to those who
have greater needs than we do.
Another thing that may have held us back is a lack of responsiveness
to God's call. Each of us on the planning team
has searched
our hearts and listened for God"s correction in this area.
We have each had opportunities to confess ways that we have sinned
against
God and his creation by withholding love and care from the broken
around us. We have prayed as a group, repented as individuals,
and asked for God's mercy. Some in the church will find that
they have the same opportunity to confess a failure in this area.
The
good news is that God is merciful and wants to help us live out
our repentance, forgiving and giving us strength to walk out his
call.
If God is helping you to see a way that you have fallen short of
his call, don't hesitate to receive his grace and help. Talk about
what God is doing in your small group and receive prayer, or talk
to a pastor.
At times it can be difficult to turn our hearts outward, because
there is so much to sort out on the "inside". It is easy
to get overwhelmed in our day-to-day lives. Sometimes, unless we
have a compelling reason to look up and be available to the world
around us, we simply keep our heads down in our work. One outcome
of our planning process has been to articulate the compelling reason--that
we have been transformed ourselves by the love of Jesus, and it
is our privilege to extend it to the world. We all need to be reminded
that we have been given great gifts by God and we are called to
share
what we have been given.
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7. Is this just a "program" or are we following
the Holy Spirit?
We believe that this entire process has been instituted
by God and guided by God. And we are 100% committed to following
through with
this mission under the direction of the Holy Spirit. God inspired
us to begin this process, and now we look to God to help us to
walk it out. We did not set out months ago to build a better "program".
Having said that, we expect that God can help us organize our
ministry efforts with "programs" that motivate, challenge,
and inspire, truly bringing glory to God. Pray with us that we
never institute
a program just to "get it done". A program is just an
organizing structure: it can be godless, or it can be inspired
by God to achieve
his will. We would choose the second kind!
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8. How can we follow the Holy Spirit in walking
out this mission? Or are we supposed to "just do it"?
We
encourage you to consider this mission prayerfully and patiently.
Spend time asking God what he wants you to do individually and
wait for him to speak. We don't honor God if we just crash ahead
and do
things thoughtlessly. On the other hand, we might have to admit
that we know God's heart in this area already. God has spoken in
history
through his Holy Spirit and we have the record of this communication
in the Bible. We can obey God's call in scripture to tell the good
news, to give ourselves and our resources to the poor, the widow,
and the orphan. If we don't happen to hear God's audible voice
commanding us to do one thing, it doesn't mean that he doesn't
want us to do
it, especially if he has commanded it before in scripture. In many
ways we can know where God is going and how to follow him, even
without special revelation from him. We trust that if God speaks
to us it
will be about the specific way that we as individuals can live
out the command that he has already spoken in history.
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9. Are we going to change into a seeker-focused church?
In
one way, our church has always been focused on the "seeker":
we have always tried to answer the questions that people bring in
the door, and we have tried to be sensitive to the level of understanding
an unchurched person brings to the table. We have always tried to
make Sunday morning services a place where most people could be comfortable.
Sunday morning is for some people their first contact with church.
We don't want visitors to come in and think that we are crazy (a
Biblical principle! see 1Cor 14.23f), so we try to make Sunday service
a safe place for those looking for God. But this does not mean that
we water down the message at all, it just means that we don't want
to force novices to participate in an advanced church exercises.
(On the other hand, you can be sure that everyone who walks through
the door will be invited to fully participate in all the God calls
us to.)
Some aspects of the Christian life are difficult and require a
high degree of commitment, but we will continue to try to make
our public
meetings accessible to all: we will try to use basic language (as
we explore the deep things of the faith), we will explain what
we are doing for the newcomer, and we will try to do things in
order.
We will try to make church a safe place. But as Mark said recently,
our goal is not safety, per se. Our goal is that people would meet
God: "We want to create a safe place for people to hear a
dangerous message".
One final note: anyone who has been in church recently knows
that we continue to be committed to making room for God to
move and
speak and direct. For example, during the Sunday morning service,
the pastors
will always be ready to hear a clear word from the Lord and they
will consider whether the message is meant for the church at
large.
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10. I don't know what I think of all this / I'm
a little uncomfortable with it. What should I do about that?
Be patient: ask God to give you his thoughts about it. Your discomfort
may be something you need to speak up about. Or, maybe God will
give you a new way to think about what the church is doing.
Be patient
with yourself and with us. We will be taking some time as a church
to explore the Biblical foundation and cultural implications of
our mission. Know that we are not changing our personality,
or our style. We are still Vineyard people, only now we are realigning
our focus a bit. Some things are going to feel different, but our
God has not changed, and we think that even as we embark on this
new mission, it will become clear that God knows us intimately
and
has been preparing a work that fits us perfectly.
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11. Is this a done deal or are you open to input?
We have tried hard over the months to keep the lines of communication
open, talking with ministry leaders and others about our process,
sharing milestones, and asking questions. We have let ourselves
be influenced and will continue to do so with regards to the
work that lies ahead. However, we are finished crafting this
mission statement: we believe it is God's will for our church
for this season (until we feel ready / called / compelled to
start the process again). We can't be sure, but we expect this
mission will be in place for 2-3 years.
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12. I am a part of a ministry that could be called "inward
focused": we focus on the nurture / healing / serving of Christians.
Is my ministry now invalidated? Will the church not be encouraging
people to join / participate in my ministry?
Your ministry is as valid as ever, and is a necessary part of
fulfilling our vision, and therefore will be an essential part
of our success
in fulfilling our new mission. The nurture and equipping of our
church family is crucial to our health and we would be shooting
ourselves
in the foot to ignore our need for these ministries, or to ignore
the contribution they will make in the coming years. Ministries
that focus on serving within the church are essential to the
function
of our church and provide a blessed way for people to get involved
and make friends--they also are necessary for the health of our
community.
Every ministry in our church will be asked to consider ways that
they can support the mission of the church. For some groups,
this will be easy. Small groups, for example, can easily focus
a part
of their time on ministering to neighbors, out in the public
square, sharing the good news or helping the poor. There are
hundreds of
easy options to engage a home group with this mission. On the
other hand, some of the ministries focused on nurture or training
or
service, might struggle to imagine a way they could have a greater
impact
on the world outside of our church community. A simple answer
is for those who minister inside the church to consider how
their
ministry is preparing a Christian by healing or equipping her
or him to be
a more effective Christian in impacting the world.
If we all truly look for ways to live this mission, God will
help us see what we can do that no one else can. There are
probably
creative ways for every ministry to adjust their target or their
teaching
to impact the world with the transforming love of Jesus, or to
stir the church to new passion in this mission.
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13. How can I do this / what is expected of me /
what are you really asking me to do?
We are asking everyone in the church to prayerfully join with
us in extending the transforming love of Jesus to our world. We
need
your help! We want all of us to do it individually, but we really
want to do it as a community! How do you do this? First and foremost,
stay connected to Jesus. Continue to make your relationship with
Him a priority. Jesus is the one who will make this mission possible.
He is the source--he has the resources we need. The Message version
of John 15:5 says this well: "I am the Vine, you are the
branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation
intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated,
you can't produce a thing."
Secondly, seek direction from the Lord directly. Ask him
to show you his priorities for your life through the Scriptures.
To
discover your particular ministry, it can be helpful to ask God to
confirm the spiritual gifts, talents, and natural abilities he's
given to you. Let him bring to the surface the passions he's placed
in your heart. Leaders and mentors in our church community can help
you become aware of ministry opportunities which will allow you to
live out your unique calling. Ask God to give you faith to step out!
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14. Where in the church can I engage / do this now?
See the "10 Things You Can Do Right Now" sheet for ideas.
Go to an ACTS meeting to learn what's happening. Go to a Reaching
Out prayer meeting. These are all places where you can hear ideas,
air out a few of your own, and receive prayer as you extend your
self. The Vineyard's outreach clearing-house / support-ministry,
ACTS, is a great place to start. You can attend one of their twice-a-month
meetings and learn all about what's happening, and receive prayer
for your ideas / desires. You can join a small group to test the
waters with the support and partnership of a group. Begin to meet
new people outside the church and share your story (and listen to
theirs!). Meet people on Sunday morning, in your living room, at
your neighbor's fence, on the street, in the coffee shop, at the
soup kitchen, on the train, at the street market, in the office,
at the water cooler, on the job site, in the supermarket. We are
surrounded by people that God loves and who need to know it. Ephesians
2.12 says, "Remember that you were at one time separate from
Christ ... having no hope and without God." In Christ we have
been reconciled to God. Now we have that message of hope to share
with those who don't know.
Over the next few months we will be exploring various ways to
live our mission, as individuals and as a church. We are praying
that
God will open our eyes to the opportunities and possibilities.
We trust God to help us finish what he has started!
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