I once heard a pastor tell a story about his army background where he learned the true meaning of the phrase “mission critical.” When he was much younger on deployment, he was issued a standard military cot to sleep on, but unfortunately, he was too tall for the cot and his feet hung off the end. When he requested a longer one, he was dismissed by his commanding officer who said to the effect, “Your feet being on your cot is not mission critical.” While he was disappointed, he also understood that there were more critical issues that needed attention. His unit needed to accomplish their mission; their lives, and the lives of others depended on them. The mission’s priorities did not include his feet being on a cot.
What do we at Southminster consider to be “Mission Critical” to our sustained ministry? What are the efforts and resources that are our top priorities? Another way to think about it might be, “what activities are not urgent or important?” It is hard sometimes, in the moment, to know whether something we are focusing on is mission critical or not. It might seem important to me or you, but it might be unnecessary. Making the call can be hard. It means being uncomfortable for a time. But we learn, like this young soldier learned, our personal comfort is not God’s mission.
Session has been working on a plan to re-prioritize our ministry efforts. While Southminster is healthy and vibrant, there are new ministry efforts we would like to achieve. Session leaders have been discussing and planning on how best to make sure that we agree on what are our top priorities. Obviously, our goals are not just sustaining, but growing our vibrant worship time, insightful opportunities for Bible study and fellowship, and meaningful community service and engagement opportunities.
It doesn’t take a 4-star general to realize that for every good idea, there are hundreds of ways to implement it. Rest assured that Session has been working through these ideas for several months, and will probably take several more to fully implement. We are talking and praying and committing our cause to God to be guided by the Holy Spirit. We ask for your prayers, patience and support as we navigate our renewed ministry.
Being uncomfortable and doing new things are hard. But Jesus’ disciples were rarely comfortable. Yet, those disciples were excited, for they were succeeding in their greater mission of committing their lives to Jesus and serving and caring in His name. Jesus tells us, “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” How true is that saying in our church today! But with the leadership of Session, hopefully you, and all our congregation, will help Southminster be able to achieve all our top priorities!
Pastor Karl
Comments