SDA Mission & Ministry

[Gregory Matthews]

In my travels as a military chaplain, I have witnessed many SDA Congregations that struggled to exist.  Often, they lacked essential resources for ministry in their community.  They may have operated without a clear sensis of what the intended goal of the program was and never were evaluated to determine whether or not they were effective.

As a military chaplain, a major commander once called my supervisor in and asked him to give the Commander, a document outlining how chaplains would contribute to the overall success of the organization.  My boss gave me that task to me, and I wrote a 110-page document which he presented to the Commander.  Unfortunately, he did not read which I had written prior to presenting it to the Commander.  NOTE:  The Commander read every word it.

To illustrate my thinking on this, I have decided to illustrate with a a common SDA ministry of providing food to the needy in a community.

*  Mission is probably the first aspect of the congregation ministry that should be determined.  In our example, that mission could be simply to provide food to the needy, or it could have the addition aspect of increasing congregational membership.  This is a critical difference that impacts on every other aspect of the ministry.

* Resources needed:  An obvious response is that a source of food is needed.  Will it be a free source, such as a food bank, or will food have to be purchased.  Sometimes some food will need to be purchased.  If so, are the finances needed available.  People will be needed to operate the distribution.  When the mission is simply to distribute food, the workers can come from outside the congregation.  If the mission includes increasing the membership, whether the congregation can supply the needed member to operate the distribution is critically important.  Will the congregation e able to supply any needed funding is also critical.  NOTE:  In my thinking the Church Board has the overall responsibility to provide all needed resources, not the person in charge.

* Evaluation:  Are the objectives being accomplished?  If not, what is the needed correction that must be made to accomplish the objectives?  In our example, if it is desired to increase membership and that is not happening, what needs to be done to correct that?

Note:  On a personal basis, I think that many struggling congregations have reached the point where they are unable to survive and accomplish ministry outside of help for a higher level such as the Conference.

I also believe that in order to survive and do ministry each viable congregation must have the following, not listed in priority:

* The finances needed to run a successful program.

* A sufficient congregational size, which has been estimated by some to be abut 200.  Yes, I believe that the Conference can be of help in this aspect.

*  Sufficient capable leadership.  Let us face it, individual members are not capable of filling every needed position in the congregational life.  Yes, I believe that the 'Conference will often be able to help in this.

* Be a welcoming congregation.  A congregation which holds high standards that few can meet, is not going to retain members. I have seen such.

NOTE:  Some reading this may wonder if I have any specific congregation/Conference in mind.  I will simply say:  If the shoe fits, put it on.  My desire is to stimulate thought.