For the past ten months or so we've been working on a process to create a mission statement at my congregation. The process was led my a small group including myself. We began by having a meeting of the Chapel Council when all members tried to come up with a mission statement, then get together with another person and try to come up with a consensus statement between two. Then each pair joined up with another pair, and tried to come up with a consensus, and then again. The idea was to end up with one statement, but with the time available we came to two statements. But none of the statements were thrown away, all the suggestions were kept.
The next step was to work with the whole congregation. During a worship service each person present was asked to come up with just one word, and all of them were collected and read out.
Then all of those words, and the phrases produced by Chapel Council, were considered by our working group one evening. We considered what words were most important, what words were equivalant to other words, and what words weren't appropriate. By the end of the meeting the group had a consensus on the basis of the statement, though the exact phrase was not settled on.
By email the group thrashed out the exact wording and agreed on it to present to Chapel Council. The statement was given to Chapel Council, who approved it with only a slight grammatical amendment.
The draft mission statement was then presented to the congregation, appeared in the Calendar, on every order of service, and on the noticeboard. For about a month or two amendments were welcome from the congregation but none came.
At our Annual General Meeting the mission statement was presented, and needed to be voted in with a two thirds majority to be accepted. No amendments could be put at the Annual General Meeting.
In the end the mission statement passed unanimously.
So now we have our official mission statement. It is:
Our purpose is
to inspire spiritual journeys
engaging with the world
with open hearts and open minds.
The next step was to work with the whole congregation. During a worship service each person present was asked to come up with just one word, and all of them were collected and read out.
Then all of those words, and the phrases produced by Chapel Council, were considered by our working group one evening. We considered what words were most important, what words were equivalant to other words, and what words weren't appropriate. By the end of the meeting the group had a consensus on the basis of the statement, though the exact phrase was not settled on.
By email the group thrashed out the exact wording and agreed on it to present to Chapel Council. The statement was given to Chapel Council, who approved it with only a slight grammatical amendment.
The draft mission statement was then presented to the congregation, appeared in the Calendar, on every order of service, and on the noticeboard. For about a month or two amendments were welcome from the congregation but none came.
At our Annual General Meeting the mission statement was presented, and needed to be voted in with a two thirds majority to be accepted. No amendments could be put at the Annual General Meeting.
In the end the mission statement passed unanimously.
So now we have our official mission statement. It is:
Our purpose is
to inspire spiritual journeys
engaging with the world
with open hearts and open minds.
Comments
"In the flow of religious thought and practice, Unitarians represent openness and inquiry in the spiritual quest"