I'm sitting alone on a Saturday night, at an undisclosed location with free Wifi. My oldest, known as G-man here on the Big 3, is at a dance with a member of the opposite sex. THAT deserves its own post for sure, but there's something else on my mind this evening.
We've been knocking around the idea of mission statements in staff meetings here lately. It's a subject with a long checkered history at Shadow Rock, which I won't go into here, but I've been thinking a lot about the big questions. Not that that's too unusual for me, but anyway...
When I was younger and much more energetic, I worked for a local United Way organization. I was really a true believer in the UW movement (and I still am... without the starry-eyed idealism, but still giving). Most United Ways have adopted some version of the national organization's mission statement: to increase the organized capacity of people to care for one another. There's a lot to like in that mission statement. It does what it should.
The 'capacity building' part and the caring part must go together. We aren't building community just so people get warm fuzzies - the purpose of the capacity building is to get people the help they need. And so it is with spiritual growth and education - We don't strive to grow spiritually just so we can feel good, become self-actualized, and sing Kumbaya. Spiritual maturity empowers work for others.
It's an old drum, and sometimes I feel like I'm the only one beating it, but I'm at least getting better about articulating what this rhythm is all about. My mission as a Christian educator is to increase the spiritual capacity of myself and others that we together might better serve the world.
Care to join me?
Preach it Karen! That really is what it's all about:)
Posted by: Dee Dee | 10/08/2011 at 09:49 PM