So what’s “church” all about at St. John’s episcopal church  in Aptos, CA?  It’s changing.    What we do know:  ‘transform lives’ bit the dust and won’t  be included in the new Mission Statement.

Soon  — or very soon —   this small episcopal church  of typically  75-100 persons  attending   an average   Sunday  10:30 AM  service — will collectively  agree on a new Mission Statement.

Assuming that  Mission Statement words become  connected to   new church  behaviors — there will be a host of new objectives and goals monitored by the church vestry/ board.

Initially proposed as the  new Mission Statement:    ‘Love like Jesus, respect the dignity of all people and  and transform lives.’  This  was proposed by the new  Rector,  Mother Tracy.

One member  wrote in,   ‘What does it mean to respect the dignity of all people?’   That it appears  was a  hard one  to define.    At a general meeting concerning ‘transform  lives’ as part of  the Mission Statement one  member strongly objected,  “I don’t like it” without saying why.    That thought prevailed.

So,  where is  St. John the Baptist  Episcopal  Church going  concerning  finalizing a new Mission Statement?

What’s  most recently  proposed:   ‘to love God and love our neighbors by doing justice,  loving mercy and walking humbly with God – together.’

Anyone out there  recognize the biblical  basis for the above?   The Great Commandment  has been squished together with  the old testament  question,  ‘What doth God require of thee, O man?’

Anyone willing and able to write a basic Mission Statement for a small Christian church?  Here’s one try:

‘We,   as part of the Body of Christ, love God & neighbor, seek to forgive others and also ourselves,  pray as He teaches us to pray,   and  do  such acts  as Jesus’s life,    teachings, death and resurrection suggest.’

Go for it —   suggest a basic Mission Statement for a small, episcopal church.

written by Cameron Jackson