What Is a Mission and Vision Statement and How Are they Different?

 One of the more confusing topics I see in the church world is around the topic of a mission and vision statement.  Many will use them interchangeably and some will not use them at all.  I want to take a few minutes to help clarify what they are, how they are different, and why they are important.

What is a mission and vision statement?  The important thing to keep in mind when wrapping your brain around these statements is the questions they answer.  The mission statement (sometimes called purpose statement) answers the why question.  Why does our church exist?  Because God designed the church and empowered it by the Holy Spirit to accomplish His purposes on earth, many mission statements will sound very similar.  You might see a statement like, "We exist to produce fully devoted disciples of Jesus who make other disciples."  This statement, which is common in a lot of churches in some form or another, clearly communicates why that church exists.  This is helpful because everything else that church does needs to align to that statement.  On the other hand, a vision asks the where question.  Where do we want to be in 3-5 years.  The value of a clear vision statement is that it paints a picture of a desired future for the ministry of that church and functions as a motivation tool for the church.  It is a rally cry.  It is a hill that the church climbs together.  Another value of a clear vision statement is it keeps the ministry focused and on point.  It helps that church decide how best to utilize its human and monetary resources.  It provides a target destination from which all other plans are evaluated.  Is such and such program, initiative, resource, staff member, building, etc. helping us reach our  desired future?  

What are the major differences between the two?  As I mentioned earlier they answer different questions; however, they serve different purposes as well.  The  mission statement informs every aspect of a ministry plan, including the vision.  Without a clear understanding of why your church exists, you will easily drift off into the weeds and find yourself stuck... spending a lot of energy, time, and resources but going no where.  We call this mission drift.  So this statement assures better alignment.  The vision will motivate people toward a shared desirable future and crystalize any plans to reach that future.  Another difference is that your mission statement will rarely change.  In fact, the reason that church exists should really change at all from year to year.  However, the vision is likely to change every five years or so as you progress toward or even realize the vision.  Everything around us changes so quickly that it is hard to have a meaningful vision that is more than 3-5 years away from accomplishing it.  This is why I focus on helping people define where they want to see their church be in 5 years.  More than 5 years is difficult to really plan for.  That is not to say that there is no value in having a general idea of where you want to be in 10 years or more, but for planning purposes 3-5 years is kind of the sweet spot.  The point is that vision will likely change while mission rarely does.  

Why are they important?  I feel like I already wrote about this earlier, but for the sake of redundancy, here we go.  A mission statement helps keep all aspects of a ministry in alignment with why a church exists.  A vision statement helps motivate people and crystalize present plans to meet the desired future.  I will say one more thing relative to the importance of these being stated in a memorable and concise way.  You want everyone to know them and think about them.  Language matters and is a powerful tool to bring people into unity of purpose.  

There is so much more about both a mission and vision statement, but I hope this helps clarify what they are, how they are different, and why they are important.