One of the pitfalls most non-profit organizations fall into at one stage or another is endless discussion about vision and mission statements. Because these organizations exist for reasons other than to make money, it’s very easy for non-profits to get bogged down in navel-gazing about why they exist, and whether the purposes they were originally set up for are still relevant, and so on.
We’ve tried to avoid too much of this sort of thing at Matthias Media over the years, but as we approach the end of our 21st year in existence, we thought it was time for a bit of re-focusing and clarification of our goals as an organization.
In one sense, most people who know Matthias Media know what we’re on about. We stand for a Reformed evangelical theology, and we try to serve the growth of Christ’s gospel in the world by producing high quality ministry resources based on that theology.
But as we’ve been talking around the table over the past couple of months, we’ve realized that it would be helpful to sharpen what’s distinctive about us and our particular mission. Among all the different organizations in the world that are producing books and Christian resources, what are we trying to do that’s distinctive? What’s our particular contribution?
Here’s where you come in. We thought it would be really useful to share where we’re up to in re-crafting our mission statement, and ask our Sola Panel readers to give us their thoughts. Here’s the current draft of the new Matthias Media mission statement that we’ve been working on:
To serve the growth of Christ’s gospel throughout the world by persuading and training every Christian to be a committed, godly fellow worker in prayerfully speaking the Bible’s truth.
As usual, with these sorts of statements, we have pored over every word and chosen each one very carefully. We want to communicate what people already know—that we stand for the Bible’s truth and that we produce resources for people to use in ministry (which consists of speaking that truth prayerfully). But the sharper edge of the statement really lies in its emphasis on teaching and equipping every Christian to be engaged in this as a fellow worker—that is, to persuade every Christian to be involved in ministry to others, and to equip and train them with tools and resources to do that work. That’s always how we’ve seen ourselves, but I’m not sure we’ve always communicated it as clearly as we might have.
So what do you think? How does that strike you? What does it communicate to you? Is the emphasis right? Does this fit with who you think Matthias Media is or should be?
Fire away. Your thoughts and reactions will really help us.
One question. Do you guys at Matthias Media actually envisage training every Christian (that sounds like you’re going to be mighty busy!). Or would it be better to substitute the word “equipping” or “providing resources for training” for the word “training”, to better express what you as an organisation actually envisage doing.
“every Christian” ???
Tony,
To risk cliche, by stating the obvious, the one benefit you present to me (& my church, ministry etc) is that you’re (i.e. MM) is “Australian”.
Whilst a certain business based in West Ryde has lots of material (& there is some good stuff there – I’d be the poorer if it wasn’t for them sometimes) the fact is, what we need down under is material developed and written that understands the unique-ness (sp?) of Australia! MM has been doing exactly that exceptionally well.
So, all I’d say is, “What do you mean by “every Christian”?
I’m not trying to limit your effect and impact – more power to MM I say! But I seriously hope that MM retains it’s distinctive Aussie flavour well into the future.
I like the word ‘persuading’.
I thought I MM all figured out when you had ‘Six Steps to talking about Jesus’ and ‘Six Steps to encouragement’.
You’re a twelve step program!
Then you had to go and write ‘Six Steps to reading your Bible’ …
Is persuasion a worthy goal? I would think conviction is more the aim although MM can’t do the convicting, but be a tool for the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Words are fraught with hidden meanings and writing a mission statement is always difficult.
To add onto Albert, I think there is always the temptation to broaden horizons… MM has relationships and a presence in both the UK and US so putting “Australian” in there limits the world-wide work that is already going on, although there is much to be said for the unique perspective Australians have.
Thought-provoking? Edification? Equipping? Empowering? Enabling?…
Well Albert, to defend MM I think the words “every Christian” are critical because MM does have a global reach. It’s got publishing arms in Britain and South Africa. Also in Sydney I went to a charismatic (non-Anglican) church where they used MM stuff, so it’s not just Australia or Anglicans who can benefit. I went to a Christian bookstore in Seoul, South Korea today and there’s no MM stock which is a shame because MM stuff is so good.
I think the mission statement might be stronger if it included a clause on the MM materials enabling Christians to not just speak the truth but to also live it out! The MM resources, I presume, are not just for evangelism and proclaimation but also for encouraging Christians to be godly. Any thoughts on this?
Dear Tony & MM Team,
I love you guys and the resources you provide. I look forward to reading your responses to the first to comments. The other question I have is why have you chosen ‘Christ’s Gospel’ as the thing you would like to see grow? I would have thought it is ‘Christ’s Church’ that biblically speaking we would want to see grow. The Gospel cannot grow as such in that the gospel has been fully and finally inscripturated in the Bible. IS it not Christ’s Church that we would want to see grow as a result of the Gospel being proclaimed?
Thanks everyone.
Interesting that a number of you picked up on the ‘every Christian’ phrase. We weren’t thinking so much of geographical reach, nor even of conquering ze entire world, but that our vision for ministry involves EVERY Christian, not just an elite band of ministers.
This has long been one of the MM distinctives, and we’d like to re-emphasize it—namely, that the gospel will grow as people prayerfully speak it (whether to other Christians or non-Christians) and that therefore we want to maximize the number of ‘prayerful speakers’ through training and equipping. We’d like to see ‘all Christians great and small’ fired up with this extraordinary vision: to be fellow workers in the gospel, speaking the truth in love to any and all.
Should it be train or equip? We talked about that for a while, Lionel. I originally had ‘equip’, but others thought that ‘train’ was a punchier word. All the same, you’re right—MM’s role is to supply the resources rather than to do the ‘on the ground’ training, which is done person to person (or should be). I suppose it’s a matter of whether this is a ‘vision statement’ (or what we’d eventually like to see happen through our efforts and others), or a ‘mission statement’ (what we actually intend to do). Since I labelled it the latter, then maybe we need to rethink along the lines you’re suggesting.
On ‘gospel growth’, it’s actually an NT idea Mike. In fact, one of the interesting things in the NT is that the ‘word’/‘gospel’ is said to grow (as it spreads and bears fruit; see Col 1:3-6), but that ‘churches’ are hardly ever described as ‘growing’.
As for wanting to see Christians live out the gospel in godliness and holiness, Haydn, I’m with you! It might be too subtle, but we tried to capture it by describing the fellow workers as ‘godly’ and ‘committed’—that is, people who have been gripped by the gospel word and changed by it, and taught by it to lead self-contolled, upright and godly lives (Tit 2:12). So not just activists, but ‘godly’ people.
Thanks for the comments everyone. Keep em coming.
Firstly, re preamble, why the fascination with what is distinctive / particular about our contribution? We ought not primarily stand out from fellow workers, but rather to conform to / be in line with / be faithful to the Lord. Now it may just happen that in being faithful we are distinctive, or it may not be. That is not the point. Surely what matters is that we are faithful, not that we are distinctive. We ought to be preoccupied with the Lord Jesus being in clear view and standing out, not ourselves.
Secondly, pursuading and training every Christian is far too narrow. Shouldn’t it rather be every PERSON.
May God grant MM continued faithfulness in ministering God’s grace in Christ to every person.
Great ! My only … niggle … is that you don’t mention publishing or resources at all.
From this statement I wouldn’t really have any idea at all of what you actually do.
That may be deliberate, of course !
Tony
ahhh – I see!
“every Christian” makes sense.
Haydn
MM doesn’t need to be defended – they need to be set loose!
Plus – SAngy’s definitely aren’t the only ones using MM – & more importantly, not being a SAngy doesn’t mean I’m Charismatic
(couldn’t resist that heh heh)
You couldn’t add “To glorify God by serving the growth …” at the start, could you? What about “to love God and live obediently to him and” before “to be”? I would love to see your focus broadened, for your resources are far wider than you mention in this mission statement! But maybe then you’d lose your distinctive focus …