At the 2015 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Columbus, Ohio, those gathered heard about a new initiative being rolled out called Mission First. Mission First seems to be a way to retool the denomination for the 21st century. A central part of this initiative is to have Mission Gatherings in 2016. My region is having its Mission Gathering later this month.
While the website for Mission First has some background on the idea, a certain question keeps coming to the fore: what is this all about?
I get that this is kind of a churchwide visioning process, but what is the endpoint? What does this mean for churches? What is the theology behind it? Does this mean a refashioning of our agencies and regions? I’m not sure. How does this inspire the local church in its own mission and ministry?
This is how Mission First is described on its website:
It’s likely your faith community has done some visioning in the last few years. The general expression of the Church is doing the same. As the year 2020 nears, it is time to listen for God’s continuing call and to seek together where God is calling Disciples next in our shared mission and ministry.
Addressing the 2014 General Board, General Minister and President Sharon Watkins set out a challenge: “The time has come to lighten our load and tighten our focus – on mission! I am inviting our church, in all its expressions, to join in a conversation on God’s mission for Disciples today.”
Okay, but why are we doing this? Is it because it’s time have a new one? And what are things weighing us down?
It seems that Mission First is trying to outline some new priorities:
Mission First! addresses the need to find a new shared focus in mission. We are not setting aside pro-reconciliation/anti-racism, new and transforming churches or leadership development. Mission First! seeks to help Disciples identify the next mission priorities God has for us as we move toward the year 2020 and beyond.
And it is also listening to what is going on in the churches:
At the heart of this process are Mission Gatherings where we hope you and your leaders will participate in sharing what your congregation is passionate about doing in the mission field. These gatherings may take place at your 2016 regional or racial/ethnic assemblies or at camp or other places where Disciples gather. A Church-wide Mission Council will receive the information from the gatherings and identify a mission focus for a specified time.
But it also seems to call for some reorganization:
At the heart of this process are Mission Gatherings where we hope you and your leaders will participate in sharing what your congregation is passionate about doing in the mission field. These gatherings may take place at your 2016 regional or racial/ethnic assemblies or at camp or other places where Disciples gather. A Church-wide Mission Council will receive the information from the gatherings and identify a mission focus for a specified time.
So, we have a few objectives going on here, but it feels to me somewhat disjointed. I think this is about developing a new vision, and mission priorities and quite possibly restructure, but it never feels like these objectives are linked.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is also going through a visioning process. Called Forward Together in Christ is the name of their initiative and this is how it is described on its homepage:
The ELCA is a young church at only 28 years old. It is a good time to take a look at where we are as God’s people and try to understand what God has in store for us. And we think it is an exciting time to be looking forward together as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
We want to create a vision for the future ELCA – as a church with solid foundations sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and making a difference in the world locally and globally. And as a church that we can be proud to pass on to our children.
We want to discover how we can continue to faithfully serve God’s mission in the years ahead and reach a shared understanding among church leaders about the ministries that are most important.
And we want to assess whether the structures that were set up for this church are right for the future, and as part of this consider how we use our resources in the best possible way. There are many challenges.
This description seems far clearer of what they are all about and where they are headed.
Now, I think Mission First is needed. The Disciples are a denomination for the 29th century and needs to be retooled for the 21st century in how it spreads the gospel. It’s been nearly 50 years since Restructure and it is probably way past time to have the church reflect our present age and not what church was in the late 1960s.
But I think the execution has not been focused and at times seems very light on theology. Do people in the pews understand what it means for the church in mission? What does this have to do with how the Disciples started, out on the then-frontier?
Hopefully, I will learn more about this process later this month. Maybe I can get another view that I’m missing.
The Clockwork Pastor 
Dennis, as you know I think theology is very important. I too feel like this is light on theology. In fact, I’ve wondered where our theologians are being involved. From what I’ve seen so far, this has more to do with how things are organized in Indianapolis. It’s a restructure without the Restudy!