Youth ministry mission and vision are key components of any teen program. Most of you are nodding right now. But lots of people have trouble seeing the difference between a mission and a vision. Others fail to see how these two relate to each other.
It’s no use developing youth ministry mission and vision if you don’t understand the point. So let’s shed some light in this darkness.
Youth Ministry Mission and Vision: An Overview
Here’s an overview of the different elements of youth ministry vision-casting and planning:
Mission: defines purpose, 10 years
Vision: defines future, 5 years
Strategy: defines plans, 2-3 years
Operational plan: defines actions, 1 year
Now let’s discuss each element separately.
What is a mission?
A mission (or mission statement) is a short statement (preferably one sentence) that describes the purpose of your youth ministry’s existence and your primary goals in doing youth ministry. A mission is usually something you “keep” for a longer period, say 10 years or so. After all, the purpose of a ministry or organization doesn’t really change much over the years.
What is a vision?
Next, a vision is what you dream of accomplishing in the future, say in five to 10 years. A vision often starts with identifying what is wrong right now, with holy discontent about the current state of affairs. It’s what you want to see happen, to see change. A vision is a descriptive picture of your youth ministry as you want it to be. It can be anywhere from a couple of sentences to a page or so.
A vision must be personal, written specifically for your youth ministry. You can’t just copy-and-paste another ministry’s vision. It has to come out of your team, your youth, your circumstances. And, equally important, it has to be realistic. It’s not a pipe dream. It’s a realistic, attainable future for your youth ministry.
A vision says a lot about your values and how you want to accomplish your mission. Let’s say your mission is to “bring teens into Jesus’ presence.” Your vision may very well add that you want to do this in close partnership with parents and that you value intergenerational youth ministry.
The single purpose of a vision is to inspire people to get behind it and start helping to make it reality. So it’s very important to not develop a vision by yourself. Dream and visualize together with your team. A vision usually “lasts” about five years before it has to be updated to reflect reality again.
