Update on Mission Alignment Audit

Deb de Laski Smith and Mary Jane Welton agreed to audit the ministries of Brighton First for mission alignment. They sought to answer the question, "Do the programs and ministries, committee and activities, missions and worship of Brighton First align with our core values, our mission statement and our vision?"

To gather information they designed a survey and asked that leaders of all committees, programs and ministries to complete it. With over 50 responses sent in, Deb and Mary Jane, now begin the work of studying each ministry for mission alignment.

Deb de Laski Smith was on hand at a recent Vital Church Initiative Implementation Team to discuss preliminary findings. She noted that the majority of the survey respondents were able to align their ministries with the core values of Brighton First. However, she determined that in some cases the lack of response to questions about mission alignment may have to do with misunderstanding. Deb suggested that there be training sessions where church leaders could discuss what it meant, in their area of ministry, to demonstrate the mission of "knowing God, loving God and serving God."

Mission alignment is essential as Brighton First moves forward. Our mission is to make disciples for Jesus Christ through knowing, loving and serving God. All that we do must be led by our mission. Our vision is to be a church that knows God, loves God and servers God by offering relevant and inspiring worship, providing learning opportunities for all ages to grow as disciple of Jesus, transformational ways to serve in Christ's name and opportunities for building meaningful relationships and community.

For ministries that are not currently aligned with our mission, we will work to help the focus to be on knowing, loving and serving God to create disciples. For ministries that cannot fit with our vision, we will celebrate and retire them. Our hours of service, talents, skills and financial resources are precious. We want to make sure that we are using these valuable resource so that more people will come to know, love and serve God through Jesus Christ.