Goals and Mission in Evangelism

Those who know me or read this blog regularly enough know that I value succinctness, thesis statements, and purpose and meaning. These constitute my paradigm for the world--It is my elucidation. I believe that principles close to these, mission, vision, and goals, are necessary parts of an organized catechesis and evangelization. For it is these very things that get my fired up and passionate for souls of youth.

In the book I'm reading Ron Luce strongly stresses the importance of focusing everything around a mission, vision, and goals. I completely agree with this, which is why one of the first things I did when I got here was to come with a mission statement:

We aim to provide a safe place for youth to come together in fellowship, to empower youth to live authentic lives of the Gospel, and to challenge them to become Saints according to their call to Holiness through the Sacraments of Initiation.

It's a little long for a mission statement, so perhaps it could be shortened to "Empowering youth to live like Christ". I haven't done a great job of focusing everything on this--I'll admit, I do some pointless programs, but it is a vision that fuels my desire to see a better future for our youth.

It bothers me when people stagnate because they are afraid of the hard work it takes to change. Why would I waste my time going to meetings where nothing is accomplished? Why do we allow ourselves to settle for mediocrity--no successful business would take such an attitude! We are in the most important business of all--the business of souls! And our competitor is the the most schrewd and unscrupulous CEO in the entire world... and by failing to have a battle plan to win the hearts of our "customers" we are LOSING! Get off your butts and fight for the change that you profess to believe in.

OK... maybe that was a little harsh. But we cannot be afraid to sacrifice for the good of the Church. We must have movement, change, and a our hearts set towards heaven. We must know where we're headed if we want to know how to get there.