Revisiting the Mission Statement by Ann Shepphird, Vestry Member
The mission statement for the past couple years - The Mission of St. Augustine-by-the-Sea is to include all people and to challenge them to follow Christ - has always bothered me. Although it was cleaner and more defined than the one that preceded it, I always found the "them" to be jarring. How can we be inclusive, I thought to myself, if we are separating into "us" and "them"?
I mentioned my thoughts on that language to a number of people and found that, although they hadn't really thought about it, once they did it they found it as troubling as I did. During these discussions, it occurred to me that the mission statement also didn't reflect the joy found in the grace of God - something I've found in abundance here at St. A's.
So I tinkered with the mission statement and brought it before the vestry once I became a member a year ago. As a vestry, we've discussed the statement over the past year and at the last retreat finally set about to make a change. We believe - and hope you will as well - that the new statement reflects our inclusiveness, our joy in the grace of God and the daily challenges found as we strive to follow Christ.
To that end, here is the newly revised mission statement: The Mission of St. Augustine-by-the-Sea is to include all people as we share the grace of God and challenge ourselves to follow Christ. Hope you like it!
Copyright © 2003 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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