Work of the Missional Priorities Team
April 22, 2020
Mission
The Missional Priorities Planning Team is a task team formed in late 2019 to help leaders focus on clear priorities and align resources to help the Kentucky Annual Conference carry out its mission. The Team was formed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has taken on increased urgency as the Conference charts the future.
The purpose of the MPP Team is defined, but what will the outcome look like?
How will the Team identify those “clear priorities”?
Every organization must assess its performance if it wishes to remain relevant and productive. The Church is not immune from that truth. It is not only wise work; it is a holy pursuit and a disciplined task to evaluate how the Church is fulfilling – or failing to fulfill – our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Christ called believers to love God first and their neighbors as themselves, and in so doing, He challenged the status quo and the structures that had become familiar and safe to so many. Any organization can become, without intent, more complex than supportive, more rigid than flexible, more cumbersome than creative.
The MPP Team has committed itself to evaluate the work of our Church in two ways:
1.) To assess how the Kentucky Annual Conference is or isn’t supporting United Methodist congregations across the state in creating passionate spiritual disciples; and
2.) To identify how the Kentucky Annual Conference is or isn’t helping those passionate spiritual disciples become passionate spiritual leaders.
And so, defining those “clear priorities” is a process of intensive evaluation and discernment. It is a task that we don’t take lightly. Contemplating the extensive life and work of the Kentucky Annual Conference is challenging. Our collective prayer and commitment to Bishop Fairley and to every United Methodist in this Conference is to rely on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to do the work before us, and to lean not on our own understanding but to trust God to guide our hearts and minds.
We give thanks to God for the gift of serving in His kingdom now, for the hope of renewed life in Jesus Christ, and for the promise of His faithful presence as we journey together.
The Missional Priorities Planning Team is a task team formed in late 2019 to help leaders focus on clear priorities and align resources to help the Kentucky Annual Conference carry out its mission. The Team was formed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has taken on increased urgency as the Conference charts the future.
The purpose of the MPP Team is defined, but what will the outcome look like?
How will the Team identify those “clear priorities”?
Every organization must assess its performance if it wishes to remain relevant and productive. The Church is not immune from that truth. It is not only wise work; it is a holy pursuit and a disciplined task to evaluate how the Church is fulfilling – or failing to fulfill – our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Christ called believers to love God first and their neighbors as themselves, and in so doing, He challenged the status quo and the structures that had become familiar and safe to so many. Any organization can become, without intent, more complex than supportive, more rigid than flexible, more cumbersome than creative.
The MPP Team has committed itself to evaluate the work of our Church in two ways:
1.) To assess how the Kentucky Annual Conference is or isn’t supporting United Methodist congregations across the state in creating passionate spiritual disciples; and
2.) To identify how the Kentucky Annual Conference is or isn’t helping those passionate spiritual disciples become passionate spiritual leaders.
And so, defining those “clear priorities” is a process of intensive evaluation and discernment. It is a task that we don’t take lightly. Contemplating the extensive life and work of the Kentucky Annual Conference is challenging. Our collective prayer and commitment to Bishop Fairley and to every United Methodist in this Conference is to rely on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to do the work before us, and to lean not on our own understanding but to trust God to guide our hearts and minds.
We give thanks to God for the gift of serving in His kingdom now, for the hope of renewed life in Jesus Christ, and for the promise of His faithful presence as we journey together.