From its humble beginnings in the late 1800s, the Rocky Mountain Conference has had a strong sense of mission and purpose to help its members make Christ known in their communities. Things are no different today. With more than 17,000 members, the conference continues to purposefully move forward in sharing the good news throughout our territory.
“We have been blessed with remarkable growth and a solid financial foundation; but we don’t want to look backwards, and we don’t want to be satisfied with where we are,” said Ed Barnett, president of the conference. “It’s important for us to be looking forward. We must plan to succeed, and we must have a stated mission to guide us as we move toward the future.”
In that vein, the leadership team of the RMC has undertaken the task of devising a new conference mission statement. An effective mission statement reveals not only what must be accomplished but also how it will be accomplished. With that in mind, conference leaders started by doing research. They sent a questionnaire to all conference staff, pastors and teachers to gather feedback on conference strengths and weaknesses, as well as on key themes and concepts that should be included in the new mission statement. After prayerful deliberation, the RMC Executive Committee has voted to approve the following mission statement:
Our mission is to lovingly support and empower every member in our conference to know Christ and to make Him fully known through education, outreach, and service, and by communicating hope and encouraging an intimate connection with each other and with Christ.
The longer mission statement can be distilled as Knowing Christ and Making Him Fully Known.
“Our desire here at the Rocky Mountain Conference is to support and empower all our pastors, teachers and lay members to first experience a deeper personal relationship with Christ, and then to share the joy of that relationship with everyone they come in contact with,” Barnett shared. “To make Him fully known is not simply to know Him as a Savior, but also to know what He calls us to do as His followers. It’s where grace and doctrine intersect.”
A secondary element that arose from the discussions was the goal of reaching every home in our conference in a meaningful way.
“That may seem like a lofty or unattainable goal,” said Barnett, “but with God all things are possible. The Great Commission asks us to ‘go into all the world.’ That includes our corner of the world here in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. The best part is that He promises to provide the power and the means to help us accomplish the seemingly impossible!”
This article was written by Mark Bond, communication director for the Rocky Mountain Conference. It was also published in the November 2014 print edition of OUTLOOK.
