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Finding missional direction for PC(USA) congregations

March 02, 2026

By the Reverend Dr. Frank Clark Spencer, President

Last year, the Board of Pensions wrote about the academic debate over the future of Christianity in the U.S. and featured four congregations in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that are adapting to change so they may continue building the body of Christ. This final article in the series lays out a path to missional direction in PC(USA) congregations through the six Great Ends of the Church. 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations …” 

— Matthew 28:19 

We know the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is shrinking. According to 2024 PC(USA) statistics, most congregations have fewer than 100 members. Many congregations have lost critical mass for programming, and worse, full-time staff. The narrative of decline threatens our joy and hope of a new creation in our Lord Jesus Christ and in his Church. The question for our denomination is existential: Is there a way for us to collectively respond to this decline?

A single focus 

Seeking inspiration and hope, congregations often turn to crafting a vision to unify their body. And a vision can guide congregations in deciding how to deploy their resources of time, talent, and treasure — in other words, their mission.

Of course, the task of getting everyone on the same page is why organizations, including congregations, struggle with visioning. It’s not an easy process. We went through it several years ago at the Board of Pensions when our leadership helped craft vision and mission statements. Each of our departments understood why we exist as an agency. But it took patience and collaboration to finally agree on how to succinctly express that identity: 

Vision: The Board of Pensions works to ensure that all PC(USA) employers embrace A Theology of Benefits so that all who are called to service may devote their best gifts and energies to the work of God’s kingdom. 

Mission: The Board of Pensions, as a national agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), serves congregations, affiliated organizations, their employees, and ministers of the Word and Sacrament with comprehensive benefits and programming that support holistic well-being. 

Having this shared mission and vision gives our staff focus so that we may serve the Church better. It unifies us and ensures that we all have a common goal and reach our full potential.  

Let’s look at another organization I’m familiar with, Habitat for Humanity. I served as President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte before joining the Board staff in 2014. Habitat telegraphs a clear identity with a single vision and mission statement, despite having 980 affiliates in the U.S. 

Habitat for Humanity claims one of the most recognized and respected brands of all U.S. nonprofits — and has an organizational model that is strikingly similar to that of the PC(USA).  

The structure of its U.S. affiliates is similar to congregations’: 

  • Each is a separate legal corporation with its own board of directors (session). 
  • Each must raise its own funds (pledges and offerings), and the payments made to the central entity are voluntary (per capita or special offerings).  
  • 80% of national production occurs in 20% of affiliates (large churches).  
  • Hundreds of affiliates build one or fewer houses per year with no full-time staff (small congregations). 
  • Each owns its property and equipment (buildings and grounds). 

Habitat is perceived by the public as unified because affiliates are encouraged to adopt the same vision and mission statement:    

Vision: A world where everyone has a decent place to live. 

Mission: Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope. 

The PC(USA) vision and mission 

Could the national PC(USA) ever agree on a single vision? Well, we already have. The six Great Ends of the Church, as articulated in the Book of Order (F-1.0304), enable missional direction with a framework for prioritizing the activities of life within the parish: 

The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind 

The shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God 

The maintenance of divine worship 

The preservation of the truth 

The promotion of social righteousness 

The exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world 

These six Great Ends are the elements for the PC(USA) mission and vision. We can develop a mission and vision statement from a reordering of the Great Ends because, as theologian Darrell L. Guder holds, the exhibition of the kingdom encompasses the other five Great Ends: 

Vision: The exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world 

Mission: The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the promotion of social righteousness 

To be faithful to our calling as the Church, those five must be understood against the sixth Great End. And, if one statement becomes essential to understanding all the other important ones, it is the overarching vision for the organization. Jesus Christ is head of the Church, and Jesus Christ uses the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” more than any other to describe his ministry. Therefore, we can confidently say that “The exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world” is indeed our vision statement.   

Priorities of the Great Ends 

In his “Exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the World,” Dr. Guder reasons that: 

  • Proclaiming the good news is essential to the Church’s calling but cannot stand alone.  
  • Divine worship provides the public witness to Christ’s presence and lordship. 
  • If in preserving the truth, we remove it from its purpose — God’s saving love for the world — the truth becomes a falsehood. 
  • Shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship are not ends in themselves. 
  • “The promotion of social righteousness,” removed from the other five Great Ends, can become “a political program … and thus an arrogant assumption that the kingdom is under our control and at our disposal.” 

I ordered Dr. Guder’s reasoning to reflect the theology and polity of the PC(USA), making the top three priorities of our mission proclamation, worship, and truth as revealed in Scripture.  

Core functions 

Based on Dr. Guder’s reasoning, the last two Great Ends in the list above could exist outside the Church, but only the Church is capable of the first three. And only when proclamation, worship, and scriptural truth are present do shelter, nurture, spiritual fellowship, and the promotion of social righteousness have meaning in a Christian context. The core functions that are uniquely assigned to the Church are critical to our shared vision. Without them, the congregation’s main purpose becomes serving the community. 

At the intersection: The minister 

At the intersection of the three core functions is the primary role of the minister of the Word and Sacrament. The minister is ordained for the implementation of these three Great Ends. Learned clergy, as students of the Word, provide the critical guidance congregations need to fully and meaningfully engage with the Scriptures. That makes their role in exhibiting the kingdom of heaven to the world essential.  

The measuring stick 

The paradigm for missional direction provides a measuring stick for ordering priorities by asking, “Does this activity support the vision of exhibiting the kingdom of heaven to the world?”     

Consider this example. A congregation asks, With a limited budget, what should be our priority? The congregation might decide it must continue to be engaged in proclamation, worship, and preservation of the truth if it is to exhibit the kingdom of heaven on earth. The priority is pastoral leadership. When budgets are tight, there is a tension between calling a minister and maintaining a building and all the expenses related to it, including utilities, taxes, and insurance. Yet many churches throughout history have operated without buildings. In planting churches, the PC(USA) always builds from pastoral leadership toward permanence, rather than constructing a sanctuary and seeing if anyone will come. The financial solutions for obtaining this leadership are numerous, whether for full-time, part-time, or shared ministry, depending on the congregation, but the prioritization process is the same. 

Once a congregation is on firm financial ground, and has pastoral leadership to meet its core mission, it is better positioned to focus on its next set of priorities: shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of God’s children. Doing so takes the precious resource of time. And shifting to a focus on time is important; it begins to reinforce the kind of community that will be faithful to the Gospel. It is a powerful exhibition of the kingdom when members participate together in a local service effort as a community.  

Conclusion 

Taking missional direction from the six Great Ends of the Church, with our congregations adopting a shared vision of the exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world, we may collectively address decline in our denomination. Guidance by clergy is necessary for the three core functions: proclamation of the Gospel, divine worship, and preservation of the truth. With the educated leadership of an ordained minister and a focus on proclamation, worship, truth, community, and service, the congregation can live into the reason for God’s grace, “to empower us as God’s people to become Christ’s witnesses,” always asking, Does each action we are considering exhibit the kingdom of heaven to the world?

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