By Doug Inglish

I’m privileged to experience worship in a different congregation almost every Sabbath. I do enjoy my rare weekends at the Brighton church, appreciate the friendships there, and wish I could be there frequently enough to engage more deeply in the local mission. After so many years of being the pastor for other people, it feels really good to let Wayne Morrison take that role for me. But while my responsibilities get in the way of developing those local connections, I consider myself to be compensated to some degree by the delightful time Susan and I have in so many different churches.

One thing I try to notice in pretty much all those churches is the mission statement. I can’t say that I ever read one that was off the mark, but if I had to sum up what they all say, in different ways, it would be this: the mission of every church is to build the Kingdom of God.

That’s it. Everything we do should have that as our ultimate goal.

Why do we do Pathfinders? To build the Kingdom of God.

Why do we have a Community Service Center? To build the Kingdom of God.

Why do we have a children’s story, or communion, or Super Bowl parties, or women’s ministries, or prison outreach, or the ABC? To build the Kingdom of God. Even those informal things like getting to know the neighbors or inviting people to lunch on Sabbath are all about pointing people to Jesus so that the Kingdom of God will grow.

Obviously there are many ministries that I haven’t mentioned, but the same applies. Whatever we do is to build the Kingdom of God, and keeping that focus brings perspective to all our missions.

This matters to me and my departments. When we are doing property transactions, whether buying or selling, leasing to or leasing from another group, the reason is never to make money or even to save money. It’s to build the Kingdom of God. Sometimes it is by acquiring more appropriate facilities, sometimes it is by supporting fellow Christians, sometimes (sadly) by withdrawing from an area that has closed itself to the message we share, but always we do it to build the Kingdom of God.

When we assist people to develop estate plans that provide for their retirement, meet their obligations to the next generation, support the mission of the church, and express their values to their family and church and community, we are doing these thing to build the Kingdom of God.

When we encourage pastors and congregations to learn about stewardship, to see the opportunities there, and share stories of success, it is to build the Kingdom of God. And when we see results in tithe, local budgets, Rocky Mountain Advance, and mission offerings, we rejoice that the Kingdom of God is being supported by our members.

Why do we do what we do? Whatever it may be, our efforts are energized when we keep in mind that it is for the glory of God, and its purpose is to build the Kingdom of God. It’s why we are here, why we have churches, and why congregations and individuals engage in mission.

May you be blessed for the many different ways you personally build that Kingdom.

–Doug Inglish is RMC director of Planned Giving and Trust Services. Email him at: [email protected]