"Mission Drift" - Book Review

When a book has a chapter titled "The Tale of two Presbyterian Ministers", it seems like a book that should have something to say to me as a Presbyterian minister. And it does! Peter Greer and Chris Horst have put together a book that is as eye-opening and challenging as any good book on leadership should be. But this one is even better.

"Mission Drift" shows what is likely to happen to all faith-based organisations if they are not careful, and the clue is in the title. They will start well, but will eventually drift to become something they were not created to be, and what gets lost is their gospel focus - the very thing that drove the mission in the first place.

The chapter about the Presbyterian ministers tells the story of China's Children's Fund,  and Compassion International. Dr J. Calvitt Clarke created China's Children's Fund in 1938 after seeing the poverty that was affecting Chinese children. The ministry expanded and changed it's name to better reflect it's identity to Christian Children's Fund. Sixty years later a former board member could say "This organisation has nothing to do with Christianity." In 2009 its name was changed to  ChildFund International.

(Interestingly, if you look at https://www.childfund.org.au/about-us/#our-history you'll see that Dr Clarke is described as "an American humanitarian". His faith has been airbrushed out of the history of the very organisation he founded.)

Compassion International began with a different Presbyterian minister, Everett Swanson, seeing the impact on orphans of the Korean War in the 1950's. Since that time, the organisation has remained true to the spiritual principles that were the very foundation.

(Coincidentally, this morning I shared a coffee with one of the blokes from Compassion Australia, and it was good to hear him speak about the truth of this.)

So, here are two organisations with a similar purpose coming from similar backgrounds, but now present a very different message. This is not to say that ChildFund are doing a bad job. Please don't misunderstand e. But it does show that organisations can - or will - move away from their prime mission unless they work hard to keep it central.

In my ministry now as a pastor at the Heathmont Presbyterian Church, I am feeling the importance of keeping on the main mission, and not being distracted by all the things that are good and worthwhile, but which will take me away from the main task - to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love my neighbour as myself. If I do this, then I will also take seriously the call of Jesus to 'go into the world to make disciples' - followers of Jesus.

If you are looking for a book on leadership that is much more than goal setting and list making, you'll enjoy this. But don't think it will be a comfortable read. It won't be.

But it will be worth it.