Love God. Love Each Other. Serve the World. This is the way we at Temple Baptist Church desire to grow in our own relationships with God, each other, and the world so God’s Kingdom can grow.

We base this on Matthew 25:18-20.

Love God. Mark 12:30

To love God is to get to know the God we worship, the God of the Bible, the Creator, the Father, Judge, Merciful, Loving God. Knowing the true God is desiring to submit to Christ as our Lord and Savior, believing in His death and resurrection as our salvation. Following Christ is committing to grow in understanding of God and His Word, as we walk by His Spirit throughout our remaining life.

Love each other. Mark 12:31

To love each other is to join other believers to worship together, to study together, to live daily life together. It is getting to know your church family in everyday life; expressing care and compassion for each other in meaningful, practical ways; pursuing the understanding and development of spiritual gifts together. It is serving God side by side in unity.

Serve the World. Matthew 5:15, Matthew 25:35-40, Ephesians 2:10, Mark 10:44-45, 1 Peter 4:10-11.

To serve the world is to purposefully join with your church family in being God’s light in your community and beyond. It is committing to your own personal spiritual growth through obedience and service, both within the church and outside of it, encouraging and inspiring others to do the same. It is more than just doing good things. It is living out the desire to make and encourage new disciples, to walk alongside them as they grow in this same purpose.

For this to truly be the vision and mission of Temple Baptist Church, it will need to be the vision and mission of each one of us first, personally, no matter our age or length of time following God. For the purpose of each program, each committee, each event in this church to encourage “Love God, Love Each Other, Serve the World,” it will need to be MY desire and YOUR desire.

This will necessitate a higher level of commitment from each of us, which WILL make some of us – a little uncomfortable. We’ve been perfectly content to maintain the status quo for many years. We don’t want to do hard things. We don’t really want to change how we prefer to “do” church! However, this church is not ours, it is God’s, so we need to do church and ministry God’s way. We need to put away our preferences and agendas and prayerfully seek God’s way in this body.

If our mission, our purpose, is truly Mathew 25:18-20 - to love God, to preach the Gospel to every nation and make disciples… if we genuinely desire to be a God’s Light within our small circles of influence, and if we want Temple Baptist Church to be a light in this community and beyond, we might need to change, comfortable or not.

What if we committed to this change together? Those who are already enthusiastic about it and those who are a little worried about how this is going to affect us personally, what if we decided together to be part of this journey – to commit to personal spiritual growth, to making and encouraging new believers together, and to reaching the world around us?

Temple Baptist Church let’s pursue a renewed sense of purpose in this church. We invite you to join us in committing to…

LOVE GOD. LOVE EACH OTHER. SERVE THE WORLD.

It matters not what you call this statement. Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Focus Statement, or some other wording that creates the understanding that what this statement says is what is important to the congregation currently. It is not a “forever” description, but a plan of action. As the church changes, as the goals of the church change, as the people in the church change, this statement can be reviewed, renewed, or changed.

A Mission Statement is not a magical formula, program, a catch phrase, or a pithy, easy-to-remember motto. A Mission Statement does not replace our ‘Statement of Faith’ (what we believe that is supported by Scripture), our ‘Covenant’, or our ‘Core Values’. Rather, it is the way we commit to carry out our beliefs and values.

A Mission Statement defines an organization’s purpose and how it will achieve its goals. A Mission Statement is our DNA, what the church is all about. A Mission Statement is a guide when decisions are made – does this fit what our goal is? A program or event or method may be good, but if it does not meet the goal stated by the Mission Statement, it is not right to do. The Mission Statement can be used to begin discussion with others about what it means to be a follower of Christ and how we as believers can fulfill the Great Commission. This is a process of action, not thought. It summarizes our desire and the process we wish to adopt to draw new believers, nurture disciples, and develop leaders, who in turn will start and continue the process all over again.

For a Mission Statement to be effective in needs to be one simple statement, clearly defined, usually short so it can be remembered easily, adapted to each social group while giving one overarching theme.

Our 2025 Mission Statement is a process that guides us to make disciples by introducing them to God and salvation, discipling (growing) them in following Christ as they walk in the Spirit and join in sharing that good news with others who are then introduce to God and salvation, repeating the discipling process over and over, generation by generation. The methods we use to do this may change, but the purpose remains.

In 2022 the Church Board, along with Pastor Neal, embarked on a mission to come up with a new mission statement that our church could adopt. They read the book “Simple Church” by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger, which describes how to create a simple, memorable, and meaningful statement that describes the focus of the church. This statement is not meant for a lifetime, but for what God is calling the church to currently and for the next few years.

In 2023, Pastor Neal’s final sermon series, he covered the three parts of the statement. Find them on YouTube, May 28, June 4, and June 11, 2023. Since then, the Board has worked with this statement to bring it to our congregation for adoption. Concerns were heard and evaluated at the Board meetings. Thoughts and opinions about the statement were appreciated and valued.

Pastor Wally began as Temple’s Transitional Pastor in August 2023. The goal of a transition time is to ensure the church understands the state of their health and where the needs lie so the appropriate next Pastor can be chosen to lead the church forward.

The congregation chose a Transitional Task Force from the congregation to work with Pastor Wally, which consisted of a variety of ages. The Task Force met once a week for 8 months and may continue to meet occasionally to reflect on the health indicator areas and advise the Board of progress on the church goals that were identified. This Task Force looked at 8 areas of the church to determine the health of each area. Those areas were: Inspiring Worship Services, Passionate Spirituality, Need-oriented Evangelism, Gift-oriented Ministry, Loving Relationships, Functional Structures, Empowering Leadership, Holistic Small Groups. We looked at the good, the bad, and the ugly and bathed everything in prayer asking God’s leading.

In preparing a short and long-term plan, the Task Force felt that some areas stood out that could be addressed right away. Although not specifically mentioned, it was clear that Communication caused issues throughout all areas. As well, Revitalizing Relationships within the congregation and in the community to create unity and attract young families and new people into the church. While all areas had things that could be improved, the Task Force felt starting with these could go a long way toward improving the other areas.

As part of the Task Force process, we discussed the Mission Statement at length. We felt that our calling as individuals and the church is based on Matthew 28:18-20, the Great Commission. The unique way that our church carries out this mission is what feeds into the statement.

At the present time, February 2025, the discussions of this mission statement have gone through, over the past 3 years, an Ad hoc Committee, the Transitional Task Force, and three Boards. Each group recognized the changes in the Swan River Valley, with more immigrants coming to live and work in the area, the need for younger generations to take responsibility for the work as the older generation use their gifts to guide, release, and pray for those younger people. All bathed their discussions in prayer and believe God is leading into a season of growth based on this statement.

This statement was settled on for a variety of reasons. It is short and easy to remember, which is appropriate for those with English as a Second Language as well as the young people who today gather information in quick bytes. It is not the complete idea, but is a starting point, or a main idea of a process. Our beliefs about God, salvation, the Christian life, and other theological points are taught within each part of the process. It is not a step-by-step guide, but an ongoing cycle for everyone. Together, we are in each of the statement areas, walking alongside one another throughout life.

Love God. Love Each Other. Serve the World.