Same Mission, New Mission Statement

Did you know that St. Alban’s has an official mission statement? I’ve been attending St. Alban’s for seven years, and I did not know this until recently, and I suspect many others are in the same boat. Our mission statement in recent years has been:

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Davidson, NC is a friendly, inclusive, and growing congregation that seeks to honor the Lord Jesus Christ through worship, fellowship, and outreach.

All of this is certainly true! And it highlights some of our core values: worship, inclusion, and outreach. However, it is not particularly easy to remember and is therefore not often referenced. Because of this, in 2024 the Vestry decided to revisit our mission statement and see where it led. Our hope was for something shorter and simpler – something that everyone can learn and remember easily, so that it becomes a part of our daily life as a parish and helps guide us in discussions and decisions.

We began by considering three questions: Who are we? What has God called us to be and do? And who is our neighbor? Amongst the Vestry, common themes kept emerging in our answers: a strong focus on gathering and worship; a call to outreach and service; and a heart toward welcome and inclusion for all. We also wanted to acknowledge our distinctly Christian identity.

Distilling all these goals into one short and sweet phrase is no small task. We had to “let it marinate” for over a year, trying different words and ideas until we finally landed on something that feels right. After prayer and discussion, the Vestry unanimously approved a new mission statement, and we are very excited to share it with you… this coming Sunday!

Yep, sorry, no spoilers here, folks! You can come join in the fun this Sunday when we share our new mission statement with the parish. We’ll also have the blessing of the backpacks (or whatever you carry to work or school) during the 10:30 service, and a special Back to School lunch celebration for everyone in the “cafeteria” (a.k.a. the Parish Hall) following the 10:30 service, so we hope to see you there! We will even have something for you to take home to help us all learn our new mission statement, although hopefully that won’t be too difficult! You might even know part of it already…

On behalf of the Vestry,

Matthew Goodson

Senior Warden