Once upon a time there was a congregation that wanted a mission statement. They appointed a committee that worked hard. They held cottage meetings, World Café conversations, and got a real sense of the identity of the congregation, who they were as a "whole"—or their "center."

It became time to draft the mission statement. Another committee was convened with representatives from different constituencies. They spent several meetings where they wordsmithed* the statement over....and over...and over...again. The finished statement ended up being awkward and clunky.

Sadly, it didn't have the desired effect of "making the congregation's heart sing." At the congregational meeting, there was some more wordsmithing from the floor before the half-hearted congregational vote to approve it. Afterward, it was tucked away with the meeting minutes and slowly faded from memory.

In a parallel universe, this congregation did all of the same things...until it came time to draft the mission statement. They had decided early in the process to leave the drafting of the actual mission statement to "congregational poets"—a member (or two) who is known for their ability to turn a beautiful phrase. The finished statement resonated with the members and served as a portable way for leaders and others to remind themselves of their center as a faith community.

As leaders, it's important to know we need to organize ourselves depending on the job to be done. If you have a big, complicated event to run, you put one person in charge and help to recruit volunteers to help make it happen. If you have finances to steward, you want to have skilled and competent folks doing the paperwork and trusted leaders doing the oversight. If you have a problem to solve with creativity, you want to bring in some diverse viewpoints and experiences to engage with it as a group. And if you want something crafted that touches the heart and soul, you need an artist.

*Note: I have heard wordsmith being used as a verb to describe this phenomenon in many different situations, but could not find this definition of it, or even that is it recognized as a verb. The word "wordsmith" does not even appear in my 1980 Webster Dictionary in any form.