Church Mission Statement Within a Business Framework?

Could a local church’s mission fit within a local business’ operational framework. That’s what we’ll find out in 2019. Most likely, if you’re reading this, you already are aware that Agape In Home Care has launched and is now accepting clients, but what you may not be aware of is how our operations methodology fits with our local church’s revised mission statement. In this blog I’ll first write each section of our church’s mission statement and follow it up with how Agape IHC is applying each Biblical principle.

The spiritual, relational, economic flourishing of the cities to which God has called us and beyond. (aka: revival)
In an earlier blog I mentioned the “Triple Bottom Line” which is the concept of creating not only economic capital but social and spiritual capital as well. Agape IHC is founded on this belief that not only is it possible to thrive in all three areas, but as Christian business owners it is our God-given responsibility to do so.

Bring Jesus’ healing wherever we live, work, play or learn.
There are many ways to serve and be an asset to society, but the focus here is on a bringing a particular type of healing…in Jesus’ name. The level of care we provide and the way we provide it requires that we bring a higher level caregiver and a supernatural support to sustain our works. On the more subtle end of the spectrum are three things.
1. The way we find candidates through referrals and recommendations.
2. The way we screen candidates. The state requires a minimum standard of background check but we’re exceeding their standards both in criminal and credit background checks but also in screening for personality type to ensure they are a good fit for the mission of bringing Jesus’ healing to our clients.
3. The way we train our caregivers. Again, the state mandates certain minimum requirements but we exceed those requirements to ensure the highest levels of care that would be worthy of His name.
On the more overt end of the spectrum, in addition to normal everyday services, we will offer services akin to pastoral care such as praying with our clients, reading devotionals with them or actually joining them in a short Bible study if they aren’t able to get to church.

Belong to a warm, multi-ethnic, all generations community that supports each other, gets beyond news, weather, sports, and serves together.
Our staffing model is inherently multi-ethnic as we are sourcing primarily from the pool of refugee and immigrant caregivers. In addition, we will be purposeful to recruit a board and core staff that reflects diversity in gender, age and race. Many office environments that lack a central missional focus that aligns with the mission of Jesus struggle with diving deeper than news, weather and sports out of a fear they may offend someone. We will actively encourage diving deeper relationally with each other and encourage prayer and support for each other’s’ needs. Our ideal for Agape IHC is that we are not just a job for people but we are more like a community, or better yet, a family.

Become like Jesus (aka discipleship) sacrificially committed to rescuing, renewing, and redeeming both world and each other.
One of our onboarding requirements is a Vision Statement the employee fills out describing where they are in multiple categories and where they’d like to be in a year. Once of the categories is spiritual and we’ll work with our folks to ensure they’re pursuing those aims and in certain cases even assist with making those goals a reality. Our belief is that the best caregivers are the ones who are centered spiritually and who complete their job knowing that there is a higher purpose to their service. To that end we’ll continue to encourage everyone within Agape IHC to pursue excellence in discipleship to become more like Jesus.

Build toward “3rd way” racial justice and healing in pursuit of God’s heart.
Most in home care businesses find caregivers and then try to keep them in that same role as long as possible. Sometimes this is simply for profit-motivated business reasons akin to “if they become more skilled then I will have to pay them more”. In some cases, however, because many caregivers speak English as a second language, their employers may have consciously or subconsciously set a limiting belief about their caregivers that keeps them from offering advancement opportunities, promotions or training options. This could be construed as a form of institutionalized racism (even if it’s not an organized form of it).
A large number of caregivers are refugees and immigrants and are therefore absolutely or relatively new to America. They are often overqualified for the caregiving industry having been lawyers or accountants or other highly skilled professions in their homeland. Yet because they are in a new country speaking a new language, they may be less aware of opportunities for advancement than their US born peers. We feel responsible to highlight paths upward within our industry or even paths toward higher paying opportunities outside this industry. We hope to find other 3rd way paths to serving this community and overcoming prejudices.

Be a community that equips, empowers, and releases everyone with an emphasis on youth and young adults.
Well, being that our focus is on the Senior population this one may be a bit of a stretch for us, but we will strive to highlight to all our clients that they can be young at heart. In the meantime, we will look for opportunities to train up a younger generation for example by working with local nursing schools to create internship opportunities.

There is a growing need for elder care services within the local church community and yet there aren’t great options for service providers who map their purpose and mission to the purpose and mission of the local church. While the above is very local to one church, the concept of an in home care provider aligning to the specific needs of almost any church is universal.