MISSION & VISION OF ACOP
Eyes to see
Walt's Vision
Walt Disney, the creative genius behind the Disney corporation, passed away while the Walt Disney World Amusement Park was under construction in Orlando, Florida. At the dedication of the Amusement Park someone remarked, “Isn’t it too bad that Walt didn’t live to see this.” Mike Vance the creative director for Disney Studios said, “Oh he did see it – that’s why it’s here!”
"Culture eats strategy for breakfast."
^ Shortcode ^
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VISION AND CULTURE?
Vision is a picture of a preferable future for an organization.  Culture is the environment that the organization exists in. Â
Vision is about seeing the future in advance. Culture is how we get to this future.
ACOP'S MISSION AND VISION: THEN AND NOW
The Apostolic Church of Pentecost of Canada is birthed in a revival in Winnipeg, Manitoba over a hundred years ago. The origins of ACOP flowed out of these revivals, and the earliest motto of ACOP from this movement was: “To Every Nation.”
Early Pentecostal meetings in Winnipeg "were more kindred to the revivals described in the Acts of the Apostles than in anything else in the religious modern world."
ACOP’s Current Vision Statement: “ACOP is a global movement of passionate people extending God’s grace and igniting hope in every community.”
ACOP’s Current Mission Statement: “To develop and release effective leaders and healthy churches who transform communities.”
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Mission and Vision of ACOP
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In my local context at Eston College, extending grace and igniting hope looks like modeling Jesus well and helping to mentor fellow students who are earlier in their discipleship journey. It also looks like looking ahead, trying to think of how to apply my learning to future ministry contexts.
Mission and vision affect the culture by giving us a common goal, something bigger than ourselves. Everyone wants to be a part of something bigger, to feel that their actions have significance and are working towards something. When the organization has an effective vision it gives our actions meaning and direction. We can begin to say “this action directly worked toward the fulfilling of this mission.”
An apostolic team is important because they can provide leadership that (hopefully!) isn’t going to stagnate. When a leadership team is apostolic they are going to be attentive to the spirit, the spirit who wants to do something new, who wants to keep things fresh and shake us up every now and then. When our leadership team is like this, they will help the organization to stay fresh, relevant, and effective.
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Although the dynamic of global and local ministry are both different in many ways, Grace and hope are still needed. That is the pure beauty of not only ACOP’s wonderfully vague (in the best way!) mission statement, but of the Gospel itself. the Gospel has the ability to pervade all cultures and relationships because it distinguishes things people need and want in order to thrive. Locally and globally, extending God’s grace can look like both loving people despite the sin in their life and choosing to forgive and to overlook judging injustices for sake of relationship. God is the judge, yet he has chosen saving grace for everyone. If Christians were supposed to always put God’s justice at the forefront, we would be better called police officers than missionaries. Showing grace through love in likeness of God should shape the culture of a missionally minded organization. No people group should be reached for any other reason than to express Gods amazing grace to them and spark hope for something greater and better. Apostolic teams are also essential for this reason because someone needs to be there to deliver that message of hope and help every nation see that there is something worth living and fighting for.
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Extending God’s grace in my community often looks like getting to know the people around me by walking with them and listening to them. Understanding their stories, hurts, and challenges is usually the open door to showing them the grace of God. As a church this takes on the form or finding ways to engage our community with generosity.
The vision and mission of an organization “on the wall” can say whatever you want, but the culture will dictate what it looks like. In order for the vision and mission to be effective there has to be a culture that embraces them… and that takes a LOT of work and intentionality.
Apostolic teams can often serve as the catalyst to making both of these things happen.
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