A mission action plan (MAP) is many things!
- Firstly, a MAP represents the parish’s discernment of God’s calling. It follows then, that its development must involve a process that enhances our capacity to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church and that the church community must be involved through some form of meaningful consultation.
- At the same time a MAP is a carefully worked document that sets out both the missional priorities of the parish over a set period of time (usually 3 – 5 years) and also how it intends to organise itself in order to achieve its mission.
Both of these aspects of the MAP are essential.
- Without consensus regarding its missional priorities the parish will lack clarity of purpose and experience unnecessary confusion and conflict.
- On the other hand, if we fail to set down clearly the means by which the parish will move toward mission achievement, then the allocation of scarce resources will be somewhat haphazard, and the missional priorities of the parish will be little more than a wish list which is unlikely to be achieved.