Most pastors want to build a healthy church culture. But when it comes to actually defining that culture or protecting it in the middle of busy ministry seasons, it’s easy to get stuck.
You may have mission and vision statements written down somewhere. You might even have a values list printed on a wall. But if those words don’t actively shape your decisions, your priorities, and your leadership team’s day-to-day actions, you’re likely missing the culture you think you have.
Craig Smith, our Lead Pastor of Mission Hills Church, has spent the last decade not just articulating the culture of his church but actively shaping it into a tool that his staff, volunteers, and leadership can use to make better decisions and move forward with clarity.
“We needed a culture that was more than just statements,” Craig said. “We needed a rubric—something to evaluate whether or not we were moving in the right direction.”
Let’s walk through what that means—and how you can start creating a culture that works with you, not against you.
How Purpose, Mission, and Values Form a Rubric for Leadership
If you’ve been in leadership long, you’ve probably noticed how inconsistently churches use terms like purpose, mission, and values. That inconsistency leads to misalignment. Craig and our team realized early on that if they wanted a clear and sustainable culture, they needed to define those terms—and use them as a rubric to evaluate every major decision.
Here’s how we define the pieces at Mission Hills:
- Purpose is the why—the foundational reason the Church exists.
For them: God loves the world and wants them to know it. - Mission is the what—the day-to-day expression of that purpose.
Their mission: We exist to help people become like Jesus and join Him on mission. - Values are the how—the traits and filters that guide decision-making, especially when choosing between good options.
This three-part rubric isn’t just a clever framework—it’s a cultural compass. It ensures alignment between theology and practice, heart and habit. And it helps the entire church, from staff to volunteers, move together with shared clarity.
Culture Starts with Purpose
The first—and most important—step to shaping your church culture is answering a simple, but critical, question:
Why does your church exist?
Craig believes that the answer to this question is universal. When defining your purpose, go deeper than “why does your church exist?” and answer the question “why does THE Church exist at all?”
That fundamental question led Mission Hills to define its purpose simply: God loves the world and wants the world to know it.
That statement isn’t just theological, it’s directional. It becomes the reference point for every other decision. If the purpose of the Church is to make God’s love known, then the culture we create must help that happen.
“If the why isn’t clear,” Pastor Craig says, “you won’t be able to tell whether something is moving you closer to the culture you want—or further from it.”
Clarify the Mission: What Do We Actually Do?
Once you’ve named your purpose, the next question to answer is: What are we doing in response to that purpose?
That’s your mission.
At Mission Hills, our mission is straightforward: We exist to help people become like Jesus and join Him on mission.
Pastor Craig is quick to point out that most churches are doing a version of this already, but if it’s not clearly stated and regularly reinforced, your team will default to what’s urgent instead of what’s essential.
A clear mission keeps your efforts focused and helps you say no to good things that don’t fit. When someone pitches a new idea or ministry, the Mission Hills team asks, Is this helping people become like Jesus? Is it equipping them to live on mission? If not, it’s a distraction, not a priority.
Define Your Values: How Do We Choose Between Good Options?
If purpose is your “why” and mission is your “what,” values help define your “how.”
They shape your tone, your approach, and your decision-making style. Values are especially important when you’re choosing between two equally good ideas.
At Mission Hills, our values include traits like:
- Crazy Generous
- Daringly Creative
- Bible-Driven
- Kingdom-Minded
When a local church was about to lose its building, the Mission Hills elders didn’t ask, “Can we afford to help?” They asked, Are we crazy generous? Are we kingdom-minded? That cultural filter made the decision clear.
Values don’t just describe who you are. They shape who you’re becoming. And when they’re actively used as a decision-making filter, not just printed on a wall, they turn culture from an idea into a living, breathing part of your church.
Living the Culture, Not Just Teaching It
Culture isn’t something you talk about once and move on. At Mission Hills, it’s embedded in the rhythms of leadership, communication, and community life.
- In messages: Craig estimates that in at least one-third of his sermons, he references the church’s purpose statement.
- In giving moments: There’s an approved set of phrases to make sure the church stays centered on God’s work through people, not staff or programs.
- In onboarding: Every new staff member spends time with Craig personally, hearing the purpose, mission, and values directly from him.
The team has even created “plumb line statements”—short, repeatable truths that reinforce the culture over time.
Why all the repetition?
“Just because you’ve said it doesn’t mean they’ve heard it. And just because they’ve heard it doesn’t mean they’ve believed it or done anything with it,” Pastor Craig said.
The goal isn’t memorization. It’s alignment.
When Culture Drifts
Even with the clearest rubric, culture drift happens. But in a healthy environment, correction is communal, not confrontational.
“Usually, if something feels off, someone on the team will say, ‘That’s not who we are,’” Pastor Craig said. “Even if they can’t name the exact value, the feeling of misalignment is enough to spark the right conversation.”
When culture is shared, accountability doesn’t have to be top-down. It becomes part of how everyone leads.
Small Steps, Same Direction
Craig describes himself as “scientifically in the bottom 5% for patience.” But when it comes to culture? He’s learned to trust the slow work.
“Enough small steps in the same direction will take you places you never thought possible,” he said.
Rather than announcing major changes, he coaches pastors to think in drips, not deluges. Introduce ideas gently. Say them often. Let your team adopt them before you formalize them.
If You’re Starting From Scratch
For the church planter, young pastor, or leader just stepping into a role where the culture feels chaotic or unclear, Pastor Craig offers this advice:
“Start by getting away and praying. Ask God to help you define what’s true about your church right now. Then invite a few trusted people into that process.”
Ask three questions:
- What do we want to keep?
- What do we want to change?
- What do we want to instill?
Once you’ve defined where you are and where you want to go, you can begin shaping language, reinforcing it in conversations, and building decisions around it.
Culture isn’t what you say. It’s what you do repeatedly. And the good news is, you don’t need a marketing budget or a staff of 50 to build a strong one. You just need a clear rubric, a shared vocabulary, and the patience to keep stepping in the same direction.
Start small. Say it often. And don’t underestimate the power of language to build something lasting.
“Words create worlds,” Craig says. “And a healthy culture starts with how you talk about who you are.”
If this was helpful and you’d like to connect with Craig Smith to discuss this more, you may reach him at casmith@missionhills.org.
