By the Way: Mission drift

By Roland Weisbrot on January 31, 2026.

In the world of business and non-profits, there is a term for organizations that lose their way and it is called “mission drift.” Mission drift happens when an organization loses sight of its primary purpose and starts doing things that contradict, harm, or simply take away from its mission.

The phenomenon of mission drift often happens slowly over time: perhaps there is a change in leadership, perhaps finances become tight and tough decisions are made, perhaps new opportunities distract from the original mission. Regardless of the reason or timeline, mission drift takes an organization off its foundation and usually results in identity loss and misdirection.

Unfortunately, many churches have fallen victim to mission drift. Instead of acknowledging that the purpose of the church is to fulfill the Great Commission given to us by Jesus Himself before He ascended into Heaven (see the end of Matthew 28), we get distracted and abandon our solid foundation.

Churches which experience mission drift often become like socio-cultural clubs, thinly veiled political action committees, social activist groups, doomsday sects, self-appointed morality police, and a myriad of other things Christ never called us to be. Such mission drift not only often fails to accomplish its new goals, but also usually actively harms the original mission of the church.

Now it is important to note that most incidents of mission drift in churches are not the result of malice or wicked intent but instead misguided good intent. Virtually every church I have belonged to or interacted with has genuinely wanted to serve both God and their neighbours, but when we lose sight of the mission, we can start down paths that lead us far from what Christ commanded of us – often resulting in the hurting of others and ourselves.

The best way to protect the church from mission drift is consistently reminding ourselves what our mission is and reviewing what we do, or do not do, and realigning the church with its mission.

In my mind, the slogan from the Reformation serves us well: the church must be semper reformanda, always reforming, so that it does not degenerate into something unrecognizable or, God-forbid, harmful to Christ.

Pastor Roland Weisbrot is the lead pastor at Victory Lutheran Church

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