Does a church need a mission statement?

Only if it is the right one.

And there is only one - though it can be said in different ways. The simplest is the admonition of the Revelation angel, "Worship God." (Rev. 22:9)

The command comprehends everything that the Christian church is and does. Because whenever men who are born as slaves to sin begin worship the Father in Spirit and Truth (John 4:24), it is because they have been redeemed by Christ, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit. In other words the entire apparatus of the church has done its work.

Such a mission statement, however, does not lend itself well to websites because, "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." (1 Cor. 2:14). Therefore such statement is incomprehensible except to the baptized.

But nor are most of the the mission statements on church websites any better. Not because they are unintelligible, but because they are beside the point. And because they are vague statements, that proceed from vague thinking, and lead back to more of the same. They seem to be mission statements for the sake of mission statements, but I don't think they are harmless. Not harmless because they serve to keep us cruising sleepily along on the wrong track.

What to do? 

The church is the ultimate counter-cultural revolution; and so be counter-cultural and say farewell to your mission statement.