What Is the “Business” of the Church?

Many parish leaders know what it feels like to be busy. There are Masses to prepare, ministries to coordinate, buildings to maintain, events to organise, funds to raise, and people to care for. In many parishes, there is no shortage of activity. Calendars are full. Volunteers are stretched. Programmes continue year after year.

Author: Leonard Koh

These things matter. They are part of parish life, and many of them are necessary. But beneath all this activity lies a deeper question: Are our parishes simply maintaining religious life, or are we forming missionary disciples?

The management thinker Peter Drucker once invited organisations to ask a simple but searching question: “What is our business?” For a company, the answer may have to do with its customers, products, or services. But for the Church, the question goes much deeper. What is the “business” of the Church?

The Mission Jesus Gave the Church

We do not have to invent the answer. Jesus has already given it to us. Before He ascended into heaven, He told His disciples: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20).

The mission of the Church is to make disciples.

This does not mean that parish programmes, traditions, buildings, ministries, and events are unimportant. They can all serve the mission. But they are not the mission itself. The deeper purpose of the parish is to help people encounter Christ, grow in faith, belong to His Body, and be sent out as witnesses of the Gospel.

A parish can be active and yet not necessarily fruitful. It can have many ministries, well-attended events, generous volunteers, and a full calendar, but still struggle to answer a more searching question: are people becoming mature disciples of Jesus Christ?

From Maintenance To Mission

This is why the shift from maintenance to mission is so important. A maintenance-focused parish asks, “How do we keep things going?” A missionary parish asks, “How are we helping people become disciples?”

This shift does not dismiss the need for good administration, reliable structures, careful planning, and faithful service. Every parish needs these. But maintenance must serve mission. When maintenance becomes the main thing, parish life can become inward-looking. We may preserve what already exists without asking whether people are being formed for the life and mission of Christ.

Pope Francis reminds us in Evangelii Gaudium that missionary outreach is not one activity among many. It is “paradigmatic for all the Church’s activity.” In other words, mission is not a department of parish life. It is the lens through which we look at everything the Church does.

This changes the questions we ask. Instead of only asking, “Was the event well attended?”, we may also need to ask, “Did this help people encounter Christ?” Instead of only asking, “Do we have enough volunteers?”, we may need to ask, “Are we forming those who serve?” Instead of only asking, “Are our programmes running smoothly?”, we may need to ask, “Are people growing in holiness, communion, and mission?”

These questions matter because it is possible for people to be very involved in Church activities and yet become spiritually tired, isolated, or stagnant. Someone may serve faithfully for years and still wonder whether their relationship with God has deepened. Someone may be constantly asked to help, but rarely asked how they are doing. Someone may be active in ministry, but not accompanied as a disciple.

Disciple-making is not simply about getting people to do more. It is about helping people become more fully alive in Christ.

Disciple-Making Begins with Baptism

At the heart of this mission is something every Catholic has already received: Baptism. Through Baptism, we are given a new identity as children of God. We are joined to Christ and incorporated into His Body, the Church. The Catechism teaches that Baptism is “the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit” (CCC 1213).

This Baptismal identity carries a calling. Every baptised Catholic is called to holiness: to grow in relationship with God and become more like Christ. Every baptised Catholic is called to communion: to belong to the Body of Christ and live as part of God’s people. Every baptised Catholic is called to mission: to participate in Christ’s work of bringing God’s love, truth, mercy, and hope into the world.

These three callings belong together. Holiness without communion can become private spirituality. Communion without mission can become comfortable fellowship. Mission without holiness and communion can become activism. A disciple is someone learning to live all three.

This is why Pope Francis can say, “By virtue of their Baptism all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples.” At first, that statement may surprise us. We may look around our parishes and wonder, “Are all the baptised really missionary disciples?”

Perhaps an analogy can help. A person born into nobility is noble by birth. But whether that person lives nobly depends on how he or she is formed, trained, and nurtured. In the same way, Baptism gives every Catholic a missionary identity. But whether Catholics live as missionary disciples depends on how they are formed, accompanied, and sent.

The Parish as a Community of Formation

This is where the parish becomes so important. The parish is not merely a place where Catholics receive religious services. It is meant to be a community where the baptised are formed to live their calling. It is where people are helped to pray, belong, serve, witness, and grow in maturity in Christ.

St. Paul describes this mission beautifully: “It is Christ whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we might present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). That is a powerful vision for parish life: to present everyone mature in Christ. Not only those already committed. Not only the ministry leaders. Not only those who are naturally enthusiastic, available, or visible. Everyone.

This gives parish leadership a different focus. The question is no longer simply, “How do we keep the parish running?” The deeper question becomes, “How do we help all the baptised grow into mature missionary disciples?”

What Holds us back?

Of course, this shift is not easy. There is often institutional inertia. It is easier to keep doing what we have always done, especially when those things are familiar and expected. There is also fear of change. Leaders may worry about resistance, criticism, or not knowing where to begin.

There may be unclear measures of fruitfulness. Attendance, fundraising, and participation are easier to count than spiritual growth, conversion, belonging, or missionary witness. There may also be fragmentation. Ministries can operate in silos, each doing good work, but without a shared discipleship pathway for the whole parish.

Small Steps Towards a Missionary Parish

These challenges are real. But they are not reasons to give up. They are invitations to begin again with greater clarity. The shift from maintenance to mission does not usually happen overnight. It begins with small, faithful steps.

A catechesis team might ask how sacramental preparation can lead families into ongoing discipleship, not just the reception of a sacrament. A ministry leader might ask how members are being formed spiritually, not only scheduled for duty. A hospitality team might ask how newcomers can be personally welcomed and connected into parish life. A liturgy team might ask how the Eucharist – celebrated with authentic liturgical formation – helps the community recognise its call to be sent on mission. A parish leadership team might begin each meeting by asking, “How are our ministries helping people grow as disciples?”

These questions may seem simple. But when asked consistently, they begin to reshape culture.

Recovering Our True Purpose

The Church does not need parishes that are merely busier. She needs parishes that are more faithful, more fruitful, and more missionary. She needs communities where people are not only attending Mass, but growing in Christ. Not only joining activities, but discovering their baptismal calling. Not only maintaining what exists, but participating in the mission of Jesus.

So perhaps the first step is to return to the basic question: What is the “business” of the Church?

The answer is simple, but demanding. The Church exists to make disciples. And every parish, ministry, structure, programme, and activity finds its true purpose when it serves this mission.

Adapted from PLN 2025 January