Is your family moving in the same direction? Do you have common goals and values that you live by? Whether you’ve been feeling disconnected or simply looking to strengthen your family bond, creating a family mission statement is your answer. And it’s much easier to do than you might think! 

Steps to Creating Your Family Mission Statement 

You may be wondering where to start when it comes to creating your family mission statement. Well, not to worry because here are five steps to get you moving in the right direction—together. 

Step 1: Call a family meeting. 

We know having a “family meeting” sounds serious, but this is intended to be a FUN first step in the process of creating your family mission statement. It’s hard to get on the same page if you’re not in the same room. Gather around your kitchen table or living room to 1) have some quality time together and 2) decide together what your family will stand for! 

Step 2: Get the kids involved. 

If you have children who are old enough to participate, get them involved! This is a family mission statement after all. 

Here are questions you can ask them to get their input: 

• What are ways you can help others around you? 
• What makes you happy? 
• What’s your favorite thing about our family? 
• What’s your favorite thing we do as a family? 
• How do you want people to feel when they’re around you? 

If you don’t have children, feel free to use these questions to set a foundation between you and your significant other (or even to create a personal mission statement)! 

Step 3: Write down your family values. 

Now that you’ve gotten some insight from the whole family, it’s time to jot down your core values as a family. Since your values are principles that you live by, they’ll likely show up in your family mission statement. This is another fun brainstorming session for everyone.  

You may already have core values established, but if not, get a piece of paper out and start collecting words to live by. Here are a few examples: 

• Love 
• Gratitude 
• Kindness 
• Honesty 
• Goodness 
• Hope 
• Bravery 
• Dedication 
• Creativity 
• Service 

You get the idea. Do your best to narrow your list down to give core values as a family. Looking for a longer list to browse? Check out this list of 216 core values. 

Step 4: Draft your family mission statement. 

It’s time to draft and finalize your family mission statement! With the answers you receive from your kids (or yourself) and your list of core values, you’re ready to write out a statement that encapsulates what your family holds dear and matters most to you. 

• To get you going, here are common ways to start your statement:  
• In our family … 
• Our family’s mission is to … 
• This family loves … 
• We will be a family that … 
• In this family, we believe …  

Here’s an example of what a full statement would look like: “In this family, we believe in loving God and loving others. We value connection, kindness, creativity, dedication, and service, and we hope that people feel loved, valued, and cherished when they’re with us.” 

You statement can be a couple of sentences like this example, or it can be written as a list like this: 

In our family… 

• Jesus is the center! 
• We honor God by loving Him and loving others. 
• We laugh together. 
• We value connection and creativity. 
• We work hard and play hard. 
• We are kind to others. 
• We are brave and do things even when they scare us. 

Make it work for you!

Step 5: Get it framed. 

You have your family mission statement! Time to frame it! You can simply print it out on pretty copy paper or make a pretty design using a free program like Canva™. Have fun with it and hang it up in a common living space.  

Together is the Way! 

Not only will this activity give you direction as a family, but the process of creating it TOGETHER is sure to bring you closer together. And if you aren’t already, you’re on your way to building a family of difference makers who will make a big impact on this world.