Re:Vision: The Key to Transforming Your Church

by Aubrey Malphurs

Following are five characteristics of a visionary church. People are excited about the vision. The mission announces where the church is going; the vision gets them excited about going there. People want to be a part of the vision. They like what they see and want to invest their lives in being a part of it. People are talking favorably about the vision. If you listen carefully, you can hear it being discussed in the church’s hallways, parking lot, and the kitchen. The vision, along with the mission, truly impacts all the church’s major decisions. In making any decision, the questions are asked: How will this affect our mission and vision? And how do they speak to or into this decision? Some people will leave the church. No matter what your vision says, some will be unhappy with it. In fact, if everybody is happy with the vision, then something may be wrong with it. Visions are like that. They can divide a congregation as well as unite one. Some people don’t want to reach out to the lost, especially if they’re from the other side of the tracks. Some people don’t want any change, no matter what that may be. Their motto is, “Come weal or come woe, our status is quo.”

***** charateristics of a visionary church