Developing a Vision for Ministry

by Aubrey Malphurs

Third, the leadership team must rally in support of the vision. This involves far more than a simple vote in favor of the dream. They must get behind the effort, owning it with enthusiastic support backed up by personal commitment as manifest through individual involvement.

Finally, the people of influence need to be involved in casting the vision.

First, you must concern yourself with the right personnel.

But it is not enough to have the right personnel in place.

The conception stage of a vision has at least two crucial phases: initiation and expansion.

Most visionaries are quick to recognize untapped opportunities.

The apostle Paul was such a person. When he and Silas arrived in the city of Berea after a bad experience in Thessalonica, according to Acts 17:11, he was quick to recognize that the people in Berea were different from those in Thessalonica.

Many leaders conceive a dream when they have a deep dissatisfaction with what is and a deep, pressing desire for what they know could be.

As a result, they are rather easy to spot in any organization, as they challenge the status quo.

Obviously this tendency to challenge what is can get visionary leaders into trouble.

But rather than see the potential benefits that change can bring to an organization, some feel threatened and may turn on the visionary leader.

I have said that visionary leaders have much difficulty with the status quo. This is primarily because in almost every situation they have an unusual ability to see critical unmet needs, shortcomings, and deficiencies in the system.

Martin Luther King Jr. was both grieved and incensed by the general condition of black people in America.

First, many do not have any solutions for the problems they uncover and call attention to.

Second, there are some exceptions.

Visionary leaders are completely different from squeaky wheels.

They possess a keen sense of strategic opportunity in the midst of adversity.

Any worthy vision comes from God, whether it deals with so-called “spiritual” matters or not—and whether the person with the vision is a Christian and realizes the source of the vision or not.

but upon closer examination it usually turns out that the vision did not originate with the leader personally but rather from others.

In light of this, wise leaders must excel as readers and listeners and those who benefit from practical experience. In particular, they should read, listen to, and seek experience with those who think of new ideas, new images, and new paradigms.

During the development stage, the dream moves closer to becoming a vision.

The first step in the general method of developing a vision is envisioning prayer.

I call this envisioning prayer. It is not prayer for a ministry organization in general; rather, it specifically concerns the ministry vision.

This envisioning prayer is intentional. It must not be a haphazard, spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. Instead, visionary leaders set aside regular times for envisioning prayer. They pray by themselves, with other leaders, and with those who make up the vision community. This sends to all others involved in the ministry process a clear message of the importance of the vision.

it seems that visionary leaders should set aside an entire day once a month or once a quarter to get away early to a solitary place for a time of worship and prayer.

The second step in the development of the vision is to think big. Small visions do not motivate.

Jesus Christ challenged a small band of disciples to reach the entire world with the gospel.

In his doxology in Ephesians 3 Paul challenges the Christian community at Ephesus and all who make up the church of Jesus Christ to pray and think big.

I find it interesting that even as far back as the first century AD God’s community of faith had to be challenged or at least reminded to pray and think big.

Martin Luther dared to dream big dreams for God.

Henry Ford had an incredibly large dream.

Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned not just his own freedom but that of all black Americans.

First, the vision has to be bigger than the envisioner in the sense that it goes far beyond him and his abilities to accomplish it.

Second, if the dreamer’s vision is too small, her people will not feel challenged.

Third, the natural tendency for most Christians is to think too small.

Fourth, he needs to ask, How big is my God?

How can you grow a bigger vision? One way is to pray and ask God to increase your faith and consequently your vision (Mark 9:23–24). Second, you can surround yourself with people who think big.

Another way to expand vision is to think strategically.

As dreamers pray envisioning prayers and think big, the next step is to begin writing their thoughts down on paper, recording the dream.

The only wise recourse is to put this material down on paper or record it before it is forgotten.

Another advantage to written brainstorming is that it forces a person to be disciplined in his thinking as he works through the envisioning process.

Writing also forces him to be specific. I describe this as “blowing the lint off the brain.” The point is this: if an idea cannot be written down, it is far too general and vague and needs to be refined to the point where it can be written.

In written brainstorming, just as in verbal brainstorming, it is important to record all thoughts no matter how unimportant they may seem.

While creative people never cease to brainstorm, they do come to a point when it is time to organize the collected information, the fourth step in the development of the vision.

The “bones” of the skeleton are the contents found in good vision statements.

Some vision documents contain a statement of purpose. This tells why the ministry exists.

A good vision statement will contain the ministry’s mission.

Consequently, the vision statement of the church should creatively reflect the Great Commission.

The first is the intentional pursuit of lost people.

The second component of the Great Commission is evangelism.