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Kindle Notes & Highlights
A Great Commission church grows not because it emphasizes biological or transfer growth but because of its emphasis on conversion growth.
The third component of the Great Commission is edification. Once the church reaches people, it does not drop them but proceeds to enfold them into the body and disciple them.
Many vision statements include in some way the ministry’s values.
A fourth component found in many vision statements is the strategy the ministry will implement to accomplish its mission and vision.
First, it refers to the church as an equipping center.
Next, it touches the felt needs of today’s Christians by affirming that the church seeks their personal development.
Finally, the specifics of the strategy are worship, teaching, fellowship, and evangelism.
Some vision statements include a reference to people.
A sixth component found in some vision statements is information concerning the location of the ministry.
As I peruse the statements in the corporate world, I note that they tend to prefer shorter vision statements.
The primary advantage of a long vision statement is clarity.
The primary advantage of a short vision statement is that it is memorable.
First, is the dream clear? Can others understand it?
Second, is the dream exciting? When people in the ministry community hear the dream, are they inspired and excited?
Third, is the dream visual? Good visions create mental pictures. People must be able to see what the leaders see.
Fourth, is the dream future oriented? Vision statements are statements about the future.
Fifth, does the vision motivate those who make up the ministry to accomplish their mission? Of all the questions, perhaps the most important to the realization of the vision is this: Does it excite people and motivate them to want to pursue it?
In the strategic thinking and acting process, I recommend that all ministries not only develop a mission statement but also develop it prior to the vision statement.9
A third method for vision development you might want to consider is to collect and study other ministries’ vision statements.
To pursue this method, you must have already collected some vision statements—the more the better.
Another method for developing a vision is to take some time off and retreat to a quiet place, such as a lakeside cabin or a place in the mountains, where you can be creative. Once there, ask yourself, What will the ministry look like two, five, ten, or more years from now? What do I see when I envision this ministry in the future?
The subjective element is found in the emotions and feelings that the visionary experiences when the vision is born.
This emotional experience is important because it not only signals the birth of the vision but also provides the motivation or impetus to realize the vision in a ministry.
However, a successful birth signals not the end but the beginning of the life of a vision and the ensuing ministry. Once the vision is born, it must now be communicated, implemented, and preserved if the ministry is to grow and prosper.
Another factor that determines what the vision looks like is the people who will hear or read the statement, those for whom the vision was designed (the vision audience).
At this point you must ask if you are a church that merely has a vision statement or if you truly are a visionary church.
most of the people are excited about the vision and this motivates them to want to accomplish the church’s disciple-making ministry.
Second, most of the people want to be a part of the vision.
Third, people are talking about the vision.
Fourth, some people will have left the church.
Communicating the news of a profound, significant vision for the future of a ministry involves a sender, a message, and a receiver.
The first step before announcing any vision is to determine who will take the responsibility for casting and conveying the vision.
As was said in chapter 3, casting the vision becomes the primary responsibility of the visionary leader who is the organization’s point person and, by virtue of the position, most likely its primary spokesperson.
While most churches desire a biblical role for their pastor, the position has been affected as much by their culture as by Scripture.
This includes such key pastoral functions as being the primary contractor of the vision, the developer of present and potential leadership, and the primary caster of the vision.
The first is that of vision cultivator or contractor. Here the pastor takes the responsibility of initiating and developing the ministry’s vision.
The second is vision caster. This involves the process of regularly holding up the vision before the ministry community. The third is vision clarifier. The primary function here is to focus the vision by regularly rethinking it and seeking to further refine it and apply it within and outside the confines of the ministry.
It is the primary responsibility of the point person in a ministry to communicate the vision, but as with the development of the vi...
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The other casters of the vision are the other primary and secondary leaders on the team, whether they are hired, as in some parachurch situations, or voluntary, such as the elder board in a church.
The leader must meet regularly with and be part of the lives of these people as well as of those at the other levels.
Finally, it is important that those who are the followers in the ministry be vision casters.
The goal is not only that they catch the vision but also that they in turn cast the vision.
The next step that is basic to any communication process is the determination of the message. The leader must have a message. Of course that message for the visionary leader is the vision.
The first factor in effective communication is the comprehension of the vision. The question is, Do people understand the dream?
A second classic example is God communicating his vision for his people during Nehemiah’s life.
Another context in which to present the vision is that of an untapped, unexploited spiritual opportunity.
A second key factor that affects the communication of the vision message is the credibility of the vision.
People want to know the track record of the visionary leader.
When it becomes evident that God is uniquely blessing leaders’ lives and ministries, they gain extraordinary credibility in the eyes of their followers and even the general public.
Prior ministry experience communicates credibility in Christian circles.
