Creating Vision
If you pastor a church or lead a parachurch organization, this post is critical for you. Today, it is VERY important that you put down a strong and clear vision that others can relate to and follow. In all of the largest churches in my city, the pastor leads from the pulpit each Sunday with his vision in very clear terms. The pastor (or leader) also has to own the vision, share a passion for it, and carry a burden for its completion. He (or she) also has to be able to make it real - that is, if we are at A, what is B? How are we going to get there? What are the measurable goals?
We are not talking here about whether this vision is right or not, just the fact that it must exist. Too often we copy another success story and try it without listening to God. This is called sterotyping, and seldom works. Graham Cooke tells how he went in to plant a church where six churches had already failed. They were stereotyping over and over again. Graham went to the Lord and asked him what He wanted. It turned out to be a church for 8-12 year olds. This was planted and soon grew to 400 people across multiple generations.
George Barna, a leading expert on church growth, says that in 90% of the churches he has worked with there was no vision statement. At the end of one session I attended during the Q & A period a lady asked what the church should do if the pastor does not lead from a vision. Barna’s answer: a blunt “fire him”.
If your church is developing a web site (and that’s what we can help on), the first question I ask is for this vision statement. The web site must carry this in a very clear message. Otherwise, you can expect your site to be lost in the over 8 billion pages that are already listed on Google. Look at the web site we did for Good Samaritan Ministries. See how clear their vision is stated? It was no accident that this site got to #1 of 1500 competing web sites on Google within a week.
What’s your church’s vision? What is your personal vision?