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It would be foolish, or at best naive, for any of us to believe or even infer that what works for others will work for you as well. The Vision process, or Visioneering, is included in that statement. There is no cookie-cutter formula that works and produces for everyone. However, there is a common development route, or process, that can be modified to suit your environment, and it will work for everyone if allowed to. There are questions to ponder and ask at the inception of the Visioneering process.
Why is this important? It is important because every leader, church, or organization is not ready to undertake a successful Visioneering process. Before you waste your time and that of others you need to validate that this is the right thing for you to do.
To do this you will have to determine some things. Every church or business has its own unique and distinguishing traits and characteristics, including but not limited to:
· The number people and talents it has available
· The unity it either has or doesn’t have
· The spiritual maturity and understanding level of the people
· The level of commitment to excellence and continuous improvement
· The work ethic
· The corporate attitude
· Financial and resource strengths and/or weaknesses
· Demographics
What are yours? Write them down clearly and concisely. Do the necessary research. Thoroughness and honesty are absolutely essential.
Next, of course there are many other ingredients that must be considered as well, including but not limited to:
· The connection between the leader and the people
· The level of trust and confidence in leadership
· The size and commitment to and understanding of teamwork
· The organizational structure
· Area demographics (white or blue collar/wealthy or welfare/educated or non-educated/innovative or non-innovative/adaptability to change or resistance to any change, multicultural blend and ethnicity traits/ and etc.)
· The culture of the area and of the church
Once again, write these down clearly and concisely as well. Do the necessary research. Thoroughness and honesty are absolutely essential.
Next, it is very important to accurately ascertain the current state of affairs. You must find answers to the following questions and others like them:
· Where you are as an organization at this point in time?
· What type of cooperation exists?
· How effectively do you communicate as a leader?
· How open you are to the involvement of others?
· Are you a controller or a liberator?
· Are you willing and able to truly empower and trust others?
· Are you (and the people) willing to change the way you do things and the organizational structure as necessary to accomplish the things that must be done to progress toward a vision?
· Are people willing to change titles, roles, and positions if necessary? Will they be selfless or jealous as changes occur?
Once again, write these down clearly and concisely as well. Do the necessary research. Thoroughness and honesty are absolutely essential.
And then there are the big all-important questions that must be answered even before you proceed further:
· Do I believe this is God’s time for us to launch forward toward new horizons?
· Am I committed to the long-term?
· Am I convinced that I must do this in order for the church or organization to reach a higher potential?
· Am I willing to face adversity knowing that people resist being changed?
· Is what we are doing working?
· What is not working?
· Can we reach our potential without changing?
Once again, write these down clearly and concisely as well. Do the necessary research. Thoroughness and honesty are absolutely essential.
Next, this initial phase of visioneering needs to include:
· An accurate inventory and assessment of the way things are
Once again, write these down clearly and concisely as well. Do the necessary research. Thoroughness and honesty are absolutely essential.
Now ask yourself the following question: Do I have the commitment and resolve to drive this forward, even though I do not yet have a clear picture of exactly where this will lead us?
If the answer to the last question is no then simply stop right here. If the answer is yes then please continue.
As a mentor, I would suggest to any leader that is interested in directing your church or organization toward a new and worthwhile vision that you:
Here are a few tips (Steps) to accomplish the aforementioned things:
1. Set aside a time and place for quiet reflection for yourself (alone)
a. Walk though each aforementioned point and write down every thought
b. Organize them and delete redundancy
2. Set aside a time to do the same with your inner-circle of leaders
a. Keep your personal notes confidential at this time
b. Allow them to walk through Step 1 completely as you remain mostly silent. The more you talk the less they will contribute.
c. After they have finished compare your personal notes with their notes
d. Together with them combine the two as much as possible into one document. This is a great time for discussion and critical evaluation to occur.
My next article will carry the Visioneering Process forward.
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2. Be faithful in the little things and be consistent. “One thing about pastor is that he is very predictable,” says Jennifer Mallan, an outreach pastor at Church Without Walls. “He does the same things every day, so people know they can count on him. You know that on Wednesdays and Fridays our trucks will be out; on Saturday foods are prepared. It’s never hit-and-miss. Pastor has parented the city very well.”....
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The story is told of the grandpa and grandma who visited their grandchildren. Each afternoon, grandpa would lie down for a nap. One day, as a practical joke, the kids decided to put Limburger cheese in his moustache. Quite soon he awoke sniffing. "Why, this room stinks," he exclaimed as he got up and went out into the kitchen. He wasn't there long until he decided that the kitchen smelled too, so he walked outdoors for a breath of fresh air. Much to the grandpa's surprise, the open air brought no relief, and he proclaimed, "The whole world stinks!" How true is that in life? When we carry "Limburger cheese" in our attitudes, the whole world smells bad to us....
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Matthew 5: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
“Pure” as it is used here in the original Greek is katharos. Katharos is pronounced Kath-ar-os. It means of uncertain Affinity; clean (literally or figuratively): clean, clear, pure.
Jesus declared to the people that day that if someone was capable of having, keeping or obtaining a pure heart, that they would see God someday.
It is the desire of every believer that, one day, they would see God.
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One thing that I have found to be universal amongst new converts/believers is the pure heart that the Lord gives to them.
As newborn babes in Christ, their hearts are open to receive anything that the church has to offer them. They trust the ministry and they trust their newfound church family.
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If you are in bi-vocational ministry and have a family then your family is also in bi-vocational ministry. The pressures you feel they feel also. They are on the same journey you are on. Never isolate them as though they do not understand or not a vital part of the ministry family. They do or at least want to understand, even if it is from their individual and unique perspectives. Include them in the ministry as much as possible even while granting them the flexibility to have their own lives as well. Every attempt should be made to not give anyone in your immediate family a sense of abandonment. It is of vital importance that bi-vocational ministers include their family as equal partners in the many decisions of life that affect them.
Your spouse and your children may not share the same calling you have. Hopefully they feel the connection to your calling, but in many cases they may actually resent it. It is imperative that you do not force compliance, conformity, and uniformity upon them. Instead you must lead them with love as you also learn to listen to and relate to them. If you do not, then there may come a day that your children leave the church and harbor bitterness or resentment against you and the church. There may also come a day that your spouse serves you with divorce papers. Why? Because they needed a dad or a husband when all you could give them was a calling they never came to grips with....
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All too often the people who lead the service mislead it. These good people whom the Pastor has asked to help out in the service many times serve to cause frustration and confusion in a church service.
Leading a service properly can bring about a move of God that can break every yoke in the service. Leading it improperly can cause people to go home more bound than they were when they came.
Every element of the service should prepare the way for the next. The end result of the service is the move of God in the alter. When you get in the way of the progression, you kill the potential of what could happen.
Here are a few things to consider when asked to “Lead the service”.
- Keep it moving. Don’t allow for delays or “dead air” places in the services. In radio, “dead air” is when you hear silence. It is also when the producer did his job wrong and did not prepare for those seconds of the day. It is during this time that many people will change the channel or turn off their radio. You don’t want this happening in the church service. “No Dead Air!”
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7 Things to Consider When Asked to “Lead the Service”
All too often the people who lead the service mislead it. These good people whom the Pastor has asked to help out in the service many times serve to cause frustration and confusion in a church service.
Leading a service properly can bring about a move of God that can break every yoke in the service. Leading it improperly can cause people to go home more bound than they were when they came.
Every element of the service should prepare the way for the next. The end result of the service is the move of God in the alter. When you get in the way of the progression, you kill the potential of what could happen.
Here are a few things to consider when asked to “Lead the service”.
- Keep it moving. Don’t allow for delays or “dead air” places in the services. In radio, “dead air” is when you hear silence. It is also when the producer did his job wrong and did not prepare for those seconds of the day. It is during this time that many people will change the channel or turn off their radio. You don’t want this happening in the church service. “No Dead Air!”
- Do not continually comment. If you are introducing the various singers and elements of the service don’t comment each time on the last person who sang or spoke. Just introduce the next part of the service....
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