We Are Blind, but Soon We'll See

I'm working on a project and I have to tell you just how excited I am. This year I've spent considerable time working with Mt. Bethel's new Church Council Chairman. We've been talking about next steps for the church and how we can reorganize within to meet our current needs while also regearing for the ever expanding community around us. All of this is a particular challenge for our church - pastor after pastor and leadership team after leadership team has sought to make necessary changes and, unfortunately more often than not, the changes were fleeting. In the end, the congregation preferred the comfort of the way things were and new ideas, however well intentioned, were abandoned.

I guess you could say it's my turn. Bill, who is the greatest Council Chair in the history of Methodism, and I are assembling a core leadership team that will lead the entire congregation in visioning, refine that vision, and help the congregation to master that vision. I've been praying over the names for this team and I've begun thinking of them as my visioning ninjas. They're going to be our blackbelts who master the vision first and then help the congregation master it for themselves.

I'm really excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. It's my belief that for years Mt. Bethel, like so many other churches, has been wandering in the wilderness without any solid gameplan other than doing what our predecessors did. If we can generate a collective vision that is memorable and can be used in every instance of planning and evaluation in the church, we will begin to see the road God has laid out for us, stop wandering in the woods, and truly become the transformational agent to the world that Christ has ordained us to be.

Sunday, June 14th is our next Church Council meeting - there we will announce our plans for a two-day, church-wide "retreat" to develop our core values and our vision that we'll hold in August. Be in prayer for us, for me, for Bill, for the visioning ninjas. We need some of that amazing grace that helps even blind churches to see.

Has your church done something specific to determine vision that has actually worked? I'm not talking about a committee of rich, crusty people that put something on paper that really has no meaning to the congregation. What has your church done that has been more than a statement, but truly a sense of vision - of seeing what God has in store for you and gives the church a hunger to get it? Talk amongst yourselves and leave comments!
For more on my pastoral vision for Mt. Bethel read these posts (here), (here), (here), (here), (here), and (here).