From A to Z: How Vision Clarity Can Focus Architectural Initiatives at Your Church

by: Bryan Rose

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Your church will never spend more money, invest more time or ask for a higher degree of involvement from its leadership that it will during a season of relocation or expansion. My personal experiences in both the profession of architecture and positions of ministry have, through time, revealed that success in undertaking a major construction project ultimately comes down to a clear understanding of identity and calling.

Discernment and vision-driven direction become critical in every decision during a church building project or facility renovation. Even a seemingly small initiative like Children’s Ministry theming carries great potential for impact when done in context of vision. Understanding your mandate to make disciples through the lens of vision clarity becomes an informative tool in every project to help ensure that the physical environment is a compelling reflection of your missional call.

Most importantly, focusing architectural initiatives through vision clarity also reminds us that buildings are a TOOL for vision, but NOT THE VISION in themselves.

In Architectural Initiatives, a deep sense of vision clarity:

• Anchors Activity
• Buttresses Basics
• Contextualizes Creativity
• Directs Design
• Enables Engagement
• Frames Facades
• Guides Green
• Highlights Hazards
• Infers Importance
• Justifies Juxtaposition
• Keeps Keystones
• Leverages Loans
• Maximizes Moments
• Names Non-Issues
• Optimizes Opportunity
• Prioritizes Phasing
• Quickens Questions
• Right-sizes Resourcing
• Supports Strategy
• Tames Three-Dimensions
• Undergirds Uniqueness
• Visualizes Vision
• Widens Windows
• X-Rays Xenodochium
• Yields Yards
• Zeros-In Zoning

So some of those were a stretch, but you get the point. The excitement of a new season of building, planning or design is a great opportunity to get back to the basics as a church. One opportunity would be to start a conversation with your team on how vision clarity, as seen through a tool like the Vision Frame, can create compelling environments in your next church building project.

Ask: How might a renewed sense of purpose and identity help our next construction project…

    … Echo Missional Meaning?

    … Reveal Core Convictions?

    … Facilitate Intentional Growth?

    … Celebrate Missional Success?

    … Direct Vision Advancement?

> Read more from Bryan.

If you are entering into a season of construction, learn how vision clarity can influence upcoming key decisions related to facilities or building.

Tags: Architecture, Bryan Rose, Buildings, Vision Clarity, Vision Frame

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5 Ways Future-Fueled Leaders Curate Contagious Church Vision

by: Bryan Rose

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Are you hiding behind excuses or leading out front with vision?

Often as leaders, we are quick with the reasons we “can’t do something” and slow to develop the resonate calling as to why we “couldn’t do anything else.” It becomes all too easy to succumb to what would not work rather than submit to what would, by God’s direction and provision.

So, what if your most pressing issue really just comes down to vision?

• An insurmountable lack of volunteers is really a lack of inspirational clarity.
• A team of overwhelmed staff members is really in an underwhelming ability to prioritize what really matters.
• Too few parking spaces is really too little passion to call people to park sacrificially.
• An inadequate children’s environment is really barely-adequate family engagement.
• That missing marketing hook is really an underdeveloped discipleship culture.
• A less-than-creative arts team is really a more-than-comfortable Sunday status quo.
• Your restless conference attendance schedule is really a tiring search for yet another new idea.
• Governance that does not work is really generality at work in managerial leadership.
• A lessening impact in student ministry is really an increasing gap in reaching the culture for Christ.
• Leaders asking for yet another static strategic plan is really a call for dynamic clarity toward what’s next.

Whatever problem we are facing right now as church leaders, the solution comes back to vision. Vision not as a highly tuned statement, but a finely curated state of mind. It is not about trying to be one of “those” visionary leaders, but about leading as a steward of the calling of God on your church.

A vision state of mind looks for consistent opportunities to make vision contagious.

Here are 5 ways future-fueled pastors curate a contagious church vision. They remember that…

… Clear vision is knowable, so they keep it simple.

… Concise vision is repeatable, so they invest in articulation.

… Contextual vision is undeniable, so they ensure it’s authentic.

… Compelling vision is actionable, so they prepare for movement.

… Catalytic vision is unstoppable, so they seek the Spirit’s leadership.

How would a greater focus on what could be, and a lesser focus on what was, bring life – and a way forward – to your most pressing issue this week?

Learn more about engaging a process for developing vision clarity to meet the problems in your church at Auxano.com.

> Read more from Bryan.

Want to know more about the kind of vision described above? Start a conversation with our team. We’re glad to offer our input. Your vision is at stake, so let’s talk.

Tags: Bryan Rose, Catalytic Vision, Clear Vision, Compelling Vision, Concise Vision, Contagious Church Vision, Contagious Vision, Contextual Vision, Future-Fueled Leaders, Vision Clarity, Vision State of Mind

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180 Seconds of Vision

by: Bryan Rose

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Dear Pastors, Campus Pastors and/or whomever is on the rotation this Sunday…

Please do not just stand up on the platform for 3 minutes and “make announcements.”

We already know the announcements.

They were on the screens before the service.

They were the bulletin we read during the sermon.

They were definitely handed to me on the card by those well-meaning, but intense, women in matching t-shirts when we came in the door.

They were the same announcements about this time last year.

Instead, show me how these activities fulfill our mission as a church.

Connect my spiritual growth to this sign-up, and if you cannot, why are we doing it? 

Create a conversation and inspire me to learn more than dates, deadlines and catch phrases. Because I do.

Thanks for taking a few extra minutes of prep time to paint the bigger picture for us.

180 seconds of vision beats 3 minutes of announcements every Sunday.

Want to learn more about how your communication can paint the bigger picture for your congregation? Connect with an Auxano Navigator.

Read more from Bryan.

Tags: Bryan Rose, Vision, Vision Clarity, church announcements

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A Church Plant Moves Out of Storage

by: Mike Gammill

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(Mike Gammill is one of our Lead Navigators at Auxano. He recently completed a campaign with San Marcos Community Church in San Marcos, TX. The Vision Clarity impact and unique Campaign story will inspire you.)

In the summer of 2013, San Marcos Community Church was in the church plant doldrums. As a twelve-year-old plant they really weren’t a “plant” anymore, but their base of mission and worship was still a leased facility. They did own land a couple of streets over. They owned a building too, but it was a metal prefab building and was, literally, in storage. Their dreams of permanent place were in storage too.

Twelve years in, the church had hit a plateau and energy was on the decline. “Trying to put on Saul’s armor” were the words the Senior Pastor used when we talked about most of the solutions available to him. He resonated with our Vision Clarity process, because we started with understanding their unique God-given ministry DNA, and then, from there, navigated them through growth obstacles with vision instead of hype, busyness…or a building project.

We started their seven-month vision clarity process in September of that year. The Senior Pastor quickly made a tough decision that paid dividends in spades: he consolidated all weekly ministry programs into a weekly prayer gathering. This prayer gathering became the central nervous system to a revival that broke out shortly after. Church attendance began to increase and a second service was added. Giving began to increase and the Holy Spirit challenged leadership to step up their commitment to – literally – lay the foundation for their permanent facility.

Then, in November, the call came from their landlord that could have disrupted everything. They had 90 days to find a new place to worship (the state of Texas was turning the building into a highway). Rather than seeing this as an obstacle, church leadership saw this as leading from the Holy Spirit. In addition to finding a new place to live, the time had clearly come to launch a capital campaign in the next three months. They needed to raise capital to construct and occupy a permanent church in San Marcos, Texas, a city where it’s easier to open a bar than a church.

The Holy Spirit inspired urgency, along with an increasingly healthy centralized prayer gathering that helped them to overcome a too-short time frame. On Palm Sunday 2014, the congregation made commitments that totaled over 2.5x their 2013 budget. General giving also increased over 30%. In the end, they blew past their goals and greatly increased the generosity level of the church. All this, and their mortgage in 2015 may be less than their lease was in 2014.

Meanwhile, God demonstrated his faithfulness when he led the church to relocate to a nearby dance hall and bar that had closed its doors. When God builds his church, nothing can stand in the way.

>> Meet Mike

Tags: Generosity, Mike Gammill, Resourcing, Vision Clarity, Vision Pathway Process

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In the Face of Uncertainty, Pursue Clarity

by: VRcurator

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One force that’s ever-present in any form of creative work – like ministry – is uncertainty. The reality is that you will never know – really know – what’s right.

• Is this good enough?
• Is it finished?
• Is it the right strategy?
• How should I spend my time/focus/energy today?
• Which idea should I run with?
• How can I sell this to my team?

Uncertainty is an uncooperative dance partner. You have to move with it – in concert, drawing from it, following its lead at times, but always with an eye on your next move – in order to do your best work. The worst thing you can do is allow uncertainty to paralyze you into inaction.

Todd Henry, founder of the Accidental Creative consultancy and author of The Accidental Creative and Die Empty, has a challenging statement for leaders who are facing uncertainty:

>> In the face of uncertainty, pursue clarity.

You will never rid yourself of uncertainty. It’s a part of the game. When the sand is shifting beneath your feet, try to find some solid ground. Seek clarity. You’ll often find that simply getting clear relieves some of the pressure and illuminates your next steps.

Read the full article on pursuing clarity by Todd here.

To download a summary of Todd’s book The Accidental Creative, go here.

Tags: Clarity, Personal Clarity, The Accidental Creative, Todd Henry, Vision Clarity

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Opportunity Creep: It May be Your Biggest Ministry Challenge

by: Will Mancini

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The term “scope creep” is a term consultants use when their clients expect more than what the project originally outlined. The idea is that the scope of the project is slowing getting bigger, usually in imperceptible increments. Of course, no consultant wants scope creep to happen, but in an effort to please the client, its hard to prevent sometimes.

The same dynamic is ever present in ministry. It’s called “opportunity creep.”

What is “opportunity creep?” Its roughly the same idea, just applied to all of the positive ministry opportunities a pastor may face in the days and weeks of church life. By calling it “creep” we are acknowledging that it’s all too easy to say yes too much. By positioning this as a problem, we are highlighting that a lack of “opportunity management” can distract and dilute our ministry efforts.

Think about how many kinds of opportunities cross a pastor’s path:

• We serve a congregation that’s a bottomless well of  members’ needs.
• We are captured by the buzz of new ideas, new people, and new initiatives happening in church space.
• We live in  communities riddled with issues that we would love to “missionally” engage.
• We are digitally connect to an ocean of information and “friends.”

The bottom line: church leadership is rich soil for opportunity creep.

I will address opportunity creep with two follow-up posts:

1) The Five Primary Sources of Distraction in Ministry- this is about spotting the creep.

2) Applying Five Filters to Ministry Decision Making– this is about beating the creep.

Read more from Will here.

Tags: Recapturing Vision, Vision Clarity, Will Mancini

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How Motivation and Implementation Strategies Define the Multisite Church: 3 Concerns

by: Ed Stetzer

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McChurch. Franchised Jesus. Theological clones. Incubator congregations. Ecclesiological buffets. From the devil.

If there is a classification of church that gets put down more than megachurches, it would have to be multisite churches. Is the critique fair? Sometimes. But not always.

As we found with megachurches recently, there is plenty of good that comes with the stereotypical bad. In the megachurch research we saw that they don’t really draw away members from other local churches as much as people think they do, they are healthier financially, and they are growing at a faster pace than smaller churches.

But what about multisite churches? Let me say that I know some really bad ones… they fit all the stereotypes. But, I know some good ones, too. I’ve preached at several that were on mission, raising up leaders, and doing great ministry.

Warren Bird and Leadership Network– the same group that did much of the megachurch research discussed here on the blog– released some research on multisite churches last fall. And wouldn’t you know that it showed several positives regarding multisite churches.

From the research:

– Multisite churches reach more people than single site churches.
– Multisite tends to spread healthy churches to more diverse communities.
– Multisite churches have more volunteers in service as a percentage than single site.
– Multisite churches baptize more people than single site.
– Multisite churches tend to activate more people into ministry than single site.

Yep– facts are our friends. And, people who hate multi-site churches will probably not like these facts. (They did not like the megachurch facts either!) The fact is there are some good statistical indicators backing up the approach.

And the number of multisite churches is exploding. In fact, 62 of the 100 fastest growing churches in America are multisite. And there are now more than 5,000 multisite churches in North America:

But is this multisite explosion a good thing for churches in North America? Often yes…and sometimes no.

As I see it, the answer is rooted in the motivation and implementation of the strategy. If a church is using a multisite strategy as an alternative to spending $20 million on a centralized campus, most of us would agree that is a wise decision. If they are using it to spread only their “brand of church” or to provide the pastoral team with a “vacation campus” halfway across the country in a tropical destination, it’s probably not a wise decision.

But if a pastoral team is faithful to reaching the communities in which their campuses are located and to ministering to the campuses in an equitable fashion, I wish them all the success. Using a multisite strategy to engage a community through mission and to multiply disciples in the body is a win-win, and it’s happening all over the country.

Unfortunately, multisite churches still face their fair share of issues. The best ones overcome them, but many struggle with similar issues.

In a past article for Outreach Magazine, I discussed three concerns facing multisite churches that I see still apply today.

Pastoral Responsibility

Despite a church’s best intentions at new sites, sometimes certain pastoral duties get lost: scriptural assignments such as praying over the sick (James 5:14); watching over those placed in your care (1 Peter 5:1); discipline (1 Cor. 5); and breaking bread with the beloved (Acts 2:42). I know that those duties are supposed to be the job of the campus pastor, but we also know it sometimes does not happen. The focus is easily placed on the event more than the community. And sometimes that results in people come for the show without connecting to the community.

Christian Community

Connected to pastoral ministry is the community of faith itself. The church is not merely a gathering, but a united people who work together for the glory of God and the good of their neighbors. One of the weaknesses of event-driven multisite churches is that some tend encourage (unintentionally at times) a come-and-get mentality over a come-and-give ethos. Of course this is not only a problem for multisite churches, but the potential for the problem is significant. Don’t misunderstand me; I get that it can work, but it’s not easy. If you are going multisite, I hope it keeps you up at night, wrestling with ways to build community in a system that can easily discourage it.

Reproducing New Teachers

Perhaps my biggest concern with the multisite paradigm is that, without intentionality, it will limit reproduction. Let’s face it– it’s easier to create another extension site than it is to create another faithful pastor who is a great communicator. Our Great Commission strategy should include the reproduction of biblical communicators, not just big campuses.

Where Now?

So am I anti-multisite? Not at all.

I am not anti-multisite or anti-megachurch. I am thankful for both of them. However, I am anti-consumerism. Church is not about being the best purveyor of religious “goods and services.” And if a megachurch or a multisite thrives by appealing solely to the “come and see” mentality that is so prevalent, we will all regret it.

No matter the number of campuses your church has, reproduction is the goal–reproducing believers, ministries, groups and churches. That can be in a megachurch, multi-site church or, for that matter, in a house church.

So, if you are going multisite, make sure you stay focused on multiplying the mission of God– not just your brand of church or the reach of one person. Let’s make it more than projecting the image of a pastor on another screen.

The best churches know and do that– so learn from them.

Read more from Ed here.

Tags: Ed Stetzer, Multisite, Vision Clarity

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4 Mega Lessons on Keeping Vision Clear with Dramatic Ministry Success

by: Will Mancini

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A few weeks ago I enjoyed a back-to-back connections with three very different and very fruitful ministries. On Monday, I was in Chicago with Dave and John Ferguson on the Community Christian Church team. On Tuesday I was with Mountain Lake  Church in Atlanta, and on Wednesday  I was with Upward Sports in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

These ministries demonstrate dramatic success. Dave and Jon have built a city-reaching, multi-site church as well as a church planting network (New Thing) around the defining value of “reproducing at every level”. Shawn Lovejoy has lead a unique and effective church in the shadow of Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church. (In addition, he has encouraged a tribe of church planters through the ministry of churchplanters.com.) Both churches gather thousands of people weekly. Upward, as a sports ministry, has impacted millions and continues to cast mind-stretching vision to reach millions more.

My time in reflection on these ministries brought these observations:

#1 The unexamined vision is not worth casting.

When these leaders talk about what God is doing in their ministries, you can feel the ownership and passion that comes through the constant seeking, wrestling, deciding and articulating work of clarity. When they cast vision its real and its worth something not only because they sought God for it, but because they work for it.

#2 The more fruitful your ministry, the more time will be required—not less—to cultivate further clarity.

Great leaders know a simple fact: You can always be more clear. Most pastors treat a clarity exercise or vision retreat like its a one-time gig. But when you are around leaders who see crazy fruitful results, you’ll notice a certain and constant preoccupation with clarity. Ironically they are spending disproportionately more time doing things like:

• keeping the mission real and felt
• making the values active and visible
• insisting that strategy is sharp and aligned

At Upward the team always jokes about re-entering “the tunnel of chaos” as part of the constant clarity pursuit. At CCC, Jon Ferguson, on moment’s notice, can unpack the nuances of applying the 5-step process of reproducing at every level (pictured below.)

#3 Strategic assumptions and the strategy itself (that brought success) must be reinterpreted, reevaluated and reformulated every step of the way.

You don’t convert and develop people the same way at each phase in your ministry. Why not? First, because there is always room for improvement. Second, because times and people change. Third, because with success, your organization must adapt and expand how it does what it does. If you want to keep things both sophisticated and simple, you must dedicate serious time to dialogue and rethinking as a leadership team. At Community Christian I enjoy watching Dave Ferguson redraw the map of how they planned to reach Chicago. As the picture changed, so did the strategy. Currently they are reconsidering how to decrease the number of campus constants as they expand beyond their current twelve locations.

#4  A big vision is the natural byproduct of consistent passion for a simple mission over a long time.

These three  ministries didn’t start with a big vision. The started with passionate mission. Over time, the stick-to-it-ness of humble tenacity and mission clarity gives way to bigger and bigger dreams that become apparent as the mission moves forward. Caz McCaslin recalls the dream to extend his gymnasium to reach another 100 kids. Why? His mission was to introduce children to Jesus through sports. Eventually that mission would bring the dream of 1,000 church gyms with evangelistic basketball leagues across the country. He accomplished that years ago. What next? The same mission is generating a plan to win 4 million kids. These “upsized visions” could never be seen or achieved without a fanatical focus on the same mission over time. The same is true with CCC. After becoming a multisite with twelve campuses Dave and Jon are now talking about “the how” of 200. They just wouldn’t have see that fifteen years ago.

Which one of these lessons intrigues you the most?

Read more from Will here.

Tags: Community Christian Church, Mountain Lake Church, Upward Sports, Vision Clarity, Will Mancini

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The Power of Clarity in Your Church’s Vision

by: Matt Steen

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Tears were streaming down his face as he silently wept:

“I can see it so clearly… I just haven’t had the ability to put it into words… which makes people think I don’t know where we are going.”

Clarity is powerful.

One of my most favorite things to do through my work with Church Simple is to help church leaders clearly communicate what it is that they are called to… and then helping them do it.  In this case, the process was incredibly moving.

I am becoming convinced that the church in this country is not lacking of vision… it is the rare church leader that does not have a vision for where God is taking them.  What I think is missing in many churches is a sense of clarity when it comes to that vision: a way to express it clearly, concisely, and with authority.

Vision statements can be incredibly powerful tools to rally your congregation around your calling… or they can be incredibly obtuse statements that make people yawn in powerful new ways.  The difference is how you approach crafting your vision statement, and whether you are making a statement, or calling to action.  I fully believe that we have been called to action by the great commission and great commandment… and should be calling our people to action as well.  With this in mind, here are four qualities of a great vision statement:

• Vivid.  Paint a picture.  Be clear about where you are going and what it will look like.  If your people do not fully understand what your vision statement is calling them to, you will never achieve it.
• Inspiring.  I am sick of boring vision statements.  If you want me to fully invest myself in the vision and mission of your church you need to call me to something bigger than myself, something worthy of the time, talents, and treasure that I will be sacrificing in order to make it happen.  Don’t tell me what we are, tell me where we are going… and make it a big deal.
• Memorable.  The school that I worked with in Baltimore had a vision statement that took up a full sheet of paper (actually they had two, posted on opposite walls… but that is a bigger problem for another time).  If you were to ask teachers, administrators, or anyone involved in the school to recite, or paraphrase, either of those statements you would have gotten a blank stare.  Your vision statement needs to be clear and concise in order for it to be memorable.  Vision statements that aren’t memorable are worse than having no vision statement at all.
• Preachable.  If you can not point back to your church’s vision statement during your sermon on a regular basis it is useless.  The power of a vision statement is its ability to clearly define who you are as a church and where you are going.  If you are not referring back to it regularly, it may be time to ask yourself whether you, and your vision, are headed in the same direction.

What makes YOUR church’s vision statement great?

If you are looking for more thoughts on church vision, you need to check out what Will Mancini is up to, or buy his book.  Either way, this is too important to not do well.

Read more from Matt here.

Tags: Matt Steen, Recapturing Vision, Vision Clarity, Vision Frame, Will Mancini

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Please Stop Herding Me

by: Geoff Surratt

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As I said in my previous post, I think the primary business of the church is the Moving Business. We are called to help people move from where they are to where God is calling them. Today I’d like to share a contrast and a prediction. First the contrast.

Moving vs Herding

We are in the Moving Business, not the Herding Business. The Herding Business gets the livestock to go where the leader decides they need to go. There is a pre-determined destination for the herd; the individual isn’t important. The goal is to move as many animals (members, attenders, cattle) from point A to point B as efficiently as possible.The challenge is to protect my herd from poachers, who have a different destination in mind, while moving them closer to my end point.

In the Moving Business the goal is to move the individual toward their destination, not necessarily the destination the leader chooses. Almost everyone has a different destination, so there is no “one size fits all” ministry package. The Moving Business is much slower and more complicated than the Herding Business. The Moving Business is only effective when the herd is broken down into much smaller groups with many more leaders; each individual needs a leader who will help them move toward their God-ordained destination. While connection to the herd is important, these smaller groups are where the actual moving is accomplished.

The Moving Business has huge, untapped potential

Jesus demonstrated the Moving Business approach when he called his first disciples. He pointed them toward their God-given destination as fishers of men and then spent three years teaching them to fish. Although Jesus attracted crowds and taught the masses, his primary focus was moving 12 men toward their God-given destinations. Jesus final act as he wrapped up his mission on earth in John 21 was reminding Peter of the primacy and individual nature of his mission.

John 21:22 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

The Moving Business has potential for exponential growth. People desperately want to know how to find the way to their God-given destination. Rick Warren sold 60 million copies of “Purpose Driven Live” because of this drive. Joel Osteen’s “Your Best Life Now” addressed the same topic from a different angle. Even “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne appeals to this desire. A church that delivers on the promise to help people discover and find their way to their true God-ordained destination won’t be able to contain the growth.

To see this kind of impact, however, a church has to change businesses. Educating, warehousing, entertaining and herding become secondary, and they refocus their energy and resources on the Moving Business. The key activity becomes equipping leaders to help people discover and move toward their God-given destination. The Moving Business is all-encompassing but hugely rewarding.

Read more from Geoff here.

Tags: Geoff Surratt, Recasting Vision, Vision Clarity, Vision Frame

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