You must be an active subscriber to view this premium content. Subscribe or Login.
Tags: Clarity, FLUX, Will Mancini
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
What they are really saying is…
“We want more of the same thing the same way.”
Or to spell it out a little more…
“We want more of the same thing (people in attendance) the same way (with our existing worship and program offerings).”
Let’s unpack what this means even further. When a leader tells me that they want more people, they are usually NOT saying two things.
First they are typically NOT asking for a different result. The result they were looking for yesterday was more attendance. The result they are looking for today is more attendance. And without intervention, the result they will be looking for tomorrow is more attendance. That’s the first way the hidden default switch works. We don’t naturally look for fundamentally new, different or better results, but more of the same of what we commonly measure.
Second the leader is typically NOT asking for a different strategy or revised ministry model. They already have worship offerings and some arrangement of additional classes, groups and events. The second way the hidden default switch works is by reinforcing the assumption that the same results will come in the same way. That is, the leader is not really exploring or imagining a fundamentally new or different or better model.
So the hidden vision switch reveals two default mindsets in most conversations about church vision:
Default Mindset #1: More attendance is our primary desired result.
Default Mindset #2: Our ministry model doesn’t need to change.
So what’s at stake for you?
KEEP READING (part 3 of 3)
Tags: Clarity, FLUX, Will Mancini
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
Are you going to be satisfied with a future for ministry that is more of the same?
Very few pastors break from norm of mediocre church ministry. But I am convinced it doesn’t have to be that way.
Last fall I was honored to participate in Leadership Network’s roll-out of their Leadia Experience. My conribution was FLUX: Four Paths to the Future. FLUX provides a guide for thinking, adapting, and innovating in order to discover new possibilities for your church. It starts with one whiteboard drawing and gives you a matrix for assessing and planning your future.
I encourage you to engage with the full experience. But for now, I challenge you to rethink and reimagine your ministry with this post mini-series from FLUX.
Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination, do not become the slave of your model – Vincent Van Gogh
Every once in while, I find a new feature on my Mac or iPhone, because I discover a default switch or button that I didn’t know existed. In fact there is a specific definition for this:
Default: a selection automatically used by a computer program in the absence of a choice made by the user
Many times it’s no big deal, but sometimes I want to kick myself for missing out on some cool functionality. I didn’t know the default switch even existed!
After a decade of daily conversations about vision with ministry teams, I have discovered a hidden vision switch with a default position in the minds of church leaders. But this default setting is not just about missing out on a nifty feature. It’s about a fundamental mode of thinking that’s limiting us.
Let me explain.
One question I always enjoy asking church leaders is “How do you want your church to be different two years from now?”
What kind of answers do I get?
The most common two-word response is “more people.” Of course that expresses itself in many forms:
Think about that for a minute. “How do you want your church to be different in two years?” Imagine the infinite number of answers possible to this question. For example, pastors could have responded with answers like:
But for the most part, they don’t give answers like this. Despite the rainbow variety of gospel-centered, life-transforming possibilities the most common answer is always, in one form or another, “More people.”
Keep in mind that the one-dimensional answer of “more people” transcends an incredibly wide variety of church settings and leaders, from uptown to small town, mainline or online – from the newest staff newbie to the post-retired, hard-to-expire. Everyone wants “more people.”
And “more people” is good. Jesus wants more people too. And yes, churches “should count people because people count.”
But there’s something important behind the answer of “more people.” And that something reveals this default setting in the life of the everyday pastor. Church leaders are not just saying that want “more people.” What they are really saying is…
KEEP READING (part 2 of 3)
Tags: Clarity, FLUX, Will Mancini
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
Over the years the Auxano Design team has helped churches think more strategically about guest engagement. (Read 10 Mind Blowing Facts to Fuel your Hospitality Ministry). One great idea is to create a separate website for guests. At Auxano, we call this a “buzzsite.”
To catch an example, check out Gateway’s WelcomeToYourJourney.com or First Baptist’s ExploreFirst.org
Why have a dedicated site just for guests at your church?
1) Make a Bigger Front Porch: Eighty-seven percent of your guests will click-thru before they walk-thru. Having a site dedicated to guests enables you to communicate more guest information in a more useful way.
2) Smooth the Path: Guest have mini-hurdles coming to your church for the first time. They don’t know where to go, or what to do. A guest site will enabling them to “get a feel” ahead of time, as a simple way to make them feel more welcome. Notice how Gateway walks your through these key guest decisions from parking lot to checking in children.
3) Show you Care: When a guest enters the dedicated site, it will show that you are expecting guests and that you care about their experience.
4) Resolve Conflict: Having a dedicated guest site alleviates the burden on your main church site to speak to both members and guests.
5) Show Some Personality: A guest site can introduce your church with with a story, promise or creative element. Gateway Community Church used the tagline “Welcome to your Journey” as their URL. It enabled the moment of introduction to include something to spark the imagination and draw people in rather than just saying “visit our church.”At First Baptist Dallas, they creatively use a “Plan Your Visit” form on their ExploreFirst.org to make the welcome experience personalized.
6) Evaluate Your Investment: A guest site can measure the effectiveness of external communication initiatives or campaigns that point to the guest site and not the church’s main site. For example, when Gateway Community Church opened its building, they could know exactly how their six-piece direct mail invitations worked by monitoring web stats when the mail dropped.
Have used a similar site? Let us know about it.
Tags: Awareness, Brand, Guest Experience, Intentionality, Will Mancini
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
When Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter to potential investors, he unpacked the five values that guide everything at Facebook.
HERE THEY ARE
Focus on Impact: Solve the most important problems that make the biggest difference. Zuckerberg reminds his team that it’s very easy to waste time.
Move Fast: Facebook employees are encouraged to “move fast and break things.” The assumption is, if you’re not breaking things, you’re probably not moving fast enough.
Be Bold: The goal at Facebook is to create a culture that takes risks. The banner for this value is “The riskiest thing is to take no risks.”
Be Open: Being open means giving people as much access to information as possible to make better decisions.
Build Social Value: Facebook exists to make the world more open and connected, and not just to build a company.
WHAT THEY MEAN FOR YOU
Tags: Facebook, Values, Vision Frame, Will Mancini
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
Seeds come from living plants. But before they bring more life, they must die.
Good Friday reminds us of a life-death-more life pattern. The death of Jesus would bring a dramatic multiplication of the body of Christ on earth. Seeds would be scattered to the four corners of the globe as “dead-to-self” disciples lay down their life in Gospel service.
I am thinking about the death that must come before multiplication in a different way this week. As I enter a new chapter of multiplying my work as a Vision Pathway Navigator with Auxano, I meet the end of my own gifts. For one man’s passion, ability, and experiences to really multiply, death must happen. Death to efficiency, death to control and death to ego. For me to multiply I must die to enjoyment of doing and being good at doing. Only then can I significantly invest in others and see the benefits of my clarity cause reach more leaders.
If you aspire to multiply, a great question to ask is, “How are you dying to your doing?”
Remember, the first command given to humans was all about multiplication – “Be fruitful and increase in number (Gen. 1:28)” This verse is the proto-commission to everything, including the Great Commission.
You have some thing to multiply. Just don’t forget death before multiplication.
Where have you see this principle at work in your life?
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
If we did the things we were capable of, we would astound ourselves. – Thomas Edison
This week I got to check something off my bucket list- a great escape to the island of Santorini, Greece. Santorini is undeniably one of the most beautiful places on earth.
I’m not sure what first sparked my interest in visiting the Greek Isles. Was it pictures in 5th grade world geography or one of those jet way wall murals that haunts you forever? Maybe it was the setting of a movie I can’t remember, or a picture in my Greek textbook at seminary? (Wait, that book didn’t have pictures!)
I guess it doesn’t matter. For as long as I can remember I have had an Eden-echo in my soul, calling me to this place. Hence its high position on my bucket list.
Speaking of “bucket list,” where did the idea come from? The 2007 movie entitled, “The Bucket List” by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson embedded the term in our social vocabulary. Two terminally ill men escape the cancer ward with a to-do-list to accomplish before they “kick-the-bucket.”
What about you- do you have a bucket list? Have you recorded a set of goals to accomplish or things to do before you die? If not, why not start one? If so, when was the last time you checked something off?
While basking in sunset of my Aegean paradise, I reflected on some of the steps I have taken to fulfill my dreams. And I thought about you- friends, acquaintances, fellow ministers, and anonymous blog readers. What is really required to propel us toward our dreams?
I sketched out a short blog series that I hope will assist you, whether you’re excited to start, ready to refresh, or even feeling too overwhelmed to think about the future.
Here are some upcoming posts…
Wherever you are this summer, I hope you have time for some rest, reflection and planning.
If this series interests you, I could use your help. How would expand this blog series and what question would you explore? What is one of your bucket list accomplishments that you would be excited to share?
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
Clarity Evangelist Will Mancini talks about Vision Clarity: “We’re addicted to product, but it’s process that makes the difference.”
Click the video above to hear a short interview by Jeff Moors and Think International.
Tags: Clarity, Vision Frame, Will Mancini, video
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
#1 The senior pastor has been there for over 10 years and is still preaching over 90% of the time. (No team presence)
#2 You could not tell the difference between the worship (music, praise, liturgy) last Sunday and a video of worship 5 years ago.
#3 There are no leaders under age 40 among the top twelve leaders.
#4 There is no one under age 40 participating in the worship planning, programming or leadership.
#5 A majority of the top leaders still laugh about the fact they don’t do social media.
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
I believe that every gospel-centered church should have a stunningly unique vision. Now it’s possible for church teams everywhere to have access to a guided process to discover, develop and deliver a clear vision. The Church Unique Vision Kit is available and I am enjoying the stories from across the country. Here is a new promo video and a few friends who have been through the process.
Tags: Church Unique, Vision Kit, Will Mancini
Will Mancini
Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.
See more articles by Will Mancini >
Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.
