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Visioning Workshop. “ Where there is no vision, the people perish .” Prov. 29:18. Indiana Conference The United Methodist Church. Objectives of Today’s Workshop. To gain a clearer understanding of: The Importance of Core and Aspirational Values The Value of Visioning;
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Visioning Workshop “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Prov. 29:18 Indiana Conference The United Methodist Church CCHWRKVDPresentation120312
Objectives of Today’s Workshop To gain a clearer understanding of: • The Importance of Core and Aspirational Values • The Value of Visioning; • The Impact of Vision Within the Church • The 3 Necessary Components of Vision; • How Vision is Developed.
Church LifeCycle Adulthood Maturity Adolescence Empty Nest Childhood Retirement Infancy Old Age Death Birth Our Challenge? Wherever we are today on the cycle, we have to …
Start a new LifeCycle! Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29:18 NKJ) If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed. - (Proverbs 29:18 The Message)
Four Components of a New LifeCycle (VRMS) • Fresh Vision for the future. • Relationships that embrace new people. • Ministries/Programs that focus on outreach • Structures that anchor accountability
Key Terms Values: the constant, passionate, biblical core beliefs that drive your church and ministry. 1. Describes your church at its very best; 2. Defines how your church will behave. Mission: a broad, brief, biblical statement of the purpose of the ministry. The focus is on “what” we are to do.
Key Terms The mission of every United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Key Terms: Vision: a clear, challenging picture of the future of the ministry, as you believe that it can and must be. The unique way your church will carry out the mission. Goals & Objectives: tangible measurement on the path to the vision to which pastor, staff, & ministries are held accountable to accomplish.
The Value of Mission • Mission means that we are moving…. are in process …… are working towards a common goal of what we exist to do. • Our MISSION does not change. • While many things around us are altered, changed, updated, or deleted our MISSION continues to define Who we are and why we exist.
Visionis a God given picture to leadersin order to fulfill the mission and meet particular needs for a particular time. • Vision does change. • As a discerning leader you come to understand what God knows “can be”and so you begin to take the strategic steps necessary for fruitfulness …. what it “will be.”
“If an organization is tolerant of everything, it will stand for nothing.” • Values to be values, must be: • written down and followed. • what we do, not just what we believe. ValuesThe Advantage –Lencioni (pgs. 91-99)
Communicate what is important • Help people embrace positive change • Affect the church’s overall behavior • Inspire people to action • Determine what decisions to make Values Are IndispensibleBecause They
Clarity: • In addition to adherence to the Mission and Vision, Values are critical to establish clarity in the church. • To attract the right staff members and repel the wrong ones. • To attract the right congregates and help those not aligned to find a church where they are aligned. ValuesThe Advantage –Lencioni (pgs. 91-99)
Core Values: Two or three behavioral traits which lie at the heart of a church’s identity They already exist Do not change over time ValuesThe Advantage -Lencioni
Core Values: Will be followed even if people decide to leave the church. Guide every aspect of the organization from hiring and firing to strategy and performance management. ValuesThe Advantage -Lencioni
Example • The church should be culturallyrelevant whileremainingdoctrinally pure.
Aspirational Values • These are characteristics a church desires to have, but are not necessarily inherent throughout the entire organization. ValuesThe Advantage -Lencioni
Aspirational Values • Must be in alignment with Scripture and Tradition • A failure to respect the past will lead to disrespect of the present and the future. Values
Example Clear biblical teaching is the catalyst for life transformation, and that ongoing life-change happens best in small groups.
Accidental Values • Are values that sneak in unintentionally. • Are contrary to the mandates and teachings of Jesus. • Leadership must be on guard to protect the body from these unintentional values. ValuesThe Advantage -Lencioni
REFLECTION: In this story, what are Jesus’ values? Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, "Come along with me." Matthew stood up and followed him. Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus' followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riff-raff?" Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.‘ (I Sam. 15:22) I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.“ (Matt. 9:9-13 The Message)
An Accidental Value whichhas Infiltrated the Majority ofUnited Methodist Churches in Indiana First Beneficiary has become those inside the walls. Second Beneficiary is those outside the walls. Does this align with Jesus’ values?
Vision-eering Visioneering = Inspiration + Action + Determination + Completion
4 Components of an Effective Vision • The Problem. • The Solution. • The Reason something must be done. • The Reason something must be done Now.
How can vision make that much of a difference? Why does a clear vision enable you to see things that differently?
Vision weaves four wonderful things into our experience: • Passion. Vision evokes emotion. • Motivation. Vision provides motivation. • Direction. It serves as a road map & can simplify our decision making. 4. Vision translates into purpose.
Churches, like people, end up somewhere in their lifetime. A few end up somewhere on purpose. Those are typically the ones with vision
Enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch your tent curtain wide; Do not hold back; lengthen your cord, Strengthen your stakes. Isaiah 54:2
Vision gives significance to the otherwise meaningless details of our lives. Take that ordinary and mix it up with a God-ordained vision and suddenly there is Purpose! Meaning! Adrenaline! Vision brings your world into focus. A clear vision enables you to see everything differently.
Top 10 Most Receptive in Our Mission Field: • Second-time visitors (guests) • Friends of new believers • Divorced/Single • First-time parents • Marriage problems 6. Parental Challenges 7. Finance Matters 8. New Residents 9. Illness 10. Recovery issues
4 MISSION FIELDS • Those currently in your congregation that don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. • Those people outside church that are like you. • Those people outside church that are not like you. • Those in locations outside your community.
ActivityWhat must we do to reach them? In your group: • Consider “what” your mission field is like. • Consider “who” is receptive in your mission field. • Brainstorm a list of ideas for reaching out to your mission field.
What is Vision? Where does vision come from? Bearing Fruit; Ministry with Real Results L. Weems, Jr. & T. Berlin
God’s Vision is More than the Leader’s Vision Fruitful biblical leadership is about vision. It is not about a leader’s vision, however, but the vision to which God is calling a people. It is from obedience to a calling from God that visions for ministry emerge. Beginning with God’s calling clearly shows that God is the source. It implies a discernment process that a leader does not carry out alone, something that is often missing when people describe their visions of the future. The best visions are never about our wishes but about God’s will for our community and our servanthood of God’s vision. Fruitful Christian leadership begins the day that we are able to align the calling of God in our lives with the mission and context in which we serve. Then the vision emerges out of our community as God’s people together discern the calling of God in all of our lives in light of our mission and context. It is the next faithful step toward becoming a mission-shaped church. Bearing Fruit; Weems/Berlin (pages 39-41)
Experiencing God Henry Blackaby’s Reality #1: GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK AROUND YOU. “You never find God asking people to dream up what they want to do for Him. The pattern in the Scripture looks like this: you submit yourself to God, and you wait until He shows you what He is about to do.” “It is better to be still and do nothing with God than to be busy and do much without Him.”
Blackabygoes on to say, “For unless God allows you to see where He is working, you will not see it. You can involve yourself in doing good things, but you may miss the work that God intended you to do. The servant doesn’t tell the Master what kind of assignment he needs. Instead, he waits on his Master to give him the assignment.”
Investigate First • Helps to distinguish between a good cause and a God-ordained vision. • Recognizing a need does not necessarily translate into vision. • A general sense of sadness about the condition of a group of people is not a vision …. that’s compassion. • Don’t commit in response to the passion of the needs of the moment. Emotional commitments are only as strong as the emotions. • Timing is everything….Don’t rush!
WHY WE DON‘T INVESTIGATE • IMPATIENCE (I already know….let’s go!) • PRIDE (What’s the point? I already know everything!) • FEAR (If things are that bad I’ll get discouraged.)