The Vision - Thinking About It
Think First
Clarity of thinking is a prerequisite of
clarity of communication. Until you are clear in your own mind what the vision for your
church or organisation entails, you cannot hope to be lucid in explaining it to others.
Here are some questions to help you think it through in sufficient depth to communicate it
to others.
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What exactly is the
vision? Can you write it down simply and clearly? When shared with someone
outside the church, do they understand it? Many visions have a number of themes or
elements to them, and it can be helpful to separate these out. Having done this, the
clarity of the communication will be improved if the main two or three elements are
highlighted, and those parts which are supporting the main elements, or are of secondary
importance are identified.
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What
does achieving the vision mean for people, and for God? If the vision is
realised, in what ways is the Kingdom advanced? Will people benefit? If so, who ? Those
inside or outside today's church?
What impact will it have on different members of the church or
organisation? A natural reaction to any future change is to want to understand
the impact on ourselves. Detail is unnecessary at this stage, but major implications of
the vision should not be hidden. For example, a vision which involved establishing a new
congregation might need to clarify at a very early stage that this may require a number of
the existing congregation to leave to start the new congregation. |
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What will people see
as positive and what as negative? Don't oversell the positives and don't hide
the negatives - but be aware of how different points are likely to be perceived by the
majority of the congregation. Many visions will have drawbacks, and it is important that
the process of sharing and adopting the vision allows plenty of time to consider and pray
through these fully. Most people are happy to accept some drawbacks providing they are
clear on the benefits of the vision, putting the negatives in the wider context.
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How do you feel about input from others? Be realistic!! Our
first reaction is probably that we would welcome all input to it. But having carefully
drafted and prayed through a vision, how would you feel if the congregation wanted to
completely rewrite it. This implicitly suggests that your views and your hearing of God
are mistaken. Before sharing your view of what God is calling an organisation to do, it is
helpful to be clear on which parts of the vision you feel most strongly about and which
parts you feel most open to input on, to aid your reactions to people's input. Remember
that evidence suggests that the more input people have, the greater the adoption of the
vision.
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| Pause
for thought : What is the vision for your church or organisation? Can
you write it down clearly and simply? If not, you might look at our visionary
leadership module. |
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