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Thinking through Vision |
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| 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 organization 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 present 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. You may want to see our resources on writing vision statements. |
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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
organization 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 organization? Can you write it down clearly and simply? If not, you might look at our vision forming process. | |
