Vision and Effective Congregations

Effective congregations are led by pastors and a team of leaders who are clear about their mission and focused on achieving a vision. Unlike the majority of congregations that are either on a plateau or declining, effective congregations are healthy, growing, committed to reproduction, and open to changes that will move them from one level of effectiveness to the next...Vision does not necessarily start with the pastor. However, most pastors who arrive to lead congregations that lack vision, hope, and morale will find that if they do not generate vision, no one else will. Committees, vision communities, or people exploring vision as a short-term project do not generate visions that produce systemic change. .
Paul D. Borden, Direct Hit

Thoughts on Vision

There are dangers connected with not having a vision. Here are three.

Without a coherent vision...
1. energies of leaders go in many different directions and produce little benefit;
2. leaders feel like they are competing with each other for the available resources;
3. leaders are more vulnerable to the attacks of the forces in the congregation that are opposed to change.
--Gary Straub & Judy Turner, Your Calling as a Leader

Being Present

God dwells with us. He is always at home within us. But alas, most of the time we are not home.
--M. Basil Pennington, OCSO, The Way Back Home

In order to pray, you have to stop being "too elsewhere" and to be
there. ... You have to care enough so that you will collect yourself,
move back into your own soul from the distant suburbs where much of
life tends to be spent, and honestly be there.
-- Douglas V. Steere, Dimensions of Prayer

Voice Recognition

Amidst the chaos and moral confusion, God raised up a new generation, mentored by Eli, who learned to distinguish God’s voice among the myriad of competing voices. A very unlikely young person learned “voice recognition” long before the technology was ever invented. The boy Samuel spent time in God’s house and quieted his soul enough to hear God calling in the night. Spirit Leaders are people trained to listen and distinguish the Word amidst the words of culture.
--Gary Straub & Judy Turner, Your Calling as a Leader

How much time do you spend quieting your soul so you can distinguish the Lord’s voice from all others? Most people think that sitting quietly is a waste of time when we could be doing ministry.

Years ago one of my sons asked me how I distinguished the voice of God from the ramblings of my own mind. I said “Time and experience. I have spent a lot of time listening to God and a lot of time rambling around in my own mind and I’m getting pretty good at telling the difference.” When I like Samuel was too inexperienced to recognize God’s voice, I leaned on the Eli’s around me to help me discern God’s voice.

If we have not spent the time in quiet listening to hear God’s voice, then whose voice are we listening to as we do ministry?

Transforming Alchemy of Listening

[The world needs] the presence of empathic listeners:
—listeners who are interested and who really care about others,
—listeners who are willing to forego ego and the need to spout opinions,
—listeners who seek neither to add to nor to take away from what is being said,
—listeners who are patient and willing to withhold judgment for a while,
—listeners who can say, “Yes, I really hear you”—and mean it.
There is a transforming alchemy in such listening.
--George Leonard & Michael Murphy, The Life We Are Given

There is a place and a need for leadership development programs, but before you spend big bucks on a program, try listening. See how much transformation comes from that.

As Dennis Miller used to say, “It’s just a thought. I could be wrong.”

What is your purpose for being?

Here is something worth spending some time reflecting on:

1. What would you say is the specific purpose for which God caused you to be born?
2. What do you think God wants to accomplish through you?
3. What is your specific, divine assignment on this “scratch”?
4. Why do you think God placed you where you are?
--Wayne Cordeiro, Doing Church as a Team

Response to Challenges

We have a choice about how we deal with life's endless challenges. We can react with hope or despair, with courage or fear, with enthusiasm or indifference.
--Maggie Pinkney, Pocket Positives for Living

A reader responds:
I choose Hope, Courage, and Enthusiasm, as undoubtedly Maggie does as well.

But to be Hopeful one must plan comprehensively and expeditiously, and execute effectively.

One can't help being Courageous in one's quest if one is Hopeful.

And finally, if one carefully implements all of the above in sequence, one's attitude certainly must be one of Enthusiasm!!

With that Enthusiasm under one's "utility belt," one has no guarantee of ALWAYS being successful, but it sure empowers one to keep on trying.... it gets a bit tiresome sometimes, though!! :) - José