Okay, to get things rolling:For me, the guys at 9 Marks are lifesavers. They force me to think through issues such as membership, church discipline, etc. in ways others have not.
Well, not failing to disappoint, they posted this interview with Mike McKinley, a guy that they sent out as a planter (really it is a restart), about church planting with the teaser description: "Why you should plant a church without a vision statement."
Take a listen and share what you think. What do you think of McKinley's take - (I paraphrase) "I don't have a vision per se unless you mean the vision to build a church centered on the Scriptures, biblical community, and evangelism. If that is our 'vision,' that's great but I don't present it as such. It is just the description of what a church should be."
What about Matt Schumaker's comment that vision statements can be "dangerous." And Dever's statement that vision statements tend to be "selfish" and "pastor centered."
Disagree? Share.
Agree? Why?
How about Dever's comment that when he looks at church planting material that "A lot a non-essential stuff gets a lot of airtime in their material and it makes me wonder how much church planters are being taught the basic essence of what a church is."
These comments on vision, etc. all start at about 9 minutes into the interview.
Here is the interview
-Doug
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4 comments:
I think that a vision or God given direction is very important in planting the question is can I plant a church without it written down in a singular statement. I would point back to Habakkuk 2:1-2, "I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it." So I would lean more toward a written vision statement. However, I also lean somewhat toward waiting on a "mission statement" until you have lived, and moved, and breathed, with your new culture and community. What God wants you to do (vision statement) can be known prior to planting but how you will be able to accomplish that vision (mission statement) can and should be developed as you understand the culture.
Chris: Thanks for jumping in here! I'm really looking forward to seeing some good things come out of this.
I don't know of any of us who would argue that we definitively "should not" have a vision statement. I'm pretty sure Dever wouldn't say it that strongly- I think there was some overstatement to make a point going on in the interview. The concern centers on where the vision is coming from. Does it naturally arise out of the Scriptural description of what a church is, or does it arise from the pastor's own vision of what he would like to have? Or even does it arise from the quirks of non-believing people in our community?
Who and what should set our church's agenda?
I really enjoyed this interview. It spoke to a lot of what church planters go through.
In response to "should we have a vision statement?" I have often thought about how i don't see how we can really justify using Habakkuk 2 in putting together an argument for "writing the vision" for my church plant. Now i have a vision and a catchy little mission statement (at least i think it's catchy. LOL)
But the longer i go the more i wonder how vital it is to the life of the church. I see our mission throughout the NT and wonder if we are simply bringing more and more in corporate / business thinking to the church of the living God so we can have success (in America that = BIG church.)
E.M. Bounds said: "Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men."
I am not against having or using vision statements but i am cautious in over emphasizing it's importance.
Lets not miss out on what God is doing in our life, church, community etc just because it doesn't seem to "fit into the vision."
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