Relaunching in 2021 : Reestablish Vision
Tags: Church Planting, Vision, Church Leadership

As I’ve been reflecting on how we may relaunch and reestablish things in our church in 2021 I started to think about how we launched our church ten years ago and realized that the common strategies used in church planting might be exactly what we need to move into the uncertainty toward the imagined future God’s laid on our heart. My last post was about calling, today I want to talk about vision.

Since I started out by referring to Andy Stanley’s talk on Leading Through Uncertain Times, we’ll use his definition for vision. Stanley says vision is “a mental picture of what could be, fueled by conviction of what should be.”

When starting a church vision is everything. Our church started with two big elements fueling our vision. I had recently come to understand that 60% of the people in any community were opposed to church as they knew it. That meant that 60% of the people living on my street or my neighborhood, working out at my gym, or shopping at my local grocery store would never attend a church for any reason which meant they were most likely never going to encounter a clear explanation of the gospel. At the same time, I was becoming more and more convicted about church growth being the primary measure of success for most pastors and churches.

I began to say to friends and coworkers “If 60% of our neighbors, coworkers, family, and friends will never go to church then we need to figure out how to get the church to go to them.”

I had a deep conviction that Jesus could transform a person, a family, a neighborhood, a business, and ultimately a whole community but it wouldn’t happen if all the Christ-followers were always leaving the people who most needed an encounter with Jesus behind to go to churches the 60% would never attend. I had a vision of gathering Christ-followers together, equipping them, and then sending them back to the places they lived, worked, learned, and played in order to share the hope they had found in Jesus so that whole communities could be renewed by the Gospel! That vision has been moving us forward for 10 years!

The question for you is what vision has God given you for 2021? If God could have His way in your church or your ministry or your small group in 2021 what would He do? What one element do you think should be different that if you were able to help transform it could catapult you and your ministry forward into accomplishing that vision?

These conversations can be paralyzing because all this vision talk feels so lofty but I believe you could easily uncover vision through a little thought and prayer. Here’s a few examples of how it might work out.

If you’re a pastor of a local church — What could be :: Our church fully re-engaged in weekly worship and ministry by the end of 2021

Fueled by what should be :: the people valuing regathering as a primary need for their lives as it becomes safe to do so.

If you’re a kids or youth pastor — What could be :: students reconnected with friends and teachers growing in the way of Jesus

Fueled by what should be :: Plenty of adult volunteers willing to sacrifice time and energy to create safe environments where kids can encounter Jesus.

If your a worship leader — What could be :: People worshiping in spirit and truth regardless of circumstances and limitations

Fueled by what should be :: People in our church possessing knowledge and understanding of what worship is and should be (beyond a sunday morning experience)

If you’re a small group leader — What could be :: Transformational relationships that encourage each other to live life on mission 7 days a week.

Fueled by what should be :: A burden held by each member of our group to love, care, pray and support each other through every season.

These are obviously generic examples, though they may begin to stoke something within your heart that gets you moving. I’d encourage you to take a few minutes to quiet your heart before God and ask Him to speak to you about the vision He has for you and your ministry and then begin to journal through the three questions below.

Answer these three questions for the first quarter of 2021 (or you could do the whole year)

What are you called to do? (this is recap from the first post)

What could be ::

Fueled by what should be ::