By George Bullard
Their name is Legend because there are many congregations who believe the best way to make progress is to have excellent programs, ministries and activities. They measure the success of their congregation by the quantitative and qualitative strength of their programs.
They work hard. They push the congregation forward. They focus on an attractional approach. If they do not use the term church growth, they use another term like “being inviting” or “invitational” as the focus of what they do.
They believe if they could only have high quality preschool, children and youth programs that they will bring the success of God’s Kingdom into their congregation. They press for short-term gains. They build or renovate buildings every time the tactical approach to programs changes.
They can do all of this, but if they have no vision they may not be going anywhere. Yet, both staff and laity are often codependent on the programs, ministries and activities they have institutionalized into the culture of their congregation. They do not know how to do it another way. They panic when they think about not having the programs they have counted.
Regardless of the new things God is doing in their midst, regardless of the reality that their programs are not working anymore and not connecting with the people with whom they desire to be invitational, they still want to do the same programs. They cannot visualize their congregation without them.
Here are four vision insights that suggest a focus on programs in congregations is not a focus on God’s vision. The first 57 vision insights about congregational vision are contained in the posts found here.
Vision Insight 58: Vision is more about relationships with God, one another, and your context than about successful programs.
If the journey of a congregation is a sports utility vehicle — a metaphor I use regularly — then vision is driving and fueling the forward progress of the vehicle. Relationships is in the navigation seat next to the driver flavoring the style of the journey and the relationship to God, one another in congregational community, and the people in their geographic context or among the affinity groups to whom God is sending them.
Programs and the management issues of congregations are intended to be in support rolls. They are in the back seat of the sports utility vehicle. Programs proactively empower the opportunity for meaningful relationships to occur. They are not the goal or the navigator. They are supportive. If they ever become the goal or navigator it is because the congregation is visionless.
Vision Insight 59: Many congregations structure their life around programs rather than relationships, thus putting a drag factor on vision.
Too many programs actually drag down congregations. They create a busy-ness that can be exhausting. They create a need for single use space that shackles the congregation under debt or mammoth fundraising efforts.
One process I use in many congregations is 100 Days of Discernment using Dialogue and Prayer Triplets. This involves as many people from the active congregation as possible participating in dialogue and prayer triplets which meet 10 times over 100 days for at least an hour guided by various issues about the future of the congregation.
One of the inevitable outcomes in almost every congregation is the declaration that the congregation needs to decrease the number of programs to allow for a more open informal process of dialogue and prayer.
Vision Insight 60: Programs, processes and emphases in a congregation must have their own vision that supports the congregation’s vision.
One of the key aspects of vision fulfillment or living into God’s vision is that everything the congregation does must align with the vision. Major programs and areas of emphasis in congregations must have their own vision that supports the congregation’s vision. This is so much better than them marching off in their own separate direction.
That means the music ministry must support the congregational vision. The youth ministry must support the congregational vision. The missional engagements must support the support the congregational vision. And, I could go on and on.
Vision Insight 61: It is easy to confuse having vision with the success of programs, ministries, and activities. They are not the same.
Many congregations I encounter believe they are captivated by vision because they can point to multiple successful programs, ministries and activities. When I share the sports utility vehicle metaphor with them they vow and declare that programs are driving the vehicle that is their congregation. What better vision, they say, can we have than these successful programs.
Be not confused. Successful programs do not a vision make. Vision transcends programs, ministries and activities.
This is the 21st in a series of posts on congregational vision. To see all the posts go here. The next blog post in this series is entitled, “Congregations cannot manage their way into God’s future for them.”
