People often confuse mission and vision, often using them interchangeably, but they are not the same.
Mission is your purpose. It is the reason you exist.
Vision is what the world will look like if you accomplish your mission.
Here are some things to think about when seeking God for His vision for your church.
Vision: The vision is a clear and challenging picture of the future. The mission of the church is to win communities for Christ. The vision statement is what your local church is going to do, and how it will fulfill the mission. The vision considers the needs of the community and the congregational context and values. The vision statement inspires a church to pursue the mission. The vision touches and flows out of the hearts of the church members.
Vision Statement: A brief memorable and challenging statement of the vision of the local church. The vision statement takes the longer vision statement and puts it into the battle cry or the cheer. It keeps the vision alive, visible, and memorable.
Visions Statements are:
- Future-oriented – imagine 10 years from now.
- Idealistic – dream of what could be.
- Inspirational – encouraging enthusiasm and commitment.
- Purposeful – articulating an image of the desired future.
- Ambitious – causing members to have to stretch to reach it.
Vision Questions:
- Who are we?
- Who is our target?
- Where are we going?
- Who do we want to become?
- What will it look like if we accomplish our mission?
Imagine your church 10 years from now:
- What kind of people do you see?
- What kinds of things are you doing?
- What are the numbers? (salvations, baptisms, members, attenders, groups, ministries, churches, etc.)
- What is the scope?
- What kind of impact are you making?
- How is the world different as a result?
The Right Vision Statement:
- Sets a standard of excellence.
- Clarifies direction and purpose.
- Inspires enthusiasm and commitment.
- Bridges the present and future.
- Is clear and easy to understand.
- Is ambitious (not limited by current circumstances).
The Steps in Developing a Vision Statement:
- Make it big enough that there will always be passion and energy as you grow toward it.
- Word it so it serves as an energy source and rallying point for the organization.
- Imagine it is 10 years out and you are being interviewed by Oprah. What have you achieved? What difference have you made? What are you proud of?
- Write it in the present tense.
- Make it emotive – you want to stir passion.
- Summarize the Vision Statement into a powerful phrase.
Happy visioneering!
