101 Great Ideas for Growing Healthy Churches. John Nelson

Tip: Listen hard before saying too much.

      Business Perspective: The successful organization understands the necessity for creating a vision as it becomes the unifying force for the organization. Without a vision an organization creates a disparate set of individuals who all like to pursue their own agendas.

      Agreeing a vision is one of the most important things any church leader can do. It contributes directly to the growth of a healthy church. Consider these three key questions:

      With whom should you agree?

      Any vision needs to be agreed with:

      God: The vision should be his.

      A leadership team: The vision should be ‘ours’, not just ‘mine’.

      The congregation: Not everyone will agree, but all should be involved in the process.

      Why should you agree?

      Agreeing the vision with God, a leadership team and the congregation is essential because if the vision and its timing does not come from God it is unlikely to get very far. If the process isn’t shared and worked on by other leaders there is a real danger of missing the point as well as alienating vital colleagues. If people don’t ‘own’ the vision they simply won’t follow where you try to lead.

      How can you agree a vision?

      No vision gets wholehearted agreement without a careful and sometimes lengthy process of preparation. This involves:

       Locating areas of dissatisfaction in the life of the church. This could be anything from uncomfortable pews to lack of local outreach. Listening carefully to people’s hopes, fears and longings as well as their deepest frustrations provides a starting point for discussion as well as an initial source of energy.

       Holding evenings and perhaps whole days of prayer for listening to God. These could sometimes be accompanied by fasting. They should always include written feedback.

       Working with a small group at articulating a clear picture of ‘where we want to go’. The picture needs to be realistic about the current situation as well as specific about the ‘preferred future’.

       Identifying individuals and groups who may be opposed to the developing vision. Some may be complacent about the status quo and averse to change of any kind. Others might not understand or they might misunderstand what is going on. Others still might feel threatened by the direction in which they sense the church is heading. It matters that leaders should spend time with these people, listening to their concerns and explaining what is going on and why.

       Gathering all necessary information. For example, if the vision includes a building project the leaders will need to know what it will cost in time and effort as well as money.

       Creating a plan of action or strategy so that when the vision is finally presented people will know when they will start and how they can get from where they currently are to where they are going.

       Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of those who will lead and manage the change.

       Living the vision with infectious enthusiasm so that others will be drawn in and want to share what excites and motivates you.

      The overall aim of this whole process of preparation is that when the right moment comes to present the vision formally, people will say not just ‘I know what you mean’ but rather ‘how can I be involved?’

      For reflection and discussion

      1 What is the current vision for your church?

      2 What areas of church life should be developed or dropped in order to fulfil the vision?

      3 What opportunities are there ahead which will enable the spiritual growth of your church?

      4 What obstacles need to be considered and understood before articulating your vision to the wider community of the church?

      Great Idea 2: Ask the Lord his Business

      JOHN ADAIR

      All leaders worthy of the name grow their businesses. The first question you have to ask yourself is what business are we in?

      The business of the Church is the business of Jesus, ‘my Father’s business’, namely the coming of the kingdom of God on earth.

      A healthy church is a community of purpose. It looks upwards and outwards, constrained only by the highest inner personal necessity, which is to love.

      All healthy churches have a shared aspect. They all have that unmistakable Christian hallmark of humility. Like their individual members they simply and continually ask: ‘Lord, what will you have me to do?’

      Great Idea 3: Aspire to be Great

      TERRY WYNN

      Aspire to be great. Don’t settle for being a ‘good’ church. If you do, you’re settling for the average and mediocre. Building something great is not a function of your circumstances, it’s a function of your discipline. God needs those who wake up each morning motivated to work for him.

      Great Idea 4: Avoid Judging other People

      JOHN DEVINE

      Try to say ‘Yes’ to people rather than ‘No’. The Spirit speaks to us through the most unlikely people and in the most unlikely places. Never imagine that the institutional Church has a monopoly on the Spirit – the Spirit actively subverts any attempt at control. Avoid judging other people. It is usually the prelude to similar mistakes in your own life. But don’t be afraid when you make a mess of things either. My personal sinfulness is sometimes the only way that God can get through to me.

      Great Idea 5: Be a Listening Church

      PATRICK GOH

      You are worried about many things, but only one thing is needed

      Luke 10.41–42

      Top Tip: Be ready to lay down your own agenda and really listen.

      Business Perspective: A successful organization understands that profitability rests in the full and active participation of its members. Consequently active leaders develop an active listening organization.

      During a retreat at a Franciscan friary where the theme was leadership and diversity the Abbot was asked whether he had any tips on how to honour diversity at a practical level. He replied:

      If you believe that God works through all of us, you need to somehow enact this belief. One way of doing this is to enter into any conversation with a spirit of anticipation, expecting to hear how God is working through people and what God is saying to them.

      On the whole, we don’t do this well. Instead, our conversations are more often about telling others what we feel God is saying to us. In a leadership context, this can lead to an overly top down approach to decision making.

      To address this, my colleagues and I have developed a tool called the ‘keynote listener’. This is based on the concept of honouring the voices of the community and the importance of listening in agreeing a common vision. This is a conversational tool that reverses the normal communication process by asking people in authority not to present what they know and think, but to listen for the wisdom of others. It is an attempt to gather the collective wisdom of the whole community (church).

      We have used this methodology for church events such as visioning meetings, annual church meetings and youth conferences. It works best when it is possible to bring the whole system, or as many as possible, into one place. Rather than having the usual sermons from ‘keynote speakers’, we reframe them as ‘keynote listeners’, whose role is to listen carefully to the ideas of participants throughout the day.

      The idea is to structure enquiry sessions on the main issue we are addressing in creative ways, for example, using