If You Are A Pastor Or Lay leadership In An Established Church Undergoing Or Anticipating Change, You May Want To Learn More…

There are two very clear lessons from Ecclesiastes: (1) Wisdom, power, riches and everything else can have both value and a proper place in life, but they will have lasting value only when God is Sovereign Lord at the center of a person’s life, and (2) change is not only inevitable, it is the essential human condition. And yet, it is also part of the essential human condition that we resist change whenever it threatens our peace and equanimity.

In a changing and turbulent world, relationships and institutions do not last. The real question is, “ What do we do when – not if – life brings change our way?” Here is the truth – if somewhat simplistically stated -- at the nub of this issue: Those churches that do not flee from the challenges of change but rather embrace change continue to bear fruit. Those that do not eventually die. Pass by any inner city church that has a grand, but decaying edifice, and often its history will reveal it has seen a powerful demographic shift. Perhaps, in part, it is in decay because the leadership believed it could ignore those changes and continue to do things the same way. There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
Our opportunity to assist established churches typically results from the occurrence of one or more of four key events:

A change in leadership
A change in environment
The call of a new vision or “re-visioning” on the hearts of the leadership and the congregation
The introduction of a new ministry

In every case, it is critical that the issues be met head-on and that they be seen as a new opportunity presented to His people by the living God. It is a time to make sure that proper attention is paid to determining what God is saying to us in the midst of the change (the vision), being clear about what works in responding to what God is saying (the strategies) and that we become –and remain – passionately focused on doing those thing necessary to properly respond to the new circumstance God has given us (implementation).

We work with the church to create a sense of unity in direction and focus with a new pastor and the leadership team. We help the pastor and leadership team think through the implications for ministry presented by major environmental changes, such as demographic shifts and economic changes. We help churches clarify when they are given a new vision and to develop strategies to enable that vision. Finally, when churches introduce new major ministries, we help them think through how to properly integrate that new ministry into the ongoing life of the church without doing damage to its essential nature and direction.

In every case, our goal is to help build Kingdom effectiveness and to help the church remain fruitful during times of change.

Vision Planners, LLC guides Visionary Leaders through a process by which they create plans to ensure the realization of their visions.  The time and dollars invested in careful planning will be repaid many times over.