There's been quite a bit written about the place of vision in Church leadership, but in an increasingly crowded field Will Mancin's Church Unique: how missional leaders cast vision, capture culture and create movement stands out. Here is a readable, practical guide to not only cast a compelling vision, but implementing it in a church of any size.

With a background in pastoring churches, and a current role as a church leadership consultant, Mancini is well placed to bring a varied experience and clear strategic thinking. And, maker no mistake, this book is based on solid, well thought out strategy. We don't get to the practical stuff before the foundation has been well and truly laid!

The core idea here is that every church has a totally unique purpose in God's plan, and therefore needs a unique vision that is specific to that particular church. In many ways this is a counter-cultural idea - eschewing the notion that what we need to do is copy a pre-existing blueprint from a Saddleback or a Willow Creek. It's always seemed odd to me that no matter how much the likes of Bill Hybels or Rick Warren emphasise the need for churches NOT to copy what they've done, but to apply the principles into the local context, the more churches try to copy! Mancini has noticed this, and makes a great case from the creation around us for a completely unique one-of-a-kind vision.

The dramatic irony is that what happens at the conference is the exact opposite of what propelled the host church to be effective in the first place.  Each of these leaders endured a process of self-understanding and original thinking that helped in articulating a stunningly unique model of ministry.

Alongside this insight is an appeal for simplicity over complexity. Mancini notes that the production of reams of paper with mission action plans, vision statements and strategic documents only serves to confuse and baffle people. What is needed is something clear-sighted and memorable. The understanding of this simple fact - and its application - is worth the cover price on its own!

In so many way, Church Unique allows church leaders to cut loose from a crippling guilt-laden pursuit of other peoples vision, and take a journey into finding the unique purpose of our own church. It's a remarkably liberating thought that there is something unique that only our church can do on this planet! Even if we have a megachurch at the bottom of the road (as I do in one of my parishes), there is still something that God is calling us to do that they cannot do!

Even though the latter chapters of the book tend to get a little bogged down in the minutiae of the vision process,this is a wonderful liberating and exciting book. Will Mancini has written something here that deserves thewidest possible readership, and implementation across a range of sizes and styles of church.

Paul Walker, Out of the Cocoon

Vicar of St. Cuthberts Wrose 

I love reading books, and like many of you, I read a lot of books in the last 10 years.  Half of the decade I spent in graduate school (finishing up my Doctor of Ministry degree) so there were a lot of books to be read and I just really enjoy reading anyways.  I read about 500 books this last decade and there were a lot of great ones….some good ones….and some not so good ones. But there were definitely some books that stood out and really changed my life.

Christ in the City by David Dunham

This book was originally brought to my attention by Matt Hosier's blog and I'm very grateful that he did so.

 If you're a church leader, no matter how large or small your flock might be, then give this book a strong consider for your to-buy list (I know, I know, my own to-buy list is eternally 50-plus, no matter how many I buy, beg, borrow or steal*, so I know what it's like whenever another leader recommends further material!) (*except the steal part. Honest.)

Will Mancini has a clear, deep-seated passion to see church leaders around the world press further into God's purposes for them, for those in their care, and for the communities around them. I'm always wary of books that appear to enjoy "corporate"-speak, and have pretty diagrams and flow-charts that visualise the "process" discussed and so on. This is the glorious church of Jesus Christ, and I'd hate for us to reduce His bride down to number-crunching and conveyor-belt systems that enable "growth". So, having said that, I trust you'll take my word for it that this is not one of those books. It is possible that upon a quick glance or a scan "Church Unique" can come across as such, but spend time digesting it and you'll see Mancini has the right heart for Scripture-based, Spirit-soaked dependence whilst still being deliberate for the kingdom.

 So, what's so special about this book? I won't list all its features and points - this is a review not a rewrite! - but, in a nutshell, Mancini's message is this:

 ·       Every church has a unique call by God.

·       Vision-casting formulae cannot be lifted from one "successful" church and transferred to your own.

·       We need to discover how to enable growth and health uniquely for ourselves.

 A brief rundown of how Mancini helps us do so is thus:

·       Discover your "Kingdom Concept": if we take a close look at the resources God's given us (always unique), combine them with the local need(s) (always unique), and filter them through what it is that most prayerfully stirs our leaders' hearts (always unique), we find our specific calling. Mancini says, "Whoever you are and wherever God has placed you, therein is uniqueness. Whoever co-labours with you, in front of you, behind you, all around you, therein is uniqueness." So true.

·       Once discovered (over a decent period of time; it doesn't take a 2 hour meeting!), Mancini then leads us through how to ensure the vision is pursued: decent collaboration (team development, outside counsel, etc), articulating the vision through mission, values, strategy, and measures (he articulates these in a new way; read it to find out!), and the need for excellent communication and use of language.

 And THAT's the slightest of overviews, so it skips all the meat, but I trust at the very least it captures the essence of the book.

 Being deliberate in leading our churches is essential: take a closer look at Rev 19.7-8. Familiar verses to most, but as well as a glorious picture of a day to come, don't they also tell us of an intentional attitude? That we clothe ourselves, not wait to be clothed? We've got some work to do...

 My own heart has always been that we learn increasingly how to be church, not how to do it. That's been the apostle Paul's message throughout his letters, and it compels me to pursue how we see that unfold for ourselves today. "Church Unique" is a book that helps us on our way.

Steve Dunn, Every Day is an Adventure

Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement. While the subtitle is a bit of a turn off – yet another ‘how to’ I was thinking – it does not do the book justice at all. Church Unique does not present a model to be replicated. It presents processes for discovery, discernment, and articulation of culture and ‘corporate grace.’

This week I’m going to dialog with the book. These posts won’t be a full review. It will be more of a conversation.

The book is written to challenge leaders to find their ‘church unique’ – to live a vision that creates a stunningly unique, movement-oriented church.

One of the books strongest and most helpful features is its approach. It is not primarily academic so it doesn’t just present theory. Most helpfully, it doesn’t just present conclusions based off of surveys or data. As the author states:

‘If I write a survey and send it out to three hundred “effective churches,” I can relatively easily develop my framework for “ten habits of effective churches”…If I then take this to your church, I will evaluate your work on the basis of this predetermined criteria. This process quickly leads to a scorecard of what you are doing well and what you are not doing well. Once I dole out your B plusses and C minuses, what one conclusion have I left with you? That you must work on your weaknesses of course. The problem with this is simple. If your primary focus, or paradigm for effectiveness, is trying to enhance your limitations, you will end up worse off than when you started. You will be immensely more effective if your focus is on discovering and developing your strengths.’

Can I get an amen?! The evaluation of ‘ministry effectiveness’ based off of ‘effective’ churches is inherently flawed. That evaluation criteria does not honor the contextualized, localized, and authentic expression of God in a particular community of faith.

By encouraging local churches to mimic ‘effective churches’ what we often do is quell the local church’s ability to creatively express the life of faith in her particular community because we are too busy trying to copy and paste models from the Chicago suburbs or from California that have ‘produced’ desired results. Yet we too often forget that those ‘effective’ models were born out of a process of rigorous discovery. What Church Unique rightly highlights is the power of the process.

Or as Will Mancini, the author, more eloquently states:

Leaders in the vortex of a “vision vacuum” clamor for the right tools, programs, and resources to propel their church forward in lieu of discovering better ways to direct leadership energy. The result is a massive cloning and a glut of photocopied vision.

The remedy?

A better way of leadership includes the disciplines of careful observation, vibrant imagination, and demanding collaboration that forge a unique vision based of what God is uniquely doing in each church’s unique context…The answer is having a vision that oozes, that is original, organic, zeroed in and extravagant. When leaders start thinking clearly, engaging locally, focusing redemptively, and risking boldly, their church becomes an irresistible influence. It becomes a church that prevails not because it is ‘purpose-driven’ but because it is purposeful.

I really appreciate this method. Rightfully recognizing that every church is unique because it is comprised of people who are unique and finds itself in a context that is unique allows Mancini a helpful platform to remind the reader that copying ministries or modeling best practices is not preferred. Why? Because they are unique to the congregation and leadership where they originated. They are not unique to the congregation and leadership where they are attempting to be implemented.

In part one, Mancini continues to deconstruct how the last two decades of approaching vision have helped to create a ‘vision vacuum.’ He is particularly skilled at this. We’ll get there tomorrow.

 Troy Hochstetler - To Will One Thing

I super love this book.  Mancini (founder of Auxano, a church consulting group) presents a stunning look at what’s next after the church leadership model based on business principles and he doesn’t land in a laissez-faire wonderland where pastors no longer have to work hard (he actually says they will have to work harder!).  I ate this up, yet it is not a quick read because it is technical and thorough.  I’m going to break my review/quote collection up into parts, so that it is most useful to me later.

The first part of Church Unique is focused on “Recasting Vision” and talks about the fall of strategic planning and the tendency for churches to cut-and-paste missions and visions.  Mancini effectively calls churches to do the hard work of finding out their God-given identity and God-sized opportunities for gospel advancement.

Here’s some highlights:

p. 10, Mancini identifies 6 common dangerous activities/attitudes that keep churches from “thoughtful self-knowledge”: ministry treadmills, the competency trap, needs-based slippery slope (and an addiction to crises), cultural whirlpools (BuzzChurch & StuckChurch), the conference maze and the denominational rut.He also gives a chart of solution-based thinking on p. 16.

p.25, refering Reggie McNeal, “Leaders must focus more on preparation than on planning.  Planning relies on predictability.  But preparation helps leaders stay clear amid uncertainty.

Mancini does an amazing treatment of the demise of the Strategic Planning process.  It is stellar.  Stellar.

James Carmichael, reOrient

This is one of the best books I’ve read on church leadership this decade. It has a great combination of theory and practice. Every church leader should read this book and consider whether or not his or her church has truly discovered its vision. I’m going to read this book again, at least one more time.

The basic concept of the book is that too many churches simply copy what either Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, or Bill Hybels have as their vision of what their church is about and try to apply their vision to their own church. The problem is that each person has a unique blend of giftedness and passions that will drive how they lead the church. What are stated as aspired values and vision may not be the church’s actual vision and values.

Do yourself a favor and read this book. It will shape your understanding of how to establish clear vision for church leadership.

- KevinRossin.com

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the future of our church. Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else.” I think Yogi is right. That means that as a leader I definitely need to get better at developing a vision for our church. It is the current challenge of our elders and staff teams.

In this pursuit, I’ve recently read a very helpful and insightful book by Will Mancini – Church Unique. I was struck by what he wrote on p.132, “Your church can’t be anything it wants to be, but it can be everything God wants it to be. Don’t be shy about who you are; embrace and exploit it on behalf of your mission.”

Thus, the development of discovering our unique calling in this community begins by scrutinizing the obvious. It includes answering such questions as: Who are we? What are our strengths? What do we do well?

You see, we aren’t interested in being a clone of another church. We want to be all that God wants us to be. So, we must begin this discerning process by looking at ourselves. God has made ACC unique. Mancini poses a number of great self-assessing questions. Check out these three:

• If a guest visited our church several times and answered the question, “What did you like best about this church?” what would the guest say?

• If you were bringing a friend to our church for the first time, what singular promise (that is, what she will receive or experience from coming) would you be most willing to make?

• How do new members talk about what attracted them to the church?

Would you help the leadership team of our church by responding to at least one or more of these questions?

Dave Corlew, Senior Pastor - Arlington Countryside Church  

First a gripe: the jargon in these kind of books drives me mad! I know what Mancini and his ilk are trying to do – grappling for language that expresses new concepts – but I was never keen on alphabet spaghetti as a kid, and I’d like to read a leadership book without it now I am a man.

Gripe done with; to the content…

Doubtless many church leaders struggle to articulate a clear and compelling vision for their church, and even more fail to implement it. Vision is much agonized over and many books have been written about it. The thing is, we all know it when we see it! Certain leaders simply embody vision. There is something about them, some charisma, chutzpah, pizzazz which just seems to make things happen, and which often denies analysis. These are the mega-leaders of the mega-churches. Men who are just somehow, well, different. I think of my friend PJ Smyth who planted a church in Johannesburg four years ago and now has a congregation not far short of 2,000 people. Not many people can do that.

So I am always a little bit sceptical about vision books, as I don’t think just anybody can be turned into a great visionary leader. You’ve either got chutzpah or you haven’t. But I do believe that all of us can work on our strengths, sharpen our edge, and do better at what we are doing.

Does this book deliver at this level?

To large degree I think it does.

Probably the most liberating thing about it is the insistence not to simply copy another mans vision. Mancini warns against the ‘Conference Maze’ in which pastors jump from conference to conference and idea to idea trying to copy the latest successful model. The point of this book is to argue that every church is unique, and by definition, trying to copy the unique success of one model will only lead to disappointment, because the circumstances that created that success are unique to its context. Every church needs to find her own unique vision.

(As an aside, I am concerned that the massively growing influence of Mark Driscoll means that many people will be jumping into a multi-service/campus model when it is not right for them. I was an early advocate of multi-site, but I’m sure it isn’t right for everyone. And is this the kind of thing we really want to be encouraging)

Mancini is critical of the Willow Creek type model of strategic planning, advocating instead a framework that enables the leader to recast, clarify, articulate and advance the vision. He blasts strategic plans as being overly complex, and leading to burnout. He also criticizes the approach that measures success purely on the A,B,C’s (Attendance, Buildings, Capital). He is highly critical about overly long mission/vision statements, with multiple goals, too much jargon, and too little specificity. Instead, we should be focussing on what kind of Christian our churches are designed to produce. One thing that was encouraging to me, being 18 months into leading my current church, is that Mancini says it takes three years to get an established church re-engineered so that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Only another 18 months to go then!

One of the most thought provoking single-line statements in the book comes right at its close: “Religious people have preferences; missional people have stories.” As visionary leaders, we need to be building churches where people have stories to tell of the transforming work of Christ in their lives.

Central to the book are Mancini’s concepts of Mission Mandate (What are we doing?), Mission Motives (Why are we doing it?), Mission Map (How are we doing it?), Mission Marks (When are we successful?), and Mission Mountaintop + Milestones (Where is God taking us?). But to see what he says about those things, you need to buy the book!

I confess. I like to be around visionaries. Not the wide-eyed nuts who say they talked to God last week and have a revelation about the apocalypse. But leaders who inject hope about the future, particularly about the future of the church.

Seth Godin writes, “Leadership comes when your hope and your optimism are matched with a concrete vision of the future and a way to get there. People won’t follow you if they don’t believe you can get to where you say you are going.”

Enter Will Mancini. In his book, Church Unique, he explores a new model for vision casting and church growth that has been tested with leaders in all kinds of congregations. His book is a practical guide for leading a church into the future. As a consultant, Will helps churches create movement to accomplish a vision. Anyone can have a big idea, but leaders have a way to get there.

I confess. I like to be around visionaries. Not the wide-eyed nuts who say they talked to God last week and have a revelation about the apocalypse. But leaders who inject hope about the future, particularly about the future of the church.

Seth Godin writes, “Leadership comes when your hope and your optimism are matched with a concrete vision of the future and a way to get there. People won’t follow you if they don’t believe you can get to where you say you are going.”

Enter Will Mancini. In his book, Church Unique, he explores a new model for vision casting and church growth that has been tested with leaders in all kinds of congregations. His book is a practical guide for leading a church into the future. As a consultant, Will helps churches create movement to accomplish a vision. Anyone can have a big idea, but leaders have a way to get there.

In his book, Mancini has an excellent discussion of defining what success looks like in the disciple. He calls these “marks.” He defines “marks as a set of attributes in an individual’s life that define or reflect the accomplishment of the church’s mission.” Here is why he says the church is unsuccessful in making fully devoted followers of Jesus:

• Few churches or Christians have a clear and measurable definition of spiritual success.
• We have defined discipleship as “head knowledge” rather than complete transformation.
• We have chosen to reach people in random, rather than in systematic ways.

If your church or mission organization needs help in casting a vision and creating movement, you need to read his book or better yet, contact him for a consult.  

Daryl Eldridge: My Soul Friends

Summary: Church Unique by Will Mancini is a comprehensive book on creating a mission oriented church that clearly understands where it is going and how it is creating a unique impression that only it can offer.  Mancini has crafted a process for looking deep into the nuts and bolts of mission, vision, values and communication and making that real in the church.

Jonathan Brink, Missio Dei

So I've got to tell you that I'm psyched. One of the best books I've read is Church Unique, by Will Mancini. I LOVE the message of the book which is basically: Don't copy someone else's church. Understand the unique way God has made you, the unique community He's put you in, and find the unique vision He has for your church. Love it!

So last week I got to be in on a webinar with Will Mancini. Then Friday I got to talk to him on the phone. And it looks like we may get to hang out here in Vegas so I can try to get some of his brain power, maybe through osmosis or something. Sweetness.

I also like Will Mancini because his last name sounds almost as much like a pasta as mine. Actually, maybe more.

 I also recommend this for churches that have hit a plateau in growth, or are shrinking in attendance. This book will help you to focus your ministries, your people, and your resources on a common vision. You will learn how to be more effective by doing less.   

As a church planter, this book will initially feel difficult to implement. It seems as if it’s written for existing churches. Realize that the book can be implemented prior to your church getting out of focus and off-mission. Initially, your church plant will be unique because of the uniqueness of the planter and his/her unique vision. During the webinar, Mancini recommended focusing on that uniqueness early on and not getting off-mission as the church grows by staying locked in to the Vision Frame.   

The one over-arching theme throughout the book is UNIQUENESS. Every church is unique. Each pastor, leadership team, location, etc. make your church unique. You can leverage the uniqueness of your church in positive and creative ways. Your Kingdom Concept is unique. Your Vision Frame is unique. There really is no reason to copy and paste every concept you hear at the latest seminar. Figure out what your church does best, and do it the very best you can.   

Will Mancini has been on staff at large churches in the United States. He has since formed Auxano, a church consulting organization, and is dedicated to helping churches bring out their unique vision.

 - From Bits from the Brain of Brandon B. Bowers

Here is a couple good quotes from my reading today:

“Focus is the ability to eliminate everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process… it is the most difficult element to implement” (pg. 105)

“Christ is our foundation. The Holy Spirit is our power source. The Word contains our blueprints. Our people are the living stones… Guided by a stunningly unique, movement-oriented vision, saints collide with the Savior, the Spirit and the Sacred Text. Jesus had a movement oriented vision; with compelling and beautiful simplicity…” (pg. 119)

“Leaders in today’s church carry holy orders from Jesus. As his body, we must champion the cause of the kingdom, ruthlessly avoiding what Reggie McNeal has described as “mission amnesia.” The clarity and vitality of hte saints that God has entrusted to your care depend on it” (pg. 120)

“We can’t slip into seeing our commission as a “Great Suggestion”" (pg. 121)

  - Brendan Whitton, Lead Pastor, Church Without Limits

- Wesley Duncan, Outside the Box

1. If you are fulfilling someone else's vision, who will accomplish your's?

2. What can your church do better than 10,000 others? 

3. If words create worlds, what are you saying?     

Thank you Will for one especially gem of many. Namely, "Sell the problem before you sell the solution."

Barry Winders, author and church consultant

Nose Hairs and Blogging

During the last few days/weeks, thinking about blogging has beenas painful as pulling out nose hairs. How's that for a hook? No, seriously. Ihave found myself increasingly consumed with good things to do. I probablyshould look at evaluating what things are good and what things are best (soadvises Will Mancini in one of my favorite books Church Unique. You canwaste some serious time in doing good things, while not giving the best thingsthe time and energy they deserve. So, I've been trying to figure out ifblogging is one of those best things. I've come to theconclusion that it's worthwhile, if for nothing else than giving me space tovent, praise, feature, and link my various passions and happenings. So, perhapsI'm a little self-indulgent, but so be it. Isn't that the point of a personalblog, anyway? It also keeps me writing creatively...well, most of the timeanyway.

So, I've decided to quit pulling out the nose hairs by hand andswitch over to one of those little trimmers that have become an increasinglyimportant part of my daily routine. Which, when plugged into my shabby littleanalogy, means I'll be blogging on.

Thanks for reading.

 read more from Keith 

Church Unique by Will Mancini

 The marketing of the local church has become big business in thelast 20 years. It is author Will Mancini's business but he approaches it with acareful spiritual sensitivity that doesn't bastardize the evangelical missionto the growth=success mantra. He gives examples from across the spectrum ofAmerican Protestantism to demonstrate how really focusing on what makes eachindividual congregation have unique qualities and potential allows the churchto promote itself to its own niche. This does produce church growth andsatisfaction. The lessons transfer to any marketing project. Mancini's ethicsand perspective are quite refreshing.

Lesley Barker's Read for Work

HPPC Sr. Pastor Ron Scates spoke in staff chapel yesterday about how Christianity isn’t so much about us as individuals as much as it is a collective community. He suggested that Westerners tend to individualize … “Jesus and Me” … what should be a communal … “Jesus and We” … dynamic.

Shane Claiborne, author of Irresistible Revolution, is a self-proclaimed ordinary radical who understands through first-hand experience the power of the collective Body. He and his ragamuffin band of “Lovers” see themselves collectively as the Church doing the right thing(s).

Will Mancini, in his book Church Unique, writes about the tendency of churches to overlook the collective potential of the Body and settle for an inferior, short-sighted “one-to-one relationship between a spiritual gift and a ministry initiative.”

Mancini also provides an interesting note on 1 Corinthians 6:19 that talks about the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit – suggesting that the “you” in the passage isn’t singular, but plural. “Paul is telling the church that their corporate body is the temple, not their individual bodies.” Hmmmm … interesting. That’s not what I’ve always been told. Anyway …

All of this has got me to thinking about my work in church communications as it relates to inspiration, motivation, and call to action. Just who is my audience? The collective whole or a handful of influential motivator/leaders?

The answer, I believe, isn’t an ‘either/or,’ but a ‘both/and.’ The secret is in the order. Speak to the individual first and you’ll reach the whole group. Think smaller to get larger. Here’s how that works:

In radio, we told our advertisers that you aren’t speaking to all of our thousands of listeners. You aren’t even speaking to only those numbers of people specifically interested in your product/service. You’re speaking to just one person. Just one. Channel your energies into compelling motivations that speak to individuals.

You’re engaging in an intimate conversation with one person. One person, multiplied by thousands. Focus on that exchange. As long as we are all committed to a “Jesus and We” approach to ministry (as we should be), we’ll dynamically speak to the whole Body at large.

Anyone have another perspective or insight?

read more from Roland Gilbert Thomas

Sabbaticals are all about spiritual, mental and physical renewal. A major contributor in accomplishing this goal is to devote a significant portion of time to a project that will have positive ministry impact. My research and study endeavor is focused on becoming more effective at developing servant leaders. 

I am devoting a lot of research time to aiding pastors in embracing what God is specifically calling them to do. Leaders are exponentially more effective when they can clearly articulate their vision. Most pastors and church leadership teams have a vision, but statistics and personal observations prove that less than 20% can paint the picture and receive buy-in from their congregations. 

For the past few days I have been reading and rereading Church Unique, by Will Mancini (Jossey-Bass, 2008). Mancini possesses a working understanding of our post-modern culture but refuses to discount the positive impact of the church growth movement on the Kingdom today.

His must read book (for pastors serious about reshaping and shepherding strong and healthy congregations) is divided into 4 sections: 

1.    Recasting Vision

2.    Clarifying Vision

3.    Articulating Vision

4.    Advancing Vision

 You’ll enjoy a quote found on page 33, “Take your pick: from the boomer power pastors of surburbia to the preaching punks of emergia and the collared intellectuals of liturgia, everyone wants to be missional. . . Church is not something you do or a place you go to, but what you are.”

Larry D. Dennis

A while back I received a copy of the book Church Unique from another Community pastor. I put it on the shelf for a few weeks, then got back to it. I really like the way that this book challenges my leadership mind. I enjoy critical thinking and strategizing new methods, but this book is one that is making me evaluate that process. Not that strategic thinking is inherently bad or wrong, but sometimes leaders can bog organizational productivity through the many aspects and responsibilities of “traditional”strategic thinking.

This book is not about a new church model (i.e. - purpose driven programming, seeker-sensitive worship services, or a how-to of new ministry methodology), but it is about capturing your church’s/ministry’s UNIQUE culture and cultivating movement with strong vision. I am finding this book to be challenging and inspiring, as I take on my new role as Jr. High Director.

Here are some insights from the first two chapters…

7 “Thinkholes” where vibrant thinking gets sucked beneath the surface to suffocate and disappear from view:

·      Ministry Treadmills - when the busyness of ministry creates aprogressively irreversible hurriedness in the leader’s life.

·      Competency Trap - the success experienced by the leader,over time, becomes a liability. the leader begins to rely on what worked in the past, instead of developing new habits based on the church’s/ministry’sculture.

·      Needs-based Slippery Slope - leaders constantly try to meet people’s needs and expectations within the church/ministry. the vision of this leader is reduced to making people happy.

·      Cultural Whirlpools - 1. BuzzChurch - a church/ministry that defines its DNA around innovation itself. the resulting vision is the need to be constantly cutting-edge. 2. StuckChurch - the changes inculture outpace the leader’s energy and discipline for new learning. these churches/ministries define vision in terms of glorifying and propagating the past.

·      The Conference Maze - leaders rely solely on training events to instill direction and vision for their church.

·      Denominational Rut - {my definition - large religious structures become stuck in maintaining what the denomination stands for (or has been for years) that it chooses to define all churches in denomination(regardless of size, location, leadership, etc.)}.

3 Fallacies of Classic StrategicPlanning

·      The Vision Shredder - classic strategic planning assumes thatmore information produces clearer direction, but too much information actually shreds the big picture into so many pieces that the vision is hopelessly lost.More information equals less clarity.

·      The Silo Builder - classic strategic planning can create the fallacy of accountability where multiple goals develop for each ministry area. The expectation is that staff and volunteers will experience better coordination with clearer responsibilities. The truth is, more goals typically create a silos within the organization - every ministry leader has his interpretation of the goals, and his own strategy for how to put it in place.

·      Leadership Blinders - the assumption is that the near future will resemble the recent past. Change now happens so fast that the planning processes of old are out-of-date.

Ø     Navigating on a land surface (roads or trails) is drastically different than navigating on a liquid surface. Liquid surfaces necessitates ceaseless observation and adaptation to the surrounding environment. Cultural shifts can determine the leader’s preparation for the future. Planning requires predictability, whereas preparation equips leaders to be flexible to seize opportunities.

 These are just a few of things I have been challenged to learn and incorporate into my leadership. As stated in chapter 2, it is preparation that is forcing me to “pray, learn, and discern what God is doing - all aspects of understanding God’s unique vision” for our ministry.

read more from Bret Koontz's blog

Church Unique is my favorite read of the three, so far. Will Mancini argues that strategic planning isn't necessarily the method churches should employ when determining their future. He proposes a visioning process that is driven by a church's gifts, a focus on it's community, and one that involves the entire church from the member to the janitor to the ministry volunteer to the senior pastor. The focus is outward instead of internal. Mancini points out that many churches get so caught up in fulfilling their strategic goals that the plan becomes an end in itself rather than a means to the end. A missional leader (and church) identifies the main thing(s) that they're good at and they then refine, enhance, and implement those gifts. Mancini contends that churches need clarity, not complexity; synergy, not accountability (in the sense of fulfilling a proposed set of goals); adaptability, not predictability ("the assumption that the near future will resemble the recent past"). When changes to the plan come they aren't necessarily viewed as a negative because the end result is driven by the church's mission. Missional leadership is fluid and adaptable to the circumstance. It definitely debunks the myth of the cookie-cutter, one style fits all mantra being proposed by large churches such as Saddleback and Willow Creek. Your church is unique, specially crafted and gifted by God for a specific ministry to a specific community. The timeless message of redemption is carried out and implemented by playing to the gifts. An interesting point that Mancini makes is that churches spend more time on shoring up weaknesses than they do in fine-tuning their strengths. Read this one.

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Mancini shows how the strategic planning revolution of the 60's and 70's is coming to an end. Life just happens too quickly for a ten-year plan. He says, "Leaders must focus more on preparation than on planning. Planning relies on predictability. But preparation helps leaders stay clear amid uncertainty." (More on clarity later). I love this idea because it reminds me that the leader's edge is his/her ability to be adaptive.

July 21, 2008, ecouragement.blogspot.com 

Visioning Process Leads to a Truly Unique Church

Will Mancini in his new book, Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement (JosseyBass/Leadership Network, 2008) says visioning sometimes can be scary. “If it is scary because we are treading on holy ground as we seek the mind of God, then great!  That’s the wonder and stretch that godly vision should bring. If it is scary because we think vision is inaccessible or we don’t like tough conversations in the discovery process, then the leadership is truly stuck.” Mancini, a former pastor, heads the consulting firm of Auxano [auxano.com]. Other resources are at churchunique.com and visiondeck.com.

Your first chapter is titled “unoriginal sin.” What is that?

Unoriginal sin is the common habit of neglecting what makes your congregation unique in favor of adopting programs and mindsets that worked somewhere else.

What “new kind of visioning process” is your book about?

The process is new on at least three counts. First, we are revolting against vision that is stuck on paper only. Too many church leaders have endured a process that left a void in the heart of the individual and the church at large. Second, it is new because it is focusing on features of clarity that most visioning processes don’t touch. Third, Church Unique paints a picture of visionary leadership from a missional reorientation rather than the assumptions of the church growth movement.  

What’s the unique model of ministry you’re advocating?

We are not advocating a model of ministry but a process that enables each church to develop its own unique model. Personally, I am heartbroken that so many leaders traffic in “photocopied vision.” I firmly believe that churches would be stronger if they stopped duplicating ministry models and started incarnating their own.

Are many churches doing visioning? It seems like a scary thing for pastors and boards.

I never met a church or a pastor that didn’t want to have vision, but that does not translate to many churches taking vision seriously. Vision itself is a slippery idea and leaves a lot open to interpretation as to when you have it.  I would boil the playing field down to two types of churches. First are those that have a nifty statement or two but have never experienced a healthy visioning process (even though they think they have.) The second are those that have intuitive visionary leaders who don’t think they need a process.

What barriers and inertia do churches have in accomplishing visioning?

The ones I see the most today are (1) church conferences that sell you another church’s vision, (2) the competency trap which keeps leaders emotionally connected to what worked yesterday, and (3) poor visioning and strategic planning models that have left a bad taste in a leader’s mouth.  

You say some forms of strategic planning are outdated?

There are some assumptions of corporate strategic planning dating back to the 60s that don’t hold true for the church today. Strategic planning works well in large, top-down structures where accountability and control mechanisms are important. That doesn’t necessarily work well in the church.

There was a time when having more information was important and a strategic plan brought value through details and analysis.  Most church folks need more clarity, not more information. They need a synthesis or big picture that provides meaning and inspiration, that strategic plans don’t inherently provide. Also, strategic planning assumes that the near future is predictable. That is true now like it was 30 years ago. It is more important now to think and adapt strategically than to do a 10-year plan.

What “better way” is there to making a church unique?

I would suggest that we don’t make the church unique because God already has.  So our role is to “lean into” our strengths and do more of what we do best; that is, to do more of what God has equipped us and motivated us to do in our little corner of the world. In the end the principle of focus comes into play because we are freed from trying.

How do you distinguish between visioning and strategic planning?

The best way to distinguish the two is the product you have when you are done. Typically a strategic planning leaves you with a hierarchy of objectives and goals in the form of a notebook.  Visioning, however, leaves with a cascading sense of clarity and enthusiasm about what God is doing in the congregation and community. The validation of visioning is seen by the conversations down the hall, not the mission on the wall.