I just finished reading Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, andCreate Movement, by Will Mancini. It was on our reading list for ELI for the month of January. Last week, those of usgoing through the Cultivate program with ELI (and some special guests) were privileged to interact with Will on a webinar via Tokbox.
This isn’t your usual church management or strategic planning book. Yes, it has those aspects, but this book is more unique in its approach. Mancini focus on Vision as the primary thrust of the church. He also lays out the processes to keep the church on mission towards fulfilling that vision.
Whether or not you are in a strategic planning process in your church, this book will force you to ask yourself some important questions.
What is my God-given vision for my church? Is it different than other pastors, or am I copying and pasting what others are doing? What makes my vision unique? What is the one thing my church does (or can do) that other churches in my area cannot or do not do? Is my church a Wal-mart church or a Starbucks church? (Do we offer endless consumer oriented programs,or do we do one thing really well?) How do we implement the right systems in order to continually reach towards the vision, in a focused, intentional way?
Mancini introduces several concepts in the book that help pastors and leaders answer these and many more questions. A church’s “Kingdom Concept” is (mostly) that one unique thing your church does that makes it different from the other churches in the area.
The planning model he introduces is called the “Vision Frame.” He lays out ways to decipher between a church’s non-changing, non-negotiables, as well as leaving room for change. To go into detail about the concepts would be to re-write the book. Take your time with this book.There are a lot of details here. Pastoral teams would do well to read it together and implement the processes together as they go. I would recommend reading the whole book first, then going back and implementing the concepts step by step.
This is a good book for all pastors. I would especially recommend it to pastors whose churches have so many programs and ministries that it’s unclear what the central vision of the church is. What’s the one thing you do better than anyone? If you can’t answer that, then read the book. If you can answer that, but you’re still doing 101 different ministries, then read this book. 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
Posted on
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
by Brandon Bowers