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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