A Tale of Two Visions

There once was a church. It had everything going for it. Three weekend services with growing numbers. Meaningful ministry in the community. Evidence of people growing more mature in their faith. Programs and classes for all stages and phases of people’s lives. Robust youth, kid’s and college-aged programs. One could easily say that “God’s hand was on this church”.

There was just one problem. Maybe a minor one looking from the outside. Well, if you asked, it even seemed minor to those on the inside. There were two senior leaders, each with a different vision for the church. Same mission – making and growing disciples of Jesus (there was an eloquent mission statement written that everyone in the church knew); but, two very different thoughts on how that should be done and what the future of the church might look like (not written down, or discussed for that matter, by either of them).

One of these leaders was the senior pastor. Let’s call him Harry. He had been the senior pastor of this church for over 20 years. He was loved by all. He was a great preacher and did his best to individually pastor each of the 800+ people that attended the church.

The other leader was the worship pastor. Let’s call him Kevin. Also a 20-plus year tenure at this church. He oversaw production and music for the weekend services and all special events and programs. Kevin was also loved by all. He had built a large music and tech team. A great musician who also did his best to pastor the individuals in the congregation.

Now, one would typically stop there and ask: why couldn’t two senior leaders that had been together for so long, who had both been instrumental in growing this church and leading it to vitality, come together on the same page about the future of the church?

Harry and Kevin would both say that “in the old days” when staff was only 4 to 5 people, decisions were often “made around the water cooler.” So, things like mission, vision, values and goals were discussed informally through these encounters. Frequent, casual conversations would bring clarity and unity regarding these topics.

Now with a staff of nearly 20 people to oversee, many more congregants to pastor, much more responsibility and a lot less time to fit everything in, Harry and Kevin did not have these “water cooler” encounters anymore. Conversations about the high level, strategic topics between the two of them became non-existent. However, each leader was organically sharing their own vision for the church with the staff, lay leaders and congregants that they interacted with the most.

Harry shared his vision of growing individuals in their faith through robust, deep Biblical teaching, strong discipleship pathways, actively sending many on overseas mission trips, and creating multiple sites for the church and planting new churches throughout the community.

Kevin shared his vision of worshipful and engaging services, focusing on prayer in each ministry, getting individuals out in the community sharing their stories and their faith on a regular basis, serving alongside local organizations and leaders in the community, and staying as a single, solid church.

Both of these visions are worthy. Both have incredible merits and are God-honoring. However, these two visions need different strategies and plans to both be successful. And with this, they often compete for resources - time, people, leadership, money.

Over time, the diverging visions created two groups in the church. Some staff and congregants followed Harry and his vision; others followed Kevin and his. Over a longer period of time, this created animosity, passive-aggressive words and actions, and accusations between these two leaders. Eventually it led to a very painful church split.

The really sad thing is that this could have been avoided if years ago the right conversations had happened and the right questions had been asked.

Ask these questions now for your church. It’s that important!

·       Does your church leadership and staff understand the difference between a mission statement and a vision statement?

·       Does your church have a written vision statement?

·       Is your leadership all in agreement with and support your vision?

·       Is it talked about often amongst leaders, staff, and the church?

·       Is it used when planning ministry programs and events?

·       Is it used in the assessment of ministries?

·       Is it periodically reviewed and updated as needed?