Why Your Church Needs a "Vision Frame"

Tell me about your church in 10 words or less.

The “Signal vs. Noise” blog by the company 37Signals.com presented the following exercise in clarity: “Explain podcasting in 10 words or less.” Respondents submitted:

1. Internet radio broadcasting for the common man via iPods + MP3.

2. Podcasting is to radio what Tivo is to TV.

3. Ham radio for the Internet.

4. Digital Audio news-stand.

5. Portable. Audio. Blog. People. Connections. Open. Communication. Music. Thought. Fun.

6. Podcasting is the hypesatisfactic marketage for distribulation of auditory snips.

7. A fad that I don't care to understand.

8. Audible websites to go.

9. Subscription radio by and for everyone.

10. On-demand radio distributed over the Internet into mobile devices.

Based on your personal background and your level of experience with an iPod, iTunes and now the iPad, you’ll find these definitions either more or less helpful.

With that reality in mind, how would you describe your church in 10 words or less? The way you answer this question will likewise be more or less helpful to the myriads of people who call your church home. Keep in mind that these people will have widely different backgrounds: unchurched, dechurched, overchurched and the anti-church. Will your words communicate well? Will you capture their attention and serve them well by providing a clear understanding of what God is doing in the world in and through their church?

Vision: More Confusion than Clarity
 

If only I had a nickel for every time I heard the words “mission,” “vision” or “DNA” in a church. We are comfortable trafficking in these terms because we know there’s something inherently biblical about them. But without exception, I meet pastors every week who find classic approaches to vision either tired or tainted.

To make matters worse, we grab guidance from writers and speakers who lob nifty thoughts in the air about vision:

• Guy Kawasaki wants you to trade in your mission for a mantra.

• But Len Sweet prefers an “image statement” to a mission statement.

• Dave Gibbons warns that we need more “relationaries” not visionaries.

• Craig Groeshel blogs about the death of the 5-year plan.

• Steve Addison reports that all movements have “commitment to a cause.”

Where do all these good nuggets take us? At worst, they leave us confused. At best, we only stab at the future with a new leadership idea or two. A little advice from a lot of people leaves the everyday pastor without a game plan for identifying and communicating vision.

As a result, “vision” is the most overused and under-practiced word in a church leader’s vocabulary.

For three decades, we have overdosed on writing about “vision.” Vision now lives caged in statements. Just ask a someone about the vision of the church and see what happens. Actually, ask an elder, deacon, committee chair or pastoral staff member. My guess is you’ll get either a stuttered response or a blank stare altogether. Instead, a vision statement usually lives in one of three places: on the “About Us” tab of your church’s website; in your church hallway between the receptionist’s desk and the restroom; or in the notebook of your new members class. With all of the attention on vision as statement, we have failed to bring it to life.

Bringing Vision to Life
 

It’s time to trade in our vision statements for a visionary state of mind by practicing two essentials. First, we need to grasp that clarity isn’t everything, but it changes everything. Too many times, church leaders are making decisions and having conversations without the vantage point of clarity first. Is there anything greater that we should be working on? Why would we put our foot on the gas petal before the fog lifts? All activity is not progress. In churches today, it’s all too easy to be busy without intention or direction.

Second, we need to state our vision framework before we frame our vision statement. This second imperative brings us to the heart of this article. Leaders must work from a common template to understand and communicate vision, or everyone will stay confused. The story and vision of the church won’t work its way into our staff meetings, volunteer training, membership moments, casual conversations or our prayer lives. I always remind leaders that you can’t integrate what you don’t first articulate. Or as my friend and author Aubrey Malphurs likes to say, “You’ll never do ministry that matters until you define what matters.”

Introducing the Vision Frame
 

After years of working full time as a “clarity evangelist,” it struck me that church leaders needed a new tool--think of it as a model or template--for communicating with clarity. I now call this tool the Vision Frame. No leader should lead, no team should meet and no initiative should start without understanding the Vision Frame. In short, the Vision Frame reminds us that there are five irreducible questions of clarity. Your church’s vision isn’t totally clear until your leadership team can answer all five questions in a concise and compelling way:

• MISSION as Missional Mandate: What are we doing?
The missional mandate is a clear and concise statement describing what your church is ultimately supposed to be doing.

• VALUES as Missional Motives: Why are we doing it?
Missional motives are shared convictions that guide the actions and reveal the strengths of your church.

• STRATEGY as Missional Map: How are we doing it?
The missional map is the process or picture that demonstrates how your church will accomplish its mandate on the broadest level.

• MEASURES as Missional Life Marks: When are we successful?
Missional life marks are a set of attributes in an individual’s life that define or reflect the accomplishment of the church’s missional mandate.

• VISION PROPER as Missional Mountaintop + Milestones: Where is God taking us?
Vision Proper is the living language that anticipates and illustrates God’s better intermediate future.

In my work with churches, it’s extremely rare to find one that has all of these vision components developed and the five questions answered. Many of their challenges can be traced back to the problem of not having clarity first. Developing your Vision Frame may be the most significant strategic step you take in your ministry career.

3 Vision Frame Benefits

1. The Vision Frame is concise yet complete. We want both the brevity of a mantra and the utility of a Swiss army knife. Bringing vision to life requires that the words be “sticky” and “carryable.” But leading a congregation requires dealing with a host of complexities, including but not limited to: the messiness of life change toward Christlikeness; the reality of countless calendar items (service times, groups, classes and events); and all kinds of processes, from assimilation and budgets, to volunteer training and worship planning. All of it is supposed to add up to reaching the world for Christ. One mantra can’t guide the whole ship! On the Vision Frame, it’s possible to sum up each side in 10 words or less. Therefore it’s concise and sticky, yet complete and useful. In fact, it’s useful enough to replace that big strategic planning notebook.

2. The Vision Frame clarifies the difference between mission and vision. To lead effectively, you and your teams must grasp the difference between mission and vision. In short, the mission is a compass, and vision is a travel brochure. Using the Vision Frame, leaders are constantly reminded of this big difference. Mission is one side of the frame that never changes. Vision is what you see in the middle of the frame, and it’s constantly changing.

3. The Vision Frame engages a missional reorientation. Many young leaders are tired of approaches that smack of corporate speak. And for good reason, as many frameworks are taken from the business world and then decorated with a little “Jesus icing.” The Vision Frame, however, is built with the local church in mind. It also carries the conviction that mission is not one thing for the church but everything. As you find definitions of the frame, you’ll find a language that fits a missional perspective.

The Power of Vision Dripping

Most pastors spend more time on sermon prep in one month that they do on vision articulation in five years. Unintentionally, they miss the most powerful principle of vision: Vision dripping is more important than vision casting. When you don’t spend the time to get clarity right, the most important message stops. The story halts. Great collaboration never happens. Risk-taking and sacrificial giving are stuff you only read about and never experience. Why would you expect anything different?

But when you commit to clarity, great things happen. You empower a movement of people to tell the story of what God’s doing in and through your church. You can seamlessly share the what, the why and the how.

Don’t let all the different vision terms and concepts excuse you from being an everyday visionary. It’s time to stop stabbing at the future with a few short phrases. You can guide your church with stunning clarity. Remember Jesus. He walked on Earth with total clarity about His identity, His mission and His destiny. Shouldn’t His body today do the same?

For examples of churches using the Vision Frame, look for regular Church Unique Snapshots on Will Mancini’s blog at WillMancini.com. To learn more about the Vision Frame, go to ChurchUnique.com.

More on vision: The November/December 2010 Outreach magazine included a related feature, also by Will Mancini, "The Indispenable Element," how focusing on a unique, God-given vision creates a deeper connection to your church and its mission. That feature was part of several articles on connection, retention and engagement—"When the People Own the Vision." 

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