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Template 8
[A printable copy of this Template is available to download below or a paper copy can be obtained from Fr. Chris in church.]
Creating your vision
Starter question: Out of ten, how do you rate your church as one with a clear mission and purpose and one which is intentional about growth? (where 1 is the weakest and 10 the strongest) /10
Read together: Research has shown that churches that wanted to grow in numbers and set out a clear plan to do so were more likely to grow. It is important as a church to have a clear sense of who you are and where you’re going along with clear plans for getting there
Key Facts from the research: Of churches who report a clear sense of mission and purpose, 64% had grown compared with 25% that had declined. When asked a question about which type of growth was their top priority, only 13% of the church leaders surveyed selected growth in numbers, but these churches were more likely to be growing.
Further questions for discussion: Here are some questions to help you start thinking and talking about your vision and priorities as a church:
In Part 6 you appointed someone to collate all the information from each of the exercises up to that point (Templates 1-7) and to draw out from that an outline of possible priority areas. It was suggested that these be as exhaustive as possible at this stage.
Now try to sort the priority goals into the following three headings:
[A printable copy of this Template is available to download below or a paper copy can be obtained from Fr. Chris in church.]
Creating your vision
Starter question: Out of ten, how do you rate your church as one with a clear mission and purpose and one which is intentional about growth? (where 1 is the weakest and 10 the strongest) /10
Read together: Research has shown that churches that wanted to grow in numbers and set out a clear plan to do so were more likely to grow. It is important as a church to have a clear sense of who you are and where you’re going along with clear plans for getting there
Key Facts from the research: Of churches who report a clear sense of mission and purpose, 64% had grown compared with 25% that had declined. When asked a question about which type of growth was their top priority, only 13% of the church leaders surveyed selected growth in numbers, but these churches were more likely to be growing.
Further questions for discussion: Here are some questions to help you start thinking and talking about your vision and priorities as a church:
- Do we have a clear sense of our vision as a church? What is it?
- To what extent is growth in numbers a priority?
- Do we need to grow spiritually and in terms of service to the community?
- How is our vision for growth shared in our church and more widely?
- What steps could we take to ensure that our vision is owned more widely and that more people feel they have a part to play?
- How can we ensure that all our activities are in line with our vision and priorities?
- Are our activities focussed on trying to encourage people to come to us? Is there more that we could do to go out and meet people where they are?
In Part 6 you appointed someone to collate all the information from each of the exercises up to that point (Templates 1-7) and to draw out from that an outline of possible priority areas. It was suggested that these be as exhaustive as possible at this stage.
Now try to sort the priority goals into the following three headings:
- Growing numerically
- Growing Spiritually
- Growing in service to the community
| template_8.pdf |
