This time of transition is a strategic opportunity for you to find greater clarity about your church's vision so that you can cooperate with God for your next season of growth.
Every new pastor I know would relish the prospect of influencing the articulation of the mission, vision, and values of the church he's leading.
What if search committees, personnel teams, and elder boards gave their new pastor the opportunity to express the vision in a fresh way? What if part of the hiring process was a commitment to enable the incoming new pastor to refresh the vision, mission, values, and strategy of the church?
We can help!
I am excited to be able to offer Auxano’s services to churches in the Midwest. Auxano is a Greek word for growth. The organization was founded by Will Mancini, author of Church Unique. Auxano’s processes give great tools and opportunity for churches to gain even greater clarity about the unique contribution each church can make to grow the Kingdom of God.
The Auxano clarity process is designed to help your church collaborate with the Spirit and with each other to clarify your unique mission, vision, and values. It will help you clearly define what a mature follower of Christ looks like - the "win" for your congregation. You will have a vision frame to look through to see what God wants you to do in the next 3-6 months, in the next 1-2 years, and in the next 3-5 years.
At Auxano, we encourage church leaders to conduct a clarity litmus test. "Do your people [truly] know your mission? Is it meaningfully articulated based on your understanding of what your church can do better than 10,000 others? If not, then we think you are operating at a capacity less than 50% of what you should be. And that’s not an exaggeration."
Most church leaders feel like they already have their mission, vision, and values all set. But think through the following set of questions.
1. Do you sense that your people truly know where you are going?
2. Do you know that you and your leaders really on the same page?
3. In the last 30 days, did you overhear church members talking about your vision?
4. Do you have a process on paper that shows how your church will develop disciples and leaders?
5. Do you have crystal clarity about the next ministry to begin or staff to hire?
6. Are you convinced that that you're actually doing more than just activities and programs?
7. Have you identified your next biggest challenge along with a plan to deal with it?
8. Do you know how you are going to grow to the next level?
Perhaps what you and your church need is more clarity! Clarity isn't everything. But clarity changes everything.
Kevin Young, new Lead Pastor of Willoughby Hills Friends Church in Ohio, was given the opportunity to take his church leadership through the Auxano Church Unique process. He found that greater clarity advanced unity and created a common language for his leadership. Young said, “Going through the Auxano process has done more to shape our future than anything we have ever done. The return on investment has been incredible. We now have clarity as to who we are as a body and what God is calling us to become. Auxano gave us a common language to use and brought unity to leaders at all levels. For the first time we were together as a church and speaking the same language!”
Now might be a strategically significant time for your ministry to refresh mission, strategy, values, measures, and vision so that your team can have even greater ownership of your church's mission.
What might happen if leaders from your church could pray and work together to clarify your vision? To understand why this process is vital, check out the Auxano website.
The services have also been used by non-profits such as Leadership Network, Lifeway Christian Stores, Mosaic Pregnancy and Health Centers, Teen Advisors, Upward, Right Now, Pastor’s Leadership Institute, Outreach, Inc., International Teams, and Fellowship Associates. Click on the link for the complete client list.
If I can help or serve you or your church, please let me know! Please email me at rick@auxano.com or call me at 440-570-6277.
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