Vision

I have three quite contrasting ‘vision statement’ stories to tell from three different congregations. One common theme was the length of time it took to come up with a vision! In the Edenvale Methodist Church I can’t quite remember the exact words, but the mission statement’s focus was ‘reaching the lost and caring for the poor”. In the next 10 years of my stay in Edenvale this is exactly what the church did! It built a 100-seater soup kitchen and employment agency for unskilled labour, it developed a nursery school for some 150 children employing 23 staff members, and it built a fantastic hospice for the poorest of the poor dying from HIV/AIDS. To reach the unchurched it ran an Alpha Course every quarter for 10 years! The church grew phenomenally. And the worship and spirituality deepened alongside with all that was going on. Home groups flourished! In the Leland United Methodist Church, the vision statement was: “Filled with the Holy Spirit, we are a people of prayer, committed to love one another and equipped to share Christ’s love through the world.” Like Edenvale, Leland became who they said they were. It was a place of great love and powerful healing prayer, and it did equip itself to share Christ’s love throughout the world, investing greatly in mission in India, eventually sending four congregation members on a memorable life changing mission trip. In the Grace United Methodist Church, after much discussion, the small elderly congregation decided their vision was to keep the church doors open so they could be buried from their home church one day. Some whispered quietly that we should be sure not to let the church reflect the increasing growth of the black population in the neighbourhood. What was different here was, whilst I remained true and respectful to the ‘vision’ of the old folk, God had other ideas in mind! Through illness and a few other adverse circumstances the doors of the church opened to the black population, whom contrary to the whispered part of the ‘vision’, the folk loved and embraced as their own. The church doors not only remained open, but also widened a bit! The moral of these three stories? Be sure to ask the question, “What is our vision?” Even if we get it wrong a bit. The journey, and the enthusiasm, and the passion, and the direction a ‘vision’ brings is worth every cent it took to find it. Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (King James Version) “If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed” (The Message)