Casting Vision and Developing Leaders

Casting Vision and Developing Leaders - the two are a lot more connected that it might seem at first glance.

I read an excellent blog post today by Will Mancini - The six vehicles for church vision: how many are you using? Everybody knows the great importance of preaching for casting vision, but there you're leaving a tremendous amount of influence on the table if it's the only (or even the primary) venue for vision. Please read the whole article, but here's some key points from the six vehicles he describes.

Vehicle #1 - The Connecting Environment. Small groups are where vision sticks or bounces off. It's actually the primary vehicle because it is the most relational.

Vehicle #2 - The Leadership Pipeline. Highly underrated! Will writes "The leadership pipeline is the vehicle where vision is transferred from leaders to other leaders. It assumes a leadership development culture. It supposes there are time and places where only leaders meet to pray, dream, dialogue and train together."

Vehicle #3 - The Preaching Event. There is no substitute, as it connects the vision to the Word of God and the act of worship.

Vehicle #4 - The Structural Story. The supporting structure and systems, and your attitude toward staff and volunteers matters a great deal.

Vehicle #5 - The Visual Brand. Everything speaks.

Vehicle #6 - The Voice of Each One. Essential, though it may take a long time to get there if starting from a centralized preaching-centric approach. "Vision transfers through people not paper."

In my next post I'm going to discuss the need for empowering leaders and share some thoughts on applications within our church.

What are your thoughts? Are you using all six vehicles? If not, what needs to change?