1. The Eldership
The Need for
Vision
Session 1
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 1998

2. 20 Questions to determine your
church’s health:
#1 Question: “Do you have a clear vision? One
that is biblical, widely known, and owned by
your people, articulated with clarity and
redundancy by the leadership?
Leadership: A Practical Journal for Church Leaders, Summer 1997
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

3. Need for Visionary
Leadership in the Church
Proverbs 29:18
Matthew 25:14
Changes in Society
Women in the workplace
Busy - Busy - Busy
Increasing number of singles and singles again
Technology
Neighborhood to Globalization
Changing values
Challenges
Generational Differences
Compromise of the “Points of Uniqueness”
Challenges to be contemporary
Role of women
Availability of volunteers
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

4. What Exactly is
Vision?
A reality that has yet to come into
existence.
A view of the future that grows out of and
improves upon the present.
A mental model of a desirable or idealistic
future for the organization.
The essence of leadership.
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

5. Properties of Powerful,
Transforming Visions
They are appropriate for the organization and for the
times.
• history, culture, values, consistent with present
situations.
They set standards of excellence and reflect high
ideals.
They clarify purpose and direction.
They inspire enthusiasm and encourage commitment.
They are well articulated and easily understood.
They reflect the uniqueness of the organization.
They are ambitious
Visionary Leadership, 1992, Burt Nanus
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

6. 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People - Stephen Covey
Habit #2
“begin with the end in mind “
“Although Habit 2 applies to many different circumstances and levels of life,
the most fundamental application of "begin with the end in mind" is to begin
today with the image, picture, or paradigm of the end of your life as your frame
of references of the life--today's behavior, tomorrow's behavior, next week's
behavior, next month's behavior--can be examined in the context of the whole,
of what really matters most to you. By keeping that end clearly in mind, you
can make certain that whatever you do on any particular day does not violate
the criteria you have defined as supremely important, and that each day of your
life contributes in a meaningful way to the vision you have of your life as a
whole.”
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

7. Examples of Visionary
Leadership
David: 1 Chronicles 28:2
Nehemiah 2:4-5; 17-18
Jesus: Matt 4:17-19
President John Kennedy
Southwest Airlines
Don Shula
Walt Disney
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

8. David
King David rose to his feet and said: "Listen to me, my
brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house
as a place of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD,
for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it.” (1
Chronicles 28:2).
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

9. Nehemiah
2: 4-5
“I answered the king. If it pleases the king and if your
servant has found favor ……………… so I can rebuild it.”
2: 17-18
“Then I said to them, You see the trouble we are in:
Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with
fire. Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and we will
no longer be in disgrace.”
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

10. Jesus
Matt 4: 17-18
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
near…………….”Come follow me and I will make you
fishers of men.”
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

11. John F. Kennedy
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

12. Southwest Airlines
No carrier knows its niche as well as Southwest.
"Most companies fail in their growth because they don't have a vision," Putnam
believes. "They don't know where to go. When you have a vision and someone comes
to you with some convoluted idea, you can hold it up to the vision and ask, ' Does it fit?
Does it fly? If not, don't bother me.' A vision must be so strong that it can outweigh
the egos of managers that might want to take off in a different direction. Vision is the
bigger picture that motivates employees because they understand how their individual
efforts contribute to the overall dream. Southwest Airlines was founded by visionary
thinkers. Rollin King’s crazy, forward-thinking idea gave the company its start. Over
the years visionary thinking and big dreams have encouraged people to enlist in the
crusade to provide legendary service and give ordinary people extraordinary
opportunities. At Southwest the vision lives, and visionary thinkers continue to
provide the inspiration for its future.”
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

13. Shula
“Someone has said that a river without banks is a puddle. When I apply
that saying to human interactions, it reminds me of the job of a coach.
Like those riverbanks, a good coach provides the direction and
concentration for performers' energies, helping channel all their efforts
toward a single desired outcome. Without that critical influence, the best
achievements of the most talented performers can lack the momentum and
drive that make a group of individuals into champions. In my work with
the Miami Dolphins over the years, one single vision of perfection has
motivated all of my coaching--that's winning every football game.
Without exception, every coaching strategy I've adopted has been aimed
at that one target. A broad target that's easy to achieve leads to the
"puddle" of mediocrity. Keeping that specific focus before the team and
concentrating the efforts within narrowly defined limits are my tasks as
the coach of this football team. I believe that if you don't seek perfection,
you can never reach excellence.”
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

14. Walt Disney's Vision for a New
Kind of Amusement Park
“The idea of Disneyland is a simple one. It will be a place for
people to find happiness and knowledge. It will be a place for
parents and children to spend pleasant times in one another's
company: a place for teachers and pupils to discover greater ways
of understanding and education. Here the older generation can
recapture the nostalgia of days gone by, and the younger generation
can savor the challenge of the future. Here will be the wonders of
nature and man for all to see and understand. Disneyland will be
based upon and dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and hard facts
that have created America. And it will be uniquely equipped to
dramatize these dreams and facts and send them forth as a source of
courage and inspiration to all the world.
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

15. Disneyland will be something of a fair, an exhibition, a
playground, a community center, a museum of living facts
and a showplace of beauty and magic. It will be filled with
the accomplishments, the joys and hopes of the world we
live in. And it will remind us and show us how to make
those wonders part of own lives.”
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

16. Our specific mission at the Memorial Road Church of Christ
is to equip and empower men, women, boys and girls for
Christian leadership, evangelism, worship and service in
families, in the church, in the community and around the
world.
Through equipping and empowering our people from the
cradle to the grave for leadership, evangelism, worship
and service, we will develop members who seek to proclaim
God's standards to the world rather than defend themselves
against the world.
Our primary methodology will be, first of all, to
mold our members into people who know God and his word,
love people, and practice the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Second, we will recruit, train, place, nurture and empower
our members locally to carry out the God-given mission for
His church universal.
In summary, we will equip our members by teaching
them what the word of God says, by giving them the
opportunity to observe people carrying out that teaching
in life situations, and by placing them in positions to
teach others what they have learned (Ezra 7:10). 21 January 19
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship -

17. Properties of Powerful,
Transforming Visions
They are appropriate for the organization and for the
times.
• history, culture, values, consistent with present
situations.
They set standards of excellence and reflect high
ideals.
They clarify purpose and direction.
They inspire enthusiasm and encourage commitment.
They are well articulated and easily understood.
They reflect the uniqueness of the organization.
They are ambitious
Visionary Leadership, 1992, Burt Nanus
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

18. The Eldership
The Need for
Vision
Session 2
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 1998

19. Developing Vision
Statements
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 1998

20. REMEMBER
A Vision is:
A view of the future that grows out of and
improves upon the present.
A mental model of a desirable or idealistic
future for the organization.
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

21. REMEMBER
A Vision is:
appropriate for the organization
and for the times, for the
history, culture, values, and is
consistent with present
situations.
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 1998

22. Properties of Powerful,
Transforming Visions
They are appropriate for the organization and for the
times.
• history, culture, values, consistent with present
situations.
They set standards of excellence and reflect high
ideals.
They clarify purpose and direction.
They inspire enthusiasm and encourage commitment.
They are well articulated and easily understood.
They reflect the uniqueness of the organization.
They are ambitious
Visionary Leadership, 1992, Burt Nanus
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

23. Developing a clear vision of perfection is almost like producing a movie
in your mind. I recently had a chance to work with the top management
and the heads of dealerships for Freightline, a leading manufacturer of
large trucks. Jim Hibe, a the president, spearheaded the development of
a new service vision for their dealerships--one that would permit them to
go way beyond their competition. In preparation for their key annual
conference, they produced a thirty-minute video that illustrated two
hypothetical dealerships. The first, called Great Scott Trucking, typified
the present mode of operating for many of the dealerships: limited hours
(eight-to-five on Monday to Friday and nine-to-twelve on Saturday);
uncommitted employees; few, if any extras (like donuts and coffee for
truckers waiting for their vehicles); and so forth. When you entered the
dealership, everything seemed to be organized for the convenience of the
employees, not the customers. For example, the manager comes in about
11:45 on Saturday. Seeing a long line in the parts department, he says,
"Make sure you shut her down at twelve. The line will make a good
Monday."
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

24. The other dealership was called Daley Freightliner and was a customer-
driven operation with twenty-four-hour service--seven days a week,
committed and trained employees willing to go the extra mile, and all
kinds of services for the truckers. They had a lounge with LA-Z-Boy
recliners and a huge TV showing first-run movies. There was a quiet,
dark room with bunk beds in case the truckers wanted to sleep.
Employees drove repaired trucks to the front rather than making the
drivers retrieve them from the back lot.
Many of the dealerships were closer to Great Scott Trucking than they
were to Daley Freightliner, so when the conference opened with the
video, it made some people squirm. But it beautifully pictured the new
service vision for all to see and experience. I followed the video with a
talk entitled "Raving Fans," all about having customers who want to brag
about you. After that, dealers who were closest to the Daley Freightliner
image shared their success stories. To me that program was an excellent
way to communicate a new vision of perfection.
(Ken Blanchard in Everyone's a Coach, 1995)
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

25. SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
What are your congregations particular
strengths? Do you do something that is
unique to your congregation?
Weaknesses
What are the areas where you are lacking?
What do others seem to do that you can’t
seem to carry out?
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

26. SWOT ANALYSIS
Opportunities
What is happening in the external
environment that could provide opportunities
for your congregation?
Threats
What things in the external environment pose
threats to your congregation?
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19

27. Possibilities
Spiritual Growth
Evangelism
Helping Others
Missions
The results of your SWOT analysis!!!!
Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 19