Did you miss Part 4? Read it HERE!
By Chris Hankins || Posted September 25, 2018
Every clear and compelling vision has six critical components. This post explains each of these parts and lays out a formula that any leader can use to write a God-sized vision to share publicly.
My prayer is that after reading and digesting Parts 1-4 . . .
- . . . you are convinced of the necessity of a God sized vision
- . . . you understand the benefits and characteristics of a God sized vision
- . . . and you have taken the necessary steps to discover your own God sized vision.
Now, you are ready to put your pen to paper and craft your own vision statement for your church, ministry or organization.
Let’s go over six components of an effective vision statement.
I’ve provided my answers for The Point Church as an example so you can see these six components in action. At the end, there is a formula incorporating all six components that you can use to create your own unique vision statement.
Below are 6 Essential Components to every wildly effective vision statement and a question to help you flesh out your own vision statement. Your answers to these questions will be critical in crafting your own unique vision!
1. Target Noun
What person, place, or thing has God been laying on your heart that the world desperately needs more of?
My Answer: Churches
2. Action Verb
What action are you convinced will best gain those target nouns? The action should not be subjective.
For example, if PEOPLE were your target noun and TRANSFORM was your action verb, it would not be very easy to determine if transformation has taken place in a person’s life and if so to what degree. However, if PEOPLE were your target noun and BAPTIZE was your action verb, it would be very easy to determine if a person has taken the step of baptism or not.
My Answer: Plant
3. Numeric Goal
How many of your target noun do you want to gain? This should be a goal that is impossible in your own strength.
My Answer: 30
4. Target Location
Where are you seeking to accomplish this vision? Is your target a city, state, country or the world?
My Answer: The Triangle (Raleigh-Durham Metropolitan Area)
5. Accomplishment Date
When do you want to complete the vision by? This date should be a timeline that is impossible in your own strength. However it should not be theoretically impossible.
My Answer: By 2025
Statistics show that there are over 1 million people in the Triangle without a relationship with Jesus and church family. The date (2025) is important because we do not want this generation of 1 million + people to pass away without the opportunity to encounter Jesus in an authentic life changing way. For context, this is a 15-year vision for The Point Church. We began pursuing our vision in 2010.
6. Purpose
Why do think this vision is necessary?
My Answer: To point every man, woman, & child in the Triangle to Jesus in our generation!
Once you have answered these six questions, you are ready to take a shot at putting together your own vision statement! Remember you can always go back and tweak your answers to the six previous questions as you begin putting everything together in one compelling vision statement.
I suggest that you allow this labeled version of our Point Church vision statement to serve as a model:
“Plant (Action Verb) 30 (Numeric Goal) Point Churches (Target Noun) in the triangle (Target Location) by 2025 (Accomplishment Date) to point every man, woman, and child in the Triangle to Jesus in our generation!” (Purpose)
Your Turn
Now it is your turn. Place your answers to the 6 questions in the vision formula below. The goal of filling in this formula is not to have you duplicate our vision statement at The Point Church. Rather, the goal is to provide structure to your own uniquely inspired God vision.
Formula:
_____________ (Action Verb) _________ (Number Goal) _________________ (Target Noun)_____________ (Target Location) by _____________ (Accomplishment Date) so that _______________________________________________________________(Purpose).
Congratulations!
If you filled in all of the blanks with your answers, then you have a first draft of a God sized vision! You will probably tweak the wording of this vision statement numerous times. However, let me encourage you to make sure you keep all 6 key components in your vision statement.
I want to plead with you to resist the urge to turn your vision statement into multiple sentences or a paragraph. Remember as we discussed in Part 3, your vision needs to be concise or else no one will remember it and if people do not remember it, it will not be effective.
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