Vision 2010
The Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church exists to glorify God by establishing a safe haven for God’s people to worship and mature as disciples in order to effectively engage our culture and other cultures with the Gospel of Christ.
In short, our motto is “Training and Deploying risk-taking disciples into their mission field.”
A Statement of Vision, Values, and Mission for the Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church: Conversion to a Hub and Spokes Paradigm
Preamble
One question which may be raised by some is, “Why is this necessary?” More specifically, the Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church (GRPC) is a growing dynamic congregation in a thriving suburban setting with potential to become a mega church or larger. There is great unity in the body with virtually no conflict. And, there is a warm spirit of commitment, flexibility, and creativity present throughout. Stated colloquially, “If it ain’t broke, then why fix it?” Are there not significant risks in altering what has worked in the past and promises to work in the future?
This paper consists of three major headings: a statement of GRPC’s vision, a statement of the biblical values driving the vision, and a missions strategy outlining specific ways in which the vision will be implemented. After reviewing this paper, the average regular worshipper and/or member of GRPC should be able to articulate with some precision what this church is structured to accomplish in the years ahead. Additionally, all newcomers should be able to quickly have a sense of the church’s purpose. It is hoped that the 3:00 AM test will apply throughout the church, that is, if awakened at 3:00 AM, any church member should be able to articulate the Vision for the Church, preferably in a few well chosen words which speak worlds to all who hear. Why is this all necessary?
First, if a church has no statement of vision, it has no firm anchors or compass to gauge the biblical correctness of change. It will tend to drift in an ever changing and rapidly degenerating culture without well defined parameters to determine why, if, and how it should change in order to reach the communities in which the church is situated. All around us there is change. But not all change is good. Even within the structures of evangelicalism there is a massive effort toward change that is hard to justify scripturally. I refer to many (not all) of the materials which stress a pragmatic approach to success. This movement is not to be dismissed out of hand, but ought to be tempered against the reformed doctrinal distinctives we embrace. The ends (mega and meta churches with large numbers in attendance) do not always justify the means (eg. “seeker-sensitive” worship services or meeting “felt needs”). The models of ministry and the charisma/gift mixes of the pastors of these churches represent the exception and not the norm. Every church has its own gift mix and leadership dynamic. Every church has its own personality. A vision statement written with that in mind will serve as a corrective along the way. This is much easier to do against the backdrop of a well defined vision, thus minimizing the tendency to change just for the sake of change.
Second, a well defined vision statement serves as one tool to measure the effectiveness of every staff person, lay leader, program, and ministry within the church. If the constituents of the church labor independently of each other, the tendency toward pride, self centeredness, and spiritual one upmanship is increased significantly. One need look no further than the Corinthian church marred by such arrogance and carnality that their body life was tainted with egotism, strife, the abuse of the gifts of the Spirit, and self serving special interests. Sadly, many churches continue to express the spirit of Corinth, a spirit rooted in their failure to struggle with the issue of what God has called and equipped them to be and do. A vision statement serves as an evaluative tool and hedge against this evil and destructive spirit. All must play by the same rules. All must serve as team players. There are no unimportant people in a church with a biblically defined vision, values, and mission statement.
Third, vision prepares the church for the excitement of what God is going to do in the future. Once the vision is caste and owned by the body, many of the minor issues upon which some churches major and which divide and destroy the unity of the church are precluded. We then become a people of faith. No vision statement should merely express the narrowness of what we can do. Vision that is God-centered is the art of seeing things that are invisible. Vision governs the life of the church. Vision determines the choices we make for staffing, program, facilities, and finances. Vision is all that is left when we peel away the infrastructures of GRPC like an onion. I desire the vision of God for GRPC to cling like glue to our spiritual rib cage. When our collective mind begins to drift into a major on minors, our vision will bring us back to center. Vision is what we will pray about, build upon, and give our time, energy, and resources to accomplish. In other words, vision is hope with a blueprint.
Having said this I hasten to add that vision which comes from God is to be extracted of ego. There is no room for a Christ honoring vision and a pastor, elder, or congregation on an ego trip. This is perhaps the greatest danger to vision casting. Vision appeals to our ego. Once a vision is up and running pride will tend to protect it at all costs. However, God reserves the right to alter our vision and to rebuke us for drifting away from what He has called us to be. Need I point any further than the Ephesian church in Revelation 2, who were rebuked of God for leaving their first love, Him? Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book Life Together,
“He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter even though his personal intention may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial. God hates visionary dreaming…that makes the dreamer proud and pretentious…the man who fashions a visionary idea of a community and demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands. He sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God and himself accordingly…He acts as if he is the center of the Christian community, and as if his dream binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed and he sees the community going to smash…he becomes first an accuser of the brother, then an accuser of God, and finally a despairing accuser of himself.”
GRPC can follow a dream and lose our identity. That is why we must guard against such pride by binding the various parts of the vision with accountability, mutual submission, and the knowledge that at any given point, God reserves the right to change, edit, or even obliterate our vision. He will make this known through the written word studied intently as the session and the multitude of counselors search for His wisdom and perspective.
Click here to read the full document crafted by Dr. Chuck Betters.