Will Mancini

As we continue this overview of Church Unique, we have completed Part 1 which described the need to rethink vision. Now we introduce Part 2 entitled, Clarifying Vision. Where does clarity come from and how do we get started? I open this section of chapters with the parable of the brick-maker.

In this provocative chapter 3,  I surprise the reader by having lot’s of positive stuff to say about the Church Growth Movement. I argue that great learning abounded during this era, from brilliant, godly people. I suggest that the vast array of critique, many times, forgets the early origin of the movement and the context from which many of the principles were developed. The movement simply represents people solving problems within their own time and place with their own presuppositions.

Therefore, the  real iniquity of the church growth movement wasn’t the methodology, but the growth idolatry that tended to develop in the leader’s heart. I define growth idolatry as the unspoken necessity for the numerical growth in a leader’s primary venue in order for them to feel good about life. Basically, an idol is anything we add to Jesus to make life work. So in this case, growing a “bigger box” to do church, replaces the gospel as a leaders’ justification; as a way of feeling okay on the deepest soul level. 

In this excerpt of Church Unique below, I share the three common ways that growth idolatry is manifested when it comes to vision.

As a follow-up to yesterdays post on What’s Wrong with Strategic Planning, I wanted to share these four momentum killers. They are found in the fallacy of the “silo builder” in Chapter 2, The Fall of Strategic Planning.  Why are too many goals not good for your ministry?

1. Too many goals threaten to make any one goal unclear
2. Too many goals weaken the connection between the goals and the larger vision
3. Too many goals make it harder for people to have shared goals
4. Too many goals inhibit good decision making on the front line of ministry

Later in the Church Unique Vlog Series (#cuvlog) I will share a planning solution for the problem of too many goals.