Minding the Gap

This article is about a gap in a leader's vision for the congregation and the strategies and systems in place for the congregation to implement the vision. The author mentions how several leaders are great at communicating their vision and getting the people of the congregation unified behind the vision. However, pastors lack implementing strategies and systems in place for the members of the congregation to carry out the vision the pastor has for the community. According to the author, this causes people to do "church" instead of the vision. He says that it leads to the church having a different vision than the church down the street but they both function in the same way. The writer gives leaders five warning signs of this gap being in their particular congregation. The first is the loudest person in the church will decide the strategies and systems of the church. The second is the loss of staff and lay leaders to other churches because they have not been empowered. The third is good people with good intentions will try to fill the gap thus causing the church to be pulled in several directions. The fourth is more meetings being required in regards to the vision because it has not been clearly articulated. The last warning sign is the giving plateaus or declines because people do no know what they are giving to. It is important to note that this article is a part of the series and the next part is about the biblical basis for implementing strategies and systems in the church.