Vision - The Important Aspect Of Church Leadership

Vision The Most Important Aspect of Church Administration and Leadership Presented to Dr. Marsha Handy By Alcenir Oliveira For CAM 803 - ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Interdenominational Theological Center Atlanta, October 31, 2005 Introduction It is not the purpose of this paper to deal with the concept of organization in a secular sense, if it is right to think that there are a secular and a spiritual one. But it is important to consider the general concept of organization management and administration to get to a clear idea of the importance and the role of leadership in the church. It is not less important to consider that any reflection about management, administration and leadership may be applied, with some extent, to any non-profit organization. It is important to understand the organization dynamics, because they are the means that will pave the way for a dream or a vision to come true. Organization Dynamics The organization dynamics, within the context of the science of administration, comprises a system called “administrative process” that consists of four stages, which are planning, structuring, commanding and controlling. These four stages describe the whole process of the organization, as a live organism or system. It is necessary to pay attention to the meaning of the process mentioned here. It has no sense at all if no major goal is clearly established and defined. There is no sense for an organization to exist if it exists for no purpose. Therefore, above everything is the

overall goal, or the main goal, also known as strategic goal, and, to be more clear and specific, it is good to say it is what the organization was born, built or established for. Some say it is the dream of the founder; other may say it’s the vision, and also others would say it is the purpose. For the purpose of this text, it is going to be considered as the overall goal. To Make a Dream Come True This is how the organizations are born. A dreamer, visionary, inventor or whatever name one’s given for this, defines what he wants to accomplish; he establishes a goal. When it is very clearly established, he is ready to start working on the four stages of the process. It is not surprise that Rick Warren sold so many books and is yet selling, because vision, goal, purpose is what life is all about. This is something everybody, everywhere, every time are dealing with, because without a purpose there is no mission, there is no planning, there is no strategy. What would be it all for, if one doesn’t know what to do or where do go to. Most of the time an organization, be it a church or a company, is dying because the vision is dying too. Wheems (1993, p.38-39) says that it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are, and cites a prayer of an AfricanAmerican church: “Lord, we’re not what we want to be, we’re not what we need to be, we’re not what we are going to be, but thank God almighty, we’re not what we used to be”. Further the same author says that “if a compelling vision is not present or if the organization is not seeking a vision, then a vacuum is created. The result will be either no vision, or more likely, the presence of many small competing visions. In either case the result is decline”. Effective leadership, according to Wheems, comprises four inter and intra-related elements: Vision, Team, Integrity and Culture. Concerning the role of leadership, without vision all other elements have no meaning. Nobody build a team for no purpose. When a vision or dream is burning somebody’s heart, it is going to motivate the person and something is going to be done towards that dream. This action is what is

going to make the person a leader, because it contaminates others who are going to be led to engage in the process of achieving that goal or walk towards that vision, in regard to a lot of different kinds of rewards. Back to the administrative process, a vision or dream will require a planning process, where the main goal will be defined; strategy, plans, programs, projects, etc. are going to be established. Up to here everything are nothing more than ideas and dreams. In the next step, structuring, the skeleton is built and every piece of the organization will be defined. At this high, you can see the organization, but it doesn’t have life. Only in the next two steps – commanding and controlling - it is going to come to life, when people will fill all the spaces, functions and roles. It is also when products, services or spiritual achievements, as outputs, start happening. It is in this scenario that leadership happens, because these people need somebody that interprets the vision, the overall goal, to them so that they are going to know where they are going to. As we talk about church administration and leadership, we’ve got to be aware of this. Because that is how things happen. That is how a dream, a vision, a spiritual revelation about the future are interpreted by the chosen one to make it come true. Vision: What the Scholars say about it The “what” in leadership is a “sustained passion for and a commitment to a proactive, shared vision and its implementation”. Don Martin (1993, P.16). One’s got to have in mind that the “goals determine where you want to go. You can only get there by design, not by accident. Don Martin (1993, P.18) Just to give an instance, Talking about Christian Education as one of the main purpose or goals of the Church, Roehlkepartain (1993, P. 24) says that “the area of church life that has by far the most influence on faith maturity and growth in faith is Christian Education. So if our goal is to nurture faith and loyalty in the congregation, nothing in church life matters more than Christian education”. A clear vision is of utmost importance. It is the understanding of what you are in This is the understanding the scholars of “strategic management” claim, that all members of a organization must have. Can a church leader be sure of the vision of the most humble member of his church? If somebody is a pastor or any other leader in a church, don’t

think you are in a club. Tom Peters, in his book “in search for excellence”, in quotation, talking about the railroad barons say that they didn’t understand what kind of business they were in .Peters observes that “they thought they were in the train business. But, they were in fact in the transportation business. Time passed them by, as did opportunity. They couldn’t see what their real purpose was”. White, 2003, p.27). In organizations, “leaders are paid to be dreamers. In fact the higher you go in leadership, the more your work is about the future”. (Finzer, 2000, p.184/185. Talking about vision, Kouzes and Posner say that “there is no freeway to the future. No paved highway from here to tomorrow. There is only wilderness, only uncertain terrain. There are no roadmaps, no sight posts. So, pioneering leaders rely upon a compass and a dream. … Leaders look forward to the future. They hold in their minds visions and ideals of what can be. They have a sense of what is uniquely possible if all work together for a common purpose. They are positive about the future, and they passionately believe that people can make a difference. P.79 Conclusion In Mathews 6:19-20, Jesus warn us not to store treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy, but build treasure in heaven. Further he says that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. This is a statement of vision. We do with the heart only those things we treasure. The overall purpose of life is to build the Kingdom of Heaven and to build ourselves in it. This is what we’ve got to treasure most. The same way, the leader must have a vision, a place in the future, something he/she pursues with the heart, and he/she will contaminate people around him/her to walk towards that purpose. God’s purpose for Israel is revealed to Joshua and God tells him to treasure the Word of God and the purpose established for Joshua to achieve. In Joshua 1:8 it reads “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” This is the word of God instructing him when he receives the command to enter the land. By the end his days, he makes a statement of accomplishment. He completed his career as a leader of the people of Israel faithfully. In this statement, he reinforces the

command that was the foundation of his vision by saying in chapter 24: 15 “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." It sounds like a profound statement of faith. Faith – what a meaningful word! Therefore, the most important aspect of leadership is to have clear vision of the goal or main purpose to achieve. Bibliography MARTIN, Don. Team Thinking: Using the Sports Connection to Develop, Motivate, and Manage a Winning Business Team. New York: A Duton Book, 1993. WHITE, James Emery. Rethinking the Church. Baker Books: Grand Rapids, MI, 2003. FINZEL, Hans. The top ten mistakes leaders make. Cook Communications Ministries: Colorado Springs, CO, 2000. KOUZES, James M. and POSNER, Barry Z. The Leadership Challenge: how to get extraordinary things done in organizations. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA, 1987. MAXWELL, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Nelson Business: Nashville, TN, 1998. MAXWELL, John C. The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. Nelson Business: Nashville, TN: 1999. WEEMS, Lovett H., Jr. Church Leadership: Vision, Team, Culture and Integrity. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1993. ROEHLKEPARTIAN, Eugene C. The Teaching church: Moving Christian Education to Center Stage. Abingdon: Nashville, TN, 1993.