The document discusses developing a defining vision for churches through the Acts 16:5 Initiative. It provides seminars on transformational and missional ministry for pastors and teams. It also discusses pastor clusters for encouragement and accountability. A vision team works with the pastor and council to apply concepts. The goal is to awaken a high expectation for ministry through developing a clear defining vision.

1. ©2013 E. Stanley Ott: www.vitalchurchesinstitute.com
The Acts 16:5 Initiative
Develop a Defining Vision

2. www.VitalChurchesInstitute.com
Username: Charlotte
Password: vital

3. We must be the
People of God
before we do the
work of the
People of God

4. www.vitalchurchesinstitute.com

5. The Acts 16:5 Initiative
Seminars – concepts of
transformational and
missional ministry – for
pastors and
congregational teams
Pastor Clusters –
groups of four or five
pastors that meet for
Word-Share-Prayer
and to offer mutual
encouragement and
accountability
Vision Team – meets with the
pastor and within the
umbrella of the Church
Council to consider ways to
apply Acts 16:5 concepts –
comprised of imaginative,
initiative-taking, respected
people.
Support from the district and
the Vital Churches Institute
team.

6. Awaken a High
Expectation!
Ministry Design Module 1

7. Church size is not a factor

8. Some of the challenges
we face in the church

9. “The congregation paradigm
describes most of North
American religions and it’s
failing. Why? Because it’s not
prepared to cope with the
quality of turmoil people are
experiencing in their personal
lives.”
- Carl George

11. Figure 1. Membership Totals and Annual Percentage Change, 1983-2008
http://www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/research/pdfs/cs-2008.pdf

13. recline
incline
decline

14. Recline
Incline
Decline

16. Where in the lifecycle is your
congregation? Which way is it moving?

17. Russ Crabtree has conducted extensive survey work with mainline
congregations. He reports, “From the research conducted with
thousands of members in hundreds of churches, on average only
55 percent of members are clearly satisfied overall with what is
happening in their church. By comparison, over 85 percent of
members in an average community are satisfied with their public
library…
In transformational churches, over 80 percent of members are
clearly satisfied with what is happing. The data shows this cannot
be simply dismissed as the delusions of a self-satisfied
organizational narcissism. These churches have members who
are open and hospitable to one another, who are broadly involved
in the decision-making of the church, who experience inspiring
and transformational worship, who are engaged in significant
ministry opportunities in the church and to the world, and who
overwhelmingly affirm that the church has given new meaning to
their lives.
The Fly in the Ointment: why denominations aren’t helping their

18. Complacency
Be Happy Don’t Worry

19. Turf
Don’t Change it

20. Limited
Bandwidth
The Pressure of
Present Demand

21. The Law of Present Demand
The Pressure of Present Demand
The Routine of Present Demand
The Comfort of Present demand

22. Irregular
People
Everyone has
someone in
their lives who
isn’t quite right
in the head

23. Some of the challenges
we face in the culture

24. the condition of the culture
manic
high velocity
discontinuous

25. This Is Generation Flux
(The Fast Company 1/9/12)

26. Flux is not merely
“change.” Flux is
continuous change.

27. Some things are not in flux!
The Love of the God who
Sustains us
The love of the people of
God who encourage us
Our love for those to
Whom God sends us

28. Yet many things are in flux!
DJ Patil explains, "There are
sometimes when you can predict
weather well for the next 15 days.
Other times, you can only really
forecast a couple of days. Sometimes
you can't predict the next two hours."
The business [and ministry] climate, it
turns out, is a lot like the weather.
We've entered a next two-hours era.

29. It is a conceit of our own times to
suppose that we are obliged
to live… amid unprecedentedly
rapid change.
Max Hastings – Catastrophe 1914 p. 2

30. The Cynevin Framework

31. INTERNET TRENDS
D11 CONFERENCE
5 / 29 / 2013
Mary Meeker / Liang Wu
P 9, 10

32. Did You Know?

34. What are some changes you have
witnessed in our culture in the last five
years?

36. A recent study [2013] from
the USA Today found 60
percent of Americans
report feeling angry or
irritable. That is up from 50
percent when a similar poll
was taken in 2011.
Anger is more influential than joy.
Rage was the emotion most likely to
spread across social media,
possessing a ripple effect that could
spark irate posts up to three degrees
of separation from the original
message (so one angry post could
negatively influence a follower of a
follower of a follower ). Rui Fan et al.

37. In times of rapid change
what you know can mislead
you.
Michael Marquardt
Michael Marquardt

38. One of the things that limits our
learning
is our belief that we already
know something.
L. David Marquet – Turn the Ship Around p.9

39. This calls for
a new humility
and
a faith-shift

40. Make Vision Shift 1
Shift from your present hopes for your
congregation’s future to the high
expectation that God has a
transformational future for your church.

41. “When we talk about congregational
renewal, we mean a renewal of the
people’s ability to notice and
experience God in their midst,
a renewal of the congregation’s desire
to partner with God in achieving God’s
aims for the world.”
Daniel P. Smith and Mary K. Sellon “Pathway to Renewal”

42. Your Congregation’s
Defining Vision?
Ministry Design Module 2

43. Vision is seeing what God
wants to do through you –
through you personally
through your congregation
Jim Tozer

44. The “Traditional” approach to
ministry (recline).

45. The “Transformational”
approach to ministry
(incline)
A new expectation
A clear vision

46. Vision Shifting

47. What is the nature of your congregation’s
Defining Vision?
Traditional or Transformational or Transitional?

48. BLESS and ADD

49. Building a Church from Scratch

50. Twelve Dynamic Shifts

51. Make Vision Shift 1
Shift from your present hopes for your
congregation’s future to the high
expectation that God has a
transformational future for your church.

52. Make Vision Shift 2
Shift from merely running programs to
implementing a vision for ministry.

53. Refine Your Defining Vision
Ministry Design Module 3

54. Be who God
wants you to be
and
you will set the
world on fire!
Catherine of Siena

55. Write down as much of your
congregation’s vision statement as
you can. It may be called a mission
statement or a purpose statement.

57. Life-Changing Transformational Ministry
Reflectively-Practiced
Principle-Patterned
“Gathered-Scattered” Attentive
Need-Responsive
Disciple-Directed
Biblically-Based
Spirit-Driven
The Foundation of a Vision for Ministry

58. Vital Sign 1:
Spirit-Driven (Spirit-Given)

59. Vital Sign 2:
Biblically-Based

60. Vital Sign 3:
Discipleship-Directed

61. Virtually every study reveals our diminishing fruitfulness
in growing disciples of Jesus – by almost any measure!
1. Fewer than half of us can identify Genesis as the first book of
the Bible.
2. Only one third know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the
Mount.
3. A majority of Americans believe that the Bible says that Jesus
was born in Jerusalem.
4. When asked whether the New Testament Book of Acts is in
the Old Testament, one quarter of Americans say yes. More
than a third say they don’t know.
5. 60% of Americans can't name five of the Ten Commandments
6. Only 50% can name one of the four gospels
Every
Stephen Prothero: Religious Literacy – What
American Needs to Know and Doesn’t.

62. Vital Sign 4:
Need-Responsive

63. Vital Sign 5:
“Gathered-Scattered” Attentive

64. Gathered (Spectrum of MINISTRY)
Scattered (Spectrum of MINISTRY)

65. Vital Sign 6:
Principle-Patterned

66. The Devotional Life

67. Hospitality

68. The Emmaus Meal
www.VitalChurchesInstitute.com
Username: Emmaus Password: hospitality

69. People Eyes

70. Vital Sign 7:
Reflectively-Practiced

71. Life-Changing Transformational Ministry
Reflectively-Practiced
Principle-Patterned
“Gathered-Scattered” Attentive
Need-Responsive
Disciple-Directed
Biblically-Based
Spirit-Driven
The Foundation of a Vision for Ministry

72. Spirit&
Driven+
Glorify God
!
Biblically&
Based+
!!!
!
!
!
Discipleship&
Directed+
Need&
Responsive+
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Grow Disciples
!
!
!
! Meet Human ! Need
!
!
!
!

73. Glorify God
Grow
Disciples
Meet
Human
Need

74. Doxological
Koinonial
Missional

76. Know and experience the God who
loves you
1. “Touching Jesus” – encouraging growth in personal faith
2.Lift up your heart Shift to the high expectation that God
has a vital future for you.
3.
Begin a devotional life of prayer and Bible reading at home.
4. “Word-Share-Prayer” with others. “Be the people of God
before doing the work of the people of God.”

77. Equip and care for the people God
gives you
1. “Offer Appreciation and expectation in every conversation!”
2.
Show hospitality. Encourage the practice of the deipnon –
the lingering meal with “silver and gold.”
3. People eyes – seeing people through the eyes of Jesus –
becoming alert to the needs of the people God gives us.

78. The Emmaus Meal
www.VitalChurchesInstitute.com
Username: Emmaus Password: hospitality

79. Engage and serve the World
to which God sends you
Use the Halverson Benediction for yourself and
with the congregation and with its groups:
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
Wherever you are God has a purpose in you
being there. Christ who indwells you has
something he wants to do through you
where you are! Believe it and go in his grace
and power.
Richard C. Halverson

80. In the examples of Defining Vision
statements on pages 18-19 see how
many of the three dimensions of the
church you see in each one.

81. Leadership Matters
Leadership Module 1

82. The Church’s Kodak Moment
What is this?

83. The Church’s Frightful Kodak Moment
January 15, 2014
January 15, 2014

84. Three road blocks to transformation:

85. Complacency
Be Happy Don’t Worry

86. Turf
Don’t Change it

87. Bandwidth
The Pressure of
Present Demand

88. On the decline of Rome: “Everyone aimed at
security: no one accepted responsibility. What
was plainly lacking, long before the barbarian
invasions had done their work, long before
economic dislocations became serious, was an
inner go. Rome’s life was now an imitation of life:
a mere holding on. Security was the watchword
— as if life knew any other stability than through
constant change, or any form of security except
through a constant willingness to take risks.”
The Condition of Man – Lewis Mumford
Quoted in http://thingamy.typepad.com October 6, 2010

90. First Follower

91. Fluidity and mobility

92. Melting moves

93. Technical Challenges
Challenges for which you have adequate
knowledge and an acceptable solution.

94. Adaptive Challenges
Challenges for which you do not have an
adequate or effective solution.

95. The Cynevin Framework

96. Application
Take the Adventure Module 1

97. church size

98. 1.
2.
3.
4.
Did the learner like it?
Did the learner learn it?
Did the learner live it?
Did it last?

99. Take the adventure the Lord
has for you – and begin!

100. The Acts 16:5 Initiative
Seminars – concepts of
transformational and
missional ministry – for
pastors and
congregational teams
Pastor Clusters –
groups of four or five
pastors that meet for
Word-Share-Prayer
and to offer mutual
encouragement and
accountability
Vision Team – meets with the
pastor and within the
umbrella of the Church
Council to consider ways to
apply Acts 16:5 concepts –
comprised of imaginative,
initiative-taking, respected
people.
Support from the district and
the Vital Churches Institute
team.

101. Where are we going?
Becoming
like Christ
together for
the World
The Seven Strategic Domains of the Acts 16:5 Church
©2013 E. Stanley Ott: www.vitalchurchesinstitute.com

102. Application
and
Transformation
Handout