What is the one thing your local church is uniquely called and equipped to do in your context? You may expect a variety of answers to this question, but they all boil down to four visions or unique callings:
1) A church may be called to care for its members and buildings
2) A church may be called to share Christ with the next generation
3) A church may be called to give itself in love and service to those in need
4) A church may be called to be the best quality church in the region
These four visions are presented in detail in my Reality Check 101 workbook. But, what if the leaders of your church are evenly split between two visions? Church conflict often has a vision or a “this should be our one priority” aspect to it. I am currently consulting with a congregation that is evenly split between sharing Christ with the next generation (#2 or Clubs) and giving themselves in love and service to those in need (#3 or Hearts). My advice is:
1st — The competing parties need to realize how much they need each other. If they choose to make serving those in need their church’s one priority, they will need some leaders from the other party to shape their mission to the next generation. If they choose instead to prioritize evangelizing young adults, they will need people who have a service mindset, because the postmodern generation is very mission oriented.
2nd — It is possible for a church to equally share their efforts between these two visions, but very few are successful in juggling two priorities equally. The problem may lie in the fact that they need very different pastoral leadership for the two visions.
+ Service focused churches need a pastor who can keep the home-fires burning and provide a stable worship environment for people to recharge before going out to serve. Their pastor needs to be both good at pastoral care and administration. The pastor’s job is to keep people working together and express appreciation for everyone’s pet mission project. They don’t have to do the mission work, they instead help each person find where they are called to serve.
+ Evangelizing the next generation churches need pastors who spend a lot of hours outside the church walls. These pastors listen to what unchurched people are saying about their spiritual needs. They are like investigative reporters, explaining to their members how those outside the church see the world. They have a passion to evangelize. They work best in churches that already have a good administrative structure and can function with a pastor who thinks (and lives) outside the box.
3rd — When a church shifts from having mixed visions to having just one vision, it needs to undergo a period of transition. If they are called to be in service to their community, then they need to train their pastor to provide the worship experience that recharges their batteries. They need to come to trust his or her administrative and pastoral skills. Further, they need to study stewardship and missiology and learn how these concepts are relevant to today’s church. This may take some time.
If they are choosing the path of evangelizing the next generation, they will need to develop lay-lead administrative and pastoral care. They will need to transition their expectations of their pastor, freeing him or her to be an evangelist. This also, will take some time, and the process should begin before a new pastor is called.
Shifting priorities requires preparation. Consensus needs to be built. The new vision communicated clearly and people given a chance air their concerns. Most importantly, care must be taken to involve and express appreciation to those people who were championing the vision that wasn’t chosen.