BiblioFile Eye Doctors - Christianity Today

Studying Congregations:

A New Handbook edited by Nancy T. Ammerman, Jackson W. Carroll, Carl S. Dudley, and William McKinney (Abingdon, 1999)

Only one chapter is actually about vision and the future. The rest of this handbook is for assessment of your congregation: socially, spiritually, and demographically. Plenty of handouts to test the membership, but you’ll have to decide for yourself what to do with the information.

Moving Off the Map:

A Field Guide to Changing the Congregation by Tom Bandy (Abingdon, 1998)

Full of charts and self-tests, this is a guide to developing vision and congregational support for it. The first section offers 280 assessment questions. The chapters on stages in the process are practical. Bandy assumes a high level of congregational involvement.

God’s Vision for your Church:

Find and Fulfill God’s Unique Purpose for Your Church by David Cannistraci (Regal, 1999)

Cannistraci makes the case for corporate spiritual gifts, offers eight “landmarks” for discovering a church’s gift, and peppers his recommendations with examples mostly from Pentecostal churches and movements.

Leading with Vision compiled by Dale Galloway (Beacon Hill, 1999)

Galloway authored three of this book’s nine chapters. The rest are by stalwarts Maxie Dunnam, James Earl Massey, John Maxwell, and Elmer Towns.

Effective Pastoring:

Giving Vision, Direction, and Care to Your Church by Bill Lawrence (Word, 1999)

A broad text on pastoral work. Three chapters address vision. Lawrence’s summary of the process is excellent, as is the chapter “Planning for Non-planners.” The pages on the Q-2 (second quadrant) board will help pastors whose leaders are mired in the urgent but unimportant stuff of ministry.

Doing Church:

A Biblical Guide for Leading Ministries Through Change by Aubrey Malphurs (Kregel, 1999)

Malphurs is direct: preach on principles, not practices. He gives a framework for thinking through the issues raised by changing styles of worship and approaches to ministry. Malphurs won’t give you the answers, but he’ll tell you how he came to his and how to preach on them.

Church Personality Matters:

How to Build Positive Patterns by Herb Miller (Chalice Press, 1999)

Miller doesn’t ask “What is our mission?” until half way through this book. After the usual chapters on history, setting, and size, Miller moves to the issue of personality—more specifically, personalities. Your church’s vision will be determined in part by the age and interests of the members and leaders. And that contributes to the corporate personality. The chapter on potholes to progress is practical.

Visioneering:

God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal Vision by Andy Stanley (Multnomah, 1999)

The step before development of a church’s vision is the pastor’s personal vision—for himself. Stanley offers 20 building blocks and 20 blueprints (exercises) for their construction.

Futuring Your Church:

Finding Your Vision and Making It Work by George B. Thompson, Jr. (United Church Press, 1999)

This slim volume is helpful in outlining the process. There are much longer and more detailed works, but this one is good for the newcomer who needs an overview. Note especially the chapters on things you can’t change—heritage and surrounding neighborhood.