SCC Ten-Year Vision

What role does the pastor play in seeing (or hearing) vision for the church?  I’m still learning the answer to that question by on the job training.  I’ve spent a lot of time in my first ten months at SCC listening to the congregation.  I’ve done this through the conversations we had over desserts at my house (150+ people came over a six-month period!), one-on-one meetings in prayer and fellowship, and perhaps most significantly through the congregation-wide consultation day and the seven follow-up dialogue groups that came out of that day.  Meanwhile I’ve also spent time listening to God and to the experience of other pastors and churches.

Recently I was at a conference when all this listening seemed to swoop down into my mind and crystallize into a clear five points of vision for the future of SCC.  I wasn’t in a deep moment of prayer.  I was just sitting and listening to the speaker give his presentation.  Sometimes God speaks in moments when you’re not expecting it.  So I quickly took note of these five points and wrote them down so I wouldn’t forget them.  I have taken the time to present them to the leadership of our church, and they have discerned that the time is right to share them with the broader congregation, so on April 18^th at our visioning meeting I presented these five points toward a 10-year vision for SCC.  What follows are the five points of vision, the reasons for each point and the initiatives to move toward making this vision a reality.  The first three vision points are short-term and very clear.  The last two are long-term and less clear but still clear enough to provide guidance for the steps we need to take right now.  So let’s dive in.

Core Values

First, SCC will strengthen the execution of our current core values by following through on the dialogue group must-dos.  Not sure what our core values are?  While you may not be able to name them (they are listed on our website), if you took the time to make a list of what you thought SCC valued, you probably would come pretty close.  We have six core values.  They are:

1. People need the Lord.
2. Relating to people in biblical ways brings life and health to community.
3. Being in a small group is essential to spiritual growth.
4. Our lives are to be directed by the Holy Spirit through Scripture, prayer, and Christian community.
5. People find great joy in serving God when they serve out of giftedness.
6. We are committed to reaching out to the world in culturally relevant ways.

This vision point suggests that we are generally heading in the right direction.  The next four vision points build on strengths that already exist at SCC.  While the wording of these may need some updating, these next four vision points are not major departures from the direction that we are already heading.

We will accomplish this vision point in part by following through on the must-dos that were created through the dialogue group process.  Seven areas of focus were identified on our congregation-wide consultation day, and dialogue groups were created around each area.  Each dialogue group met one or more times to create a prioritized list of things that SCC must do.  Those must-dos have been assigned to various teams in our church and many of them have already been completed.  Others are in process and others will be done in the coming months or even years.

Missions

Second, SCC will love and serve the poor and poor in spirit in our church and community by building and sustaining diverse friendships through support groups and small groups committing to missions.  SCC is great at collecting items and money, and we can add to this strength by giving our time to show the love of Christ to one another and our community.  This vision point focuses on the poor (the financially poor) and the poor in spirit (those who are hurting emotionally, physically, or spiritually and who are in need of the healing that comes through God’s Spirit).  This vision point also focuses on both our church, those in need of care among us, and our community, those who are in need of care but are not yet among us.

There are two initiatives that go along with this vision point.  First, we will be building support groups or small groups that provide ongoing care for those who need it.  This will begin with an umbrella support group and as we grow over time may expand to include niche support groups for unique needs.

The second initiative is tying together small groups and missions so that small groups become the primary means of organizing missions and serving our community.  Each small group leader will be asked to appoint one member of their small group as a mission coordinator (someone who has a heart for serving the community and who has organizational and leadership skills to organize the group in mission).  This mission coordinator in conversation with the small group, the broader SCC family, the broader Lansing community, and the mission team leader will organize that small group to commit to serving the broader Lansing community on a regular basis.  How regular is up to the group (at least once a year) but it is recommended that each small group plan a service project at least once during the course of a book or topic study.  For example: if a small group is reading a book together for the next eight weeks, then they will add one week to those eight weeks to serve together as a small group.  This service project will then be advertised to the broader SCC community inviting anyone who would like to participate to do so.  In this way service and mission will be a door into small groups and small groups will be a door into service and mission.  The mission team may become unnecessary if this structure works well because the mission team leader would be the primary contact and resource for each of the small group mission coordinators.  A launch team is being created to accomplish this initiative that will culminate in a church-wide series that incorporates small groups into what is happening in the worship service.

Membership

Third, SCC will rework membership and double the navigating members by beginning a process to allow participating members to vote, continuing to encourage Financial Peace University principles, and instituting a yearly Commitment Sunday where members and regular attenders are given the opportunity to grow spiritually by making a financial commitment to SCC’s mission, to ignite authentic life in Christ.

There’s a lot here so let’s begin with reworking membership.  SCC currently has two membership levels: participating membership and navigating membership.  Navigating members have the privilege of voting while participating members do not.  The original intent for this distinction was based in the nature of the two different kinds of membership.  Participating members make a commitment to participate regularly.  Navigating members make a commitment to take the responsibility of navigating their own spiritual journey.  It has been understood that until one is ready to take the responsibility for navigating their own spiritual journey, they are not yet ready to help navigate the spiritual journey of the congregation as a whole.  In theory this makes a lot sense.  The reality on the ground has been somewhat different.  Because one of the commitments for navigating membership has been tithing or working toward tithing, many participating members have been unwilling to make that kind of a commitment.  This initiative is recognition that many participating members are navigating the spiritual life of the church whether we have formally recognized that reality or not.  Participating members also must commit to giving regularly and many of them give generously.

This is not a vision for doing away with navigating membership or decreasing the value of tithing.  In fact, it is a vision for increasing the importance of both by helping people take real and manageable steps toward both.  The two levels of membership also continue to prove helpful by setting expectations for certain levels of leadership in the church.  This coincides with a must-do that the Board of Stewards has been working on: to clarify the expectations of various roles in the church.  A leadership covenant is being created that will help set the expectations of leaders, and navigating membership will be a mark of certain teaching or teaching-like leadership roles in the church such as staff, team leaders, etc.

This is also a vision for growth by focusing on spiritual growth rather than just numerical growth.  We will be helping people grow in spiritual maturity by taking the steps needed to become navigating members.  In order to double the number of navigating members, we will need to increase the number of participating members.  In order to do that, we will need to increase the number of regular attenders.  In order to do that, we will need to increase the number of people visiting.  All this is aimed at helping people grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Two initiatives will help us double the number of navigating members.  First, we will continue to encourage people who attend SCC to take Financial Peace University, and we will as a church seek to live out the principles of FPU in our own financial life.  In order for people to give generously to SCC, they will often need to take steps to get themselves out of debt and get their own financial house in order.

Second, we will be introducing a yearly Commitment Sunday on May 23^rd.  Commitment Sunday will give people an opportunity to grow spiritually in terms of the stewardship of their finances by making a financial commitment to SCC.  The way we uses our money is a key mark (not the only mark but certainly a key one) of spiritual growth.  Making all you can (in honest ways), saving all you can (by living simply), and giving all you can (beginning with 10%) is our ultimate goal as Christians, but many of us look at tithing as unreachable.  Commitment Sunday will give you an opportunity take small steps of 1% or more toward that goal.  The focus of Commitment Sunday is not on the church budget (we won’t even have a budget together by then), but rather the focus will be on individuals taking time to prayerfully ask God how much they should give to the mission of SCC.

I have asked Mary Ziegler to head up this year’s Commitment Sunday and she has graciously accepted.  A team has been put together and work has already been completed to make this first year a real success.

Building

Fourth, we will prepare to own a building by developing a three to five-year capital campaign during our 10-year anniversary this fall.  This is a mid-term vision and is not completely clear, but it is clear enough that we know what steps we need to take to accomplish it.  This is not a vision for building this fall.  Rather it is a vision for beginning to save so that we can be in a strong place to build in three to five years.

A building is only a means to other ends.  It is not an end in itself.  There are several reasons why I believe a building will help us accomplish various aspects of our mission.

First, a building is a means to the end of missions.  A building will help us move some of our energy away from internal issues (set-up and tear down) and toward outward mission (service to the community, etc.).  Currently we expend a considerable amount of time and energy on set-up and tear-down every Sunday.  While a building will require some new time and energy, I believe that overall we will be able to focus more of our time and energy outward toward the community.

Second, a building is a means to the end of evangelism and outreach.  A building will help establish our presence in the broader community and provide a more visible location for people to be curious about.  It will also remove one obstacle or hurdle for first-time visitors. I have heard from many people that attending a church that did not have a building was an obstacle to their first visit.  I have also heard from many pastors in the community that not having a building is not the most effective strategy in the Midwest.

Third, a building is a means to the end of long-term growth.  A building will provide a kind of stability to move into the future that will be difficult to accomplish without a building.  This will be clearer when we get to the fifth vision point.

Fourth, a building is a means to better financial stewardship.  Owning a building aligns with FPU principles of not ultimately wasting money on rent.  While the cost of owning something will require new maintenance costs, overall these kinds of costs can be much less than monthly rent payments.

Because of these four reasons, I believe it is time for us to take steps toward owning our own building.

The first Sunday in November, November 7^th, will be our ten-year birthday.  We held our first public worship service on the first Sunday in November, 2000.  We will take our 10-year anniversary as a time to look back and celebrate the past ten years and to look forward over the next ten years.  The primary step toward a building will be a three to five year capital campaign that takes place during our ten-year anniversary celebration this fall.  A capital campaign is an opportunity for people to commit to giving above their regular giving over an extended period of time.  Individuals usually give to a church’s weekly offering out of their “front pocket”, that is their weekly paycheck.  Individuals usually give to a capital campaign out of their back pocket, that is out of their assets.

This capital campaign will have four priorities:

1. We will tithe (10%) what we receive toward one or more missions;
2. We will increase our current space to meet current needs (especially the space needs of our youth);
3. We will pay off the mortgage on the pastor’s house ($116,000);
4. We will use the rest to prepare to own a building (architect fees, down payment, etc.).

One last way this money may be used is to hire a consultant to help us run this capital campaign.

Let’s look at how this plays out with some estimated numbers.  I have been told that a good capital campaign will raise between two and three times a church’s annual budget.  Our current annual budget is $250,000.  That means a good capital campaign can potentially raise $500,000 to $750,000.  Perhaps because of the economic situation in Michigan our own capital campaign will be more limited than this, but for the sake of illustration, let’s use that bottom number: $500,000.  Thus, we would spend $500,000 in the following ways:

1. Tithe – $50,000 (One tenth of $500,000);
2. Current Space – $30,000 (One option that the church has looked at in the past cost $30,000.  This figure is only for illustration purposes.  It is a guesstimate.);
3. Pay Off Mortgage – $116,000 (This figure is solid.  It is simply what we currently owe on the house though it will have gone down a little from the mortgage payments we make between now and then);
4. Building (down payment, architect, etc.) – $284,000 (This figure is whatever is left over after the other payments have been made);
5. Consultant – $20,000 (This too is a guess based on a figure that was shared at a conference I recently attended).

Again, this is not a vision for buying or building this fall.  This is a vision for putting us in a good place in three to five years from now.  In that time period we will know more about our needs and what they will cost.  We will likely need an additional capital campaign given that the cost of a building may be in the millions.

Church Plant

Fifth, SCC will plant a church in ten or more years by giving 50-100 members to plant a new Christian community.  There are several reasons why this is part of a vision for SCC.

First, planting another church is a logical step in fulfilling our mission: to ignite authentic life in Christ.  We have always been focused on drawing people to Jesus Christ.  By planting a church we will multiple our efforts of doing so.

Second, planting another church is in our DNA because we were a church that was planted by another church.  We know what it takes.  We know what it looks like.  We have been living the reality of a church plant for our entire existence.  Let’s take that knowledge and put it to good use for the kingdom of God.

Third, planting another church helps us balance between the natural desire to enjoy a small church feel and our gospel commission to grow by inviting new people into our church community and a relationship with Jesus Christ.  As I have listened to the reasons why people came to SCC, I have heard a unique tension that exists in our current strategy and our current state.  Our strategy has been one of outreach and growth.  We reach out in culturally relevant ways to attract people to Christ.  We are focused on growth.  At the same time, people who come to visit our church like that it is smaller than other churches using a similar strategy.  We are currently relatively small.  If someone wanted what we do in a bigger package, it wouldn’t be hard to find.  It’s right around the corner.  People come to our church because it is smaller.  This is not necessarily a bad desire.  We all want to be known.  We want a sense of community.  How do we grow and retain that feeling of being small?  Planting a church helps creatively resolve that tension.  We are not aiming at becoming a mega-church.  Rather we are aiming at growing and planting churches.  When we reach, say 500 people (I don’t know the exact numbers), we’ll take 100 people and send them off to start a church.  Then when we grow back to 500, we’ll take another 100 people and send them to start a second church.  In this way, we will continue to grow while at the same time remaining relatively small.

This last vision point is the least clear. What exactly does it look like?  How do all the details work?  Are we planting a totally independent church in the way that SCC is independent from Holt UMC or are we planting a site or satellite community of SCC?  I don’t know what the answers are to those questions.  A good vision has clarity for the short-term while at the same time being less clear for the long-term.  Planting a church is a long-term vision and by its very nature of being long-term, it is less clear.

Conclusion

These five points of vision provide clarity for where we are going as a church.  They help lift our eyes from the immediate terrain in front of us and raise our eyes toward the future of what God is going to do in us and through us.  There may be some mid-course changes in the future.  A community’s discernment of God’s direction is never perfect, and God may call us to different places than we can even imagine today.  These five points of vision are my attempt to do three things: listen to the congregation, listen to the broader Christian community, and listen to God.  I believe they are where God is leading us at this time.  Psalm 126 says, When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, then we were like those who dream. These five vision points are a dream for SCC.  I believe they are part of God’s dream for SCC.  Will you join the dream?