VISION 10

LEADING ~ RELATING ~ RENEWING ~ REACHING

We are a people with deep Pentecostal roots.  Birthed in the holiness / Pentecostal revival of the early1900’s, we have witnessed dramatic growth, a maturing of our movement and an expansion of our influence.  From humble roots with few material possessions we now boast of facilities, organizations and institutions that have world-wide influence.

But — is all well?  That pulse of life that beat lively and powerfully as we grew from a small, often ridiculed sect of the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, does it still throb and does the blood run hot in our veins? Or, has it weakened with age and have joints stiffened, passions cooled, and ardor waned as we have moved into a new century, a new millennium?

Please note the graph behind me on the screen.  Somewhere along that curve rests the Northern California and Nevada District.  We have moved beyond prime to a place between stable and aristocracy.  Why would I say that?

With me is my friend, Jonathan Gainsbrugh.  He has been a gentle prod, a whisper in my ear, a flicker on my peripheral vision for some time.  Often he has spoken to me about the issues that affect the health and growth of individual churches and the District.

Recently I asked him to do some research.  I wanted to know — to see — to try and understand — just how we were doing as a District.  What I saw caused me to be more than a little concerned.  Now, I am not an alarmist — I do not become swayed or frightened by statistics.  They are simply markers and do not always tell the full story of our progress or regress.

Yet, I thought it vitally important to let you examine with me these “markers” on the road we are traveling.  As we look at them I wish to arrive at some conclusion they seem to be pointing toward; then cast before you a vision of progress for the future of this District.

The vision statements I will share with you come from my heart, from spending time in prayer, and are drawn from the core values we have been sharing with you as a District since January.  These vision statements are NOT programs.

God help us if our answer for every challenge is another program.  These vision statements are about attitudes, broad goals, and directions we wish to move as a District.

Many, many years ago journalist, Robert Gordon, wrote a series of anecdotes for his grandson on “How to Stay Cool in Tough Situations.”  One of those stories goes like this:

“Without a doubt the bleakest period of my life was the winter of 1942-43.  I was with the Eighth Air Force in England.  Our bomber bases, hacked out of the sodden English countryside, were seas of mud.  On the ground people were cold, miserable, and homesick.  In the air people were getting shot.  Replacements were few, morale was low.

But there was one sergeant, a crew chief who was always cheerful, good humored, and always smiling.

I watched him one day in a freezing rain struggle to salvage a flying fortress B-17 that had skidded off the runway into an apparently bottomless mire.  He was whistling like a Lark.

“Sergeant,” I said to him in a surly manner, “how can you whistle in a mess like this?”  He gave me a mud-caked grin.  “Lieutenant” he said, “when the facts won’t budge — you have to bend your attitude to fit them.”

So, today, let’s look at some sobering facts and then allow me to help us bend our attitudes.  And in bending our attitudes, we will change the facts.  For remember this —

Your attitude will determine your altitude!

How high we wish to rise in being successful in God’s Kingdom does not depend upon a set of statistics — it depends upon our faith, His promise, and then our actions.

As we take a look at where we have been — where we are — we can then chart a course to where we want to go.

That’s what vision is all about — it is understanding the times, like the sons of Issachar — recognizing our current situation and needs — and then seeing where God wants us to be — what God wants us to do.

A great story is told of a young boy watching intently as his uncle, a sculptor, worked hours, days, weeks, and months on a hard, cold, block of granite.  Little by little, chip by chip, a discernible shape began to appear.  Finally, the uncle unveiled his sculpture, a majestic lion.  In wide-eyed wonder the little boy asked his uncle,

“How did you know that lion was in there?”

Friends, with God’s help, we will take this block of granite, these cold, hard facts and statistics and find the lion inside!

This vision flows from both the reality of our need and the inspiration of God’s Spirit.  The vision I will present to you is a vision that flows not just from the current concerns, but from what we could be, what we could do, what we could become!

Our Reality

In 1995 NorCal/Nev had 441 churches
We counted 114,000 adherents
76,131 attended Sunday AM
Church membership was 60,783
Those 441 churches averaged 171 on any given Sunday
The year recorded 25,223 conversions

Fast forward to the year 2000
In 2000 we had slipped to 431 churches in spite of opening 56 churches in the previous 5 years
79,041 attended our churches, while from 1995 to 2000 we recorded 193,708 conversions

In our churches
We only grew 2,910 in attendance over 5 years
What happened to the other 190,798 converts?

Fast forward to the year 2005

In 2005 we had 444 churches
In 2006, 431 churches in spite of opening 68 churches in the previous 6 years
There were 85,430 who attended Sunday AM
Church membership was 67,012
Sunday AM grew by 9,309 in 10 years
while recording 268,866 conversions since 1995

Clearly we are not going in the direction we need to be going, nor are we even meeting the Biblical records of Acts 2:47 “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

With my friend’s help we have tracked these numbers year by year, section by section, and church by church.

I can tell you that from 1995-2006 we opened 124 churches ....
while closing 134

I can tell you that1/3 (33%) of our churches have shown growth over that period of time, while 67%+ have either plateaued or have declined in attendance

Let us place ourselves against the backdrop of what is happening worldwide.  During the same period of time, the Assemblies of God worldwide has grown from 30 million to over 55 million.  This District has played a major role in that growth through it’s giving and sending of missionaries and frequent ministry teams.  As well, we have vibrant and growing churches right here at home.  The picture is not bleak, our future is not behind us, the best days lie ahead if we can but refocus our vision, our passion, our purpose.

We have a great fellowship of churches, ministers and ministries.  To us comes a great challenge.  That block of granite has a wonderful lion inside, waiting to “roar.”  Like Aslan of C.S. Lewis lore in “The Chronicles of Narnia,” the lion is on the prowl and Northern California / Nevada will impact this State, Nevada and the world itself.

I believe God has birthed in my heart a vision of progress for this District, to be chiseled out over the next 10 years.  Again, these are NOT programs!  From these Vision Statements will come goals — from goals will come strategies — from strategies will hopefully come results.  I will paint today with a broad brushstroke and over the coming months and years we will fill in the details.  These vision statements are grouped around the four points of our Core Values:

Leadership — Leading / Diversity
Fellowship — Relating
Service — Renewing
Mission — Reaching

My fervent prayer is this Vision will become a quest to see this District move forward steadily and powerfully over the next ten years.

LEADERSHIP ~ LEADING
Diversity ~ We live and minister in an incredibly diverse part of our nation.  Literally the world has come to us.  We have an opportunity to make this part of the church represented by the Northern California and Nevada Assemblies of God look like heaven.  We will not only encourage diversity in our churches, we will celebrate diversity at every level of this fellowship.

Vision ~ We commit to seeing that the selection of leadership and the choice of ministries at every level incorporates and reflects the cultural diversity of the geographic area and demographic makeup of our District.  The District Leadership Team will continue to reflect the diversity of cultures in the District.

1. Communication ~ Communication is always two ways.  You must both speak and you must listen.  The leadership of this District must hear from God as well as listen to God’s people.

a. Vision ~ Dialogue.  We commit to frequent, open and frank dialogue with all levels of leadership in this District.  There will be bi-annual sharing with pastors, ministers, and lay leadership under the moniker “Leader’s Edge” — you talk, we listen, then we take action.

FELLOWSHIP ~ RELATING

1. Fellowship ~ We avoid the term “denomination.”  That speaks of top down organization, of bureaucracy, position driven leadership, and pecking order relationships.  Our vision for this District is to move positively and aggressively toward a Fellowship oriented, a Fellowship motivated, and a Fellowship centered structure. We are in this together.  We must be connected by bonds deeper than the card we carry in our pocket.

a. Vision ~ To develop, then enlist and encourage active participation in ministry small groups, Sectional and District ministries by a minimum of 65% of all ministers and 75% of all churches.  All future ministries that are developed will be fellowship / relational centered.  Simply we become who we say we are — a fellowship of ministers and churches where true Koinonia happens.

2. Ministerium ~ We are an aging fellowship of ministers.  Dr. Herndon reports that the average age of a minister in our District is 54.  We have only two senior pastors 30 or younger.  26% of our ministers are 65 and older.  We must turn these numbers around if we are to be effective in this 21st century.

a. Vision ~ We are committed to a new initiative entitled “Cultivate the Call.”  This initiative seeks to place the call to full-time ministry before young men and women so as to increase our ministerial roster to 1800 and to reduce the average age of a credentialed minister from 54 to 46 by 2017.

SERVICE ~ RENEWING

A District exists to serve.  Churches need to be strengthened and revitalized and to that end, we commit to seeing God work in every church.

1. Revitalization / Vision ~ To reduce church closures through the strategic selection and training of pastors, evaluation and training of lay leadership.  Our vision is to move from 431 churches to 500 churches and to reduce the number of churches with 50 or fewer in attendance from 132 to 75 by 2017.

2. Pastoral Care ~ This will become a priority not a program.  We do not want to merely be involved in crisis intervention but in constructive and consistent ministry to each minister and pastor.

a. Vision ~ We will make the Division of Pastoral Care and Leadership functional by 2008 with defined leadership who will develop ministries and resources that will serve and benefit every credentialed minister.  We commit to the development of an Eldership Ministry that includes counseling, consultation, care, and encouragement as the highest priority from the District leadership.

3. Learning ~ A culture of learning must be encouraged and embedded in our ministry.  Living in one of the most educated areas of our nation, we must have an educated and trained ministerium.

a. Vision ~ We are committed to working with Bethany University to develop a fully functional School of Ministry which includes graduate level training for church leadership.  We will offer through the various ministries of the District training opportunities and strive to see 30% of all ministers engaged in ongoing ministerial training through sponsored opportunities by the Assemblies of God or other evangelical, Pentecostal entities.

4. Finances and Facilities ~ These issues have taken up an inordinate amount of our time and resources these past three years.  The health insurance crisis we experienced in 2003 and 2004 is now past.  Through diligent efforts and with your steady financial support, we have shaved nearly $6 million from the debt load of January 2004.  Today our debt, while still large, is manageable and is being steadily reduced.  We will continue on that path.

a. Vision ~ We will continue to work toward reducing District debt and to free up resources for church planting, church revitalization, pastoral care and leadership.  The vision is to cut the District debt in half – or by $1.75 million by 2017.

MISSION ~ REACHING

I have shared at the outset the challenge we face to grow as a District.  I see challenge as opportunity. Let us take our foot off the brake and begin to aggressively move forward in reaching our District, our nation, our world, indeed this generation with the Gospel.

1. Church Planting ~ My friend, David Gable, Assistant Superintendent from Southern California, has said it best, “We plant new churches or we die!”  You saw evidence of the strength of this District on Monday night because of church planting.

a. Vision ~ We commit to a cohesive and strategic plan for church planting that includes funding, training, releasing of churches to plant so that we grow this District to 500 churches in 10 years.  There will be no territorialism, rather an aggressive planting strategy to the cities and towns of Northern California and Nevada.

2. Missions ~ This is the heart of God, therefore the heart of this District and this fellowship.  A/G Missions is literally at the forefront of a tremendous revival sweeping this world.  This District will be a leader in finding, sending, and doing missions, here and abroad.

a. Vision ~ We commit to providing leadership, giving opportunities, and lay involvement so that 100% of our churches are active in the support of missions, both home and world.  Further, the District will begin a plan starting in 2008 to move to a full tithe from its General Fund to missions by 2017.

3. Resourcing ~ We call the building at 6051 South Watt, the District Resource Center.  We will become in practice what we are in name.  We exist to serve ministers, churches and ministries.  That is our purpose; this is what we will do.

a. Vision ~ Every District sponsored ministry will have as their primary mission the training, equipping, and resourcing of the local church.  Each event is to be designed to provide ministry to and for the local church and to see participation by 75% of all churches in some event, training or ministry, and a 30% increase in overall attendance at annual District ministry events.

Summary ~ I’ve given you a lot – about an hours worth.  I fully understand that the District Resource Center, 6051 South Watt Ave, the officers, and ministry directors can do nothing without your support, involvement, or cooperation.  This is a vision for the next 10 years.  It will not be done overnight or each component all at once.  In fact, the first two emphases will be Pastoral Care and Church Planting.  I also realize that by working together, in harmony, recognizing individual giftings, styles, and methods, and releasing of individuals and churches to effectively touch their communities, we can make a difference as the Northern California and Nevada District.  We are many members but one body.

Let me summarize all I’ve said before into a simple paragraph:

Our vision is for the NCN District to expand its ministries, ministers, churches, and outreach through growing relationships, dedicated leadership, quality training, Spirit anointed ministry, and the releasing of resources to accomplish all God has called us to be and do over the next ten years.

From this vision and the components of this vision will come the goals and strategies to help accomplish the vision.  We commit to you to listen, to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and to the needs of the members of this fellowship.  We will constantly review and evaluate all we are doing and to wait before God for His revelation and direction.

Above all else, we will bathe everything in constant prayer.  We will be open to the direction of the Holy Spirit.  We will live and work in anticipation of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and we will remain true to that statement made in 1916 at Stone Church in Chicago —

“We commit ourselves to the greatest evangelism the world has ever seen.”

To this I add —
“So help us God!”

And

Will you join us in this quest?