Prologue to a New Vision Statement

Dec 10, 2023 @ 12:45 pm - 2:15 pm

Prologue to a 
New Vision Statement
Sunday, December 10, 2023
12:45 – 2:15 pm
in the chapel
Open to Everyone

 

At our Fall Meeting we talked briefly about rewriting our vision statement. A vision statement should be an image of how the community will be changed just by having Red River UU as a presence in it. The statement should not have verbs. A sample is: “a more welcoming and accepting society in Texoma.” We have a group of folks who volunteered to be on a vision writing committee. In order to give the committee broader input, let’s meet after the Morning Assembly in the chapel on December 10^th to brainstorm ideas. Bring your plate from Conversation and Calories and let’s converse! December 10^th – Plan on it!

Here’s some references to help us think through what we want to achieve…

Our mission (from our bylaws):  We are a diverse liberal religious community that seeks to uphold and promote the Principles and Purposes of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Our Congregation welcomes and accepts all people. We reach out beyond our Congregation to serve as a catalyst for social action.

Our tagline:  Celebrating compassion, diversity, and spiritual growth  –  Taken from our vision statement created in 2002 (unsure of the date) done during a workshop:  “We are a sanctuary for religious liberals, celebrating compassion, diversity, and spiritual growth.  A statement created some years ago.

Recently we’ve been using three brief statements, each containing two words:  Spiritually Alive – Radically Inclusive – Justice Centered on the morning program that we started using because they seemed to capture who we are.

Here are some helpful ideas about creating a vision statement

 

Church vision statements can bring meaning and direction to your team. According to Top Non Profits, a church vision statement is a short statement describing the clear and inspirational long-term desired change resulting from an organization or program’s work.

Defining your church’s desired change helps everyone to be on the same page. So what does a good vision statement look like? How do you go about writing a church vision statement? Is it possible to define your church’s goal in one sentence? Should it be a long sentence or a short sentence?

Keep in mind that a church vision statement is different than a church mission statement. For more on church mission statements, check out this article.

Here are findings and examples of church vision statement examples to get you started.

General Findings

• The best vision statements are inspirational, clear, memorable, and concise.
• The average number of words in these church vision statements is 15 words. Your church vision statement does not have to be long and strenuous. You want your church staff and church members to see the vision of what your church will look like in the future.
• The shortest vision statement from this list contains only 4 words (Westover Hills)
• The longest vision statement from this list contains 127 words (Planetshakers)
• Many churches intentionally or unintentionally blend elements of mission statements (what they do) into their vision statements (the desired end state).

8 Church Vision Statement Examples

1. Westover Hills (San Antonio, TX): A Place for Everyone. (4 words)
2. The Rock (San Diego, CA): Living out what we believe. (5 words)
3. City on a Hill (Melbourne, Australia): Knowing Jesus and Making Jesus Known. (6 words)
4. East 91st Street Christian Center (Indianapolis, IN): Helping people take next steps with Jesus. (7 words)
5. Brainerd Baptist (Chattanooga, TN): From the Scenic City to the World. (7 Words)
6. Church of Christ the King (Brighton, England): Helping people find their way back to God. (8 words)
7. Christ Church of the Valley (Peoria, AZ): A place where faith and real life intersect. (8 words)
8. HighPoint Church (Memphis, TN): We believe this is His vision for us. (8 words)

 

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