I ran into Marian Liautaud with Christianity Today last week. She made the remark, “Gosh it seems like Church Unique is staying active as a book.” She meant it as a compliment which I gladly received. But part of me wanted to scream, “That’s because it’s not a book! It’s a field manual for vision.”
I am grateful for the daily e-mails and feedback I get from my heros. My hero is the everyday pastor living out the mission of Jesus. At some point they want to articulate really, really well, their unique calling. Many get charged-up to think that God has given them the stewardship of a vision FOR Him and FROM Him.
Here are a few recent comments I received. First is a pastor from Arizona:
I’m a Sr. Pastor in Tucson, AZ. Over the past 6 months, the leadership of our church used your book as a tool to reshape our vision. It’s been a great success. I recently preached two messages to our church describing what’s next for us. Overwhelmingly, the church is behind it and we’re making adjustments to reach our community. The vision map we created has seemed to be most helpful. People understand their role, and they are excited about it. I just wanted to thank you for sharing your knowledge. The book helped us tremendously. Our church is unique, and it’s clear to see through our vision articulation.
Another Pastor from Idaho…
Church Unique has been a great book for stoking conversation and bringing clarity to the mission of individual churches.Maybe its just the way my mind works, but the illustrations and processes just make sense to me. I just started another round of using Church Unique to help our leaders grab hold of the unique opportunities God has given to us.
What gets me pumped up is the fact that Church Unique is not a book, but an on-ramp to process. A journey of prayer and discernment; a voyage of dialogue, collaboration and risk taking!
I also just heard from a pastor in Kentucky. He is working through the book with 8 other pastors all hammering out their vision together, though the virtual peer learning groups represents churches in five states. I love it!
How is your process going?
