Designed

Here are a few quotes from Will Mancini's book, "Church Unique":

"Everyday, local churches step either closer to or further away from becoming the movement that God designed them to be" (xxii).

"Until leaders not only embrace uniqueness but celebrate and leverage it, they will miss out on God's best for their ministry" (xxv).

The crucial issue [for growth] is not the central theme of the strategy [for the church]. The crucial question is whether the congregation, including the configuration of the paid staff, is organized to be supportive of a clearly defined and widely supported central strategy. In other words, the central strategy you choose is not as important as whether there is ownership and integration around whatever strategy you choose" (xxvii).

These quotes speak to me as questions. What movement are we designed for? How do I ensure that we are progressing forward, stepping towards fulfillment of God's vision for this people? How do we, how can we discover our uniqueness, celebrate it and leverage it? Is it even okay to leverage it? When I hear those words I hear marketing propaganda; though, I don't believe that is what is intended. If the central strategy isn't the most important; but the ownership and integration around the strategy is, how do you ensure that you are not just catering to people's wants and desires? What if a particular strategy is good and whole but not accepted? What if a strategy is chosen that gains the most support but weak and lacking; perhaps even harmful?

As I enter this text, I do want to work on discovering the unique identity and mission that God has created in and for Emmanuel Nazarene. I hope that as we begin this adventure we can enter in and become a movement of God's making and his design.