Vision of Vision Community Church

When I think of vision I realize that my views of what the word means have changed over the years. I think of vision less as something that “appears” and more as something that develops as we serve the Lord. This is certainly true here at Lifeline Ministries and Vision Community Church. I think of something Dave Ferguson said in his excellent article, “Does The Vision Really Come First?” He says, “could Peter Drucker be right when he said, "decisions are not so much made as they become apparent?" See, if you would have asked me a few years back what is the first step for innovating the church I would have said, "it always starts with a vision". But experience has taught me that spiritual innovators look for "God-things" first and as a result of that comes the vision.”

The vision to keep planting churches really developed more and more as we realized the importance of the local church in God’s plan for His Kingdom and as it became evident that we were raising up far more leaders than we could utilize effectively in one local Body. We felt a real conviction that to not utilize those leaders would be to hide our talents in the sand and sin against the Lord. It was then we began praying earnestly about another location and continued to seek the Lord on what that church should be like.

For many years we have been passionate in our study of church structure and effective ministry. In scripture they would appoint one group of Elders over and area, where various churches met in different locations. Since we already have a well-established twenty year history in the Lifeline Council leadership it seemed senseless to start over each time we plant a new congregation. In many church plants they start over every time. Vision Community Church in Marsing has been so successful and so effective in ministry it would be silly to just send someone out to build from scratch. We’ve learned many lessons along the way that do not have to be learned again.

It’s never been our way to chase after current fads. For us the vision is discovered and the model is developed by prayer and the study of God’s Word. Still, it can be exciting when you find out that the Lord is bringing the same truth to light in other places. I was speaking to a dear friend and brother by the name of Brian Corcoran one day. Brian is a Lifeline Pastor who ministers in Boston, Ma. As I shared what the Lord was bringing about in terms of vision he said, “that sounds like a multi-site church.” He sent me a few web links on churches that were using the multi-site model and sure enough, it was pretty close to what we are doing here. It turns out it’s the hot new thing in church planting circles. We didn’t find the multi-site model and then fashion a plan around it, but rather it served as confirmation after we discovered it through scripture, prayer, and experience. I will include a few links on the multi-site approach at the end of this article.

Whatever resemblance this vision bears to the multi-site model I prefer to simply refer to it as scriptural. We also call it “The Reproducing Church.” It is well known that new churches that do not re-plant in the first five years likely never will. With our long-term commitment to raising up leaders and training believers it was the obvious next choice. As I mentioned, vision develops over time. They become obvious because God is never vague. It has been said that in church planting, outreach and discipleship are generally a motive but rarely a growth strategy.

In the vision God has before us, the Great Commission is the motive and the growth strategy. So we head into Parma with a competent Worship Team, Lead Pastor, Associate Pastor, Youth Pastor, and Children’s Director. This is far from the old model of church planting where the mother church sent some guy and a family from the church to a town and said, “make it grow.” We have the music, the children’s and youth programs, the small group leaders, and the preaching and teaching covered from the start. We also have the audio/visual and technical areas covered. Further, the new church can offer an accredited ministry training college program from day one. The doctrine is well established, as is the leadership and structure. The learning curve is minimal. Ministry can move forward right away. It’s pretty exciting to see what God is doing.

So why Parma? We get asked this question all the time. I have to chuckle when I think of how similar it sounds to all of the “why Marsing?” questions we heard in the beginning. The quick and simple answer is because that vision developed over time as we were serving the Lord. We spent time praying and confirming this before we ever finalized the location. It’s not our way to spend a lot of effort on demographic research, but rather to seek the heart and will of God. Clearly, the Lord has proven His will for the church in Marsing and He will do the same in Parma. Many will say that there are already enough Christian churches in each of these towns. We do not seek to disparage any existing church. I think it is notable that in Marsing virtually all of our people were either non-believers who got saved here or they were believers who were wandering in the wilderness with no steady home fellowship. In fact, I can’t think of anyone in our congregation who was an active part of another church in Marsing and then quit to come here. A few were driving to towns far away for church and now come here, but I believe we have had no local transfer growth. That is incredible, and it means we are reaching those we should be reaching. Vision Community Church brings it’s own unique character to an area. We believe there is a need for that ministry virtually everywhere. I am often asked why a ministry with the reputation and resources that Lifeline has keeps planting churches in small communities. While I admit it would seem more logical to head to the huge population centers, we just keep going where the Lord sends us. I suspect He knows what He is doing.

That unique character of Vision Community Church is a casual, contemporary fellowship where people can find the Lord and grow all the way to Pastoral ministry if that is their calling and desire. It’s a place where you don’t have to feel threatened. The emphasis is not on how people dress or how they look. I have never seen a church where so many people fill out a response card on the first visit and say things like, “this is the church I’ve always looked for” or “I’m making this my home church.” That is commonly the response on the first day! I believe that this is due to several factors, the most important of which is the authentic sense of the Lord’s presence. In addition, we take the “real people, changed lives” principle very seriously. We have a preaching series about this titled, “No More Excuses, Separating God’s Church From Man’s.” We would be happy to send you a copy on CD free of charge. Just e-mail us and request it. We have little use for religion for religion’s sake alone. As people grow with us they find that the casual and relational atmosphere is coupled with a spiritual and biblical depth uncommon in many church settings. Our leaders take study and training very seriously. We believe leaders should be always growing and broadening their gifting and understanding. This leads to authentic and qualified spiritual leadership with little pretense. We have no desire to In fact we generally try to find buildings that are not fancy, and we put little effort into the frills. We want people to know from the beginning that we are far more committed to function than to form. We are real people doing real ministry for a real God. This is a healing community where broken people can find salvation and purpose. It’s a church where God’s people can engage in vital worship and relationships with others, and it’s a headquarters for ministry where God is doing great things through His people.

The importance of qualified and called spiritual leadership is central to the vision. We offer discipleship training far beyond what is generally found in a local fellowship. In fact, the whole reproducing church concept would fall apart without a central passion for training leadership. In scripture it is the local church that bears the responsibility for training ministers and leaders, not a college campus hundreds of miles away. Vision Community Church is a place where anyone with a true commitment to the Lord and a calling on their life can find a place to live out their calling. This is true regardless of their background or experience. Jesus made a habit of choosing the unlikely ones. I like to use the term, “unlikely heroes.” Those are the people that God is using. He is raising up common and broken people to do great things. Not everyone is called to Pastoral ministry or another leadership position, but all believers are called to be ministers. We want Vision Community Church is a place where you will have the opportunity to get to where God wants you to be. We don’t pressure people, but we do outline the way to get to where they want to go. In many local church settings, there is one Pastor and a few Sunday School teachers. The Lord’s Body is much more diverse than that. He has a plan for your life. We want to help you live in all the fulfillment that the Lord has for you. Many of our people are gifted folks who struggled to find their place in the Body until they found us. Our current ministry and future vision is to remain committed to strengthening God’s people and being a place where they can honestly grow. Vision Bible College is an internationally accredited ministry training program with distance learning students all over the world, and a number of students who are being trained here for ministry.

So where is it all going? We are in the midst of building the new congregation in Parma and reaching out with the Gospel there. Meanwhile we are already training the primary leadership for the next church plant which we expect to begin in two years (Lord willing). In general, we plan to plant another congregation every two years as the Lord wills and provided we have the leadership. We don’t think of these as new churches, but rather as extensions of the same church meeting in different areas. Once again, the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20 is both the motive and the growth strategy. In that there is no limit. People need the Lord and the Lord’s people need a local church where they can be built up and connected to the Body. We are connected with thousands of churches around the world. The vision here includes setting an example that can be effectively used in other places. Through Vision Community Church and Lifeline Ministries we have an opportunity to make a powerful difference in the lives of those around us and in many other places in our world. We’re hoping you will come and believe with us as we reach out with the truth of our Lord.

That’s an overview of the vision, but it is constantly developing as we work together for the Lord’s purpose. It is our prayer that many will come to find a vital relationship with the Lord and His people through the work in Parma just as they are in Marsing. Then as we continue to expand the outreach around the valley and beyond, may the Lord use the work to meet many needs and bring completion and purpose to many lives.