Percept's ReVision, A Congregational Direction-setting Process

Does your congregation know its neighbors, how they are similar to you and how they are different?  Does it have a vision of what God is calling it to be your community?  Does it know how it might begin to achieve that vision?   ReVision is a process offered by a company called Percept to help congregations find the answers to those questions.

The Process

There is first a survey of congregation members to obtain basic demographic and ethnographic information and preferences.  Percept then analyzes the data obtained, compares it with similar information it has collected about the community in which the congregation is located, and provides the congregation with pictures of itself and the local community in what it calls a Context report.

In small groups the congregation then reflects on the information in the Context report in light of a set of Biblical passages in order to ascertain the gaps between the church and the community and the gaps between the current situation in the church, the "what is," and the situation as God would want it, the "what should be."  Evolving from each group's discussions are 1) a vision of the congregation as God calls it to be; 2) a description of the congregation's mission, that is, how the congregation sees itself making that vision a reality; 3) recommendations for specific initiatives the congregation should take in the next three years to close the gap between what it is and what it should be; and 3) the steps to be taken in the first year.

A ReVision Task Force made up of members of the congregation assembles the groups' various recommendations, analyzes them, and incorporates them into a coherent draft ReVision Report containing statements of the vision and mission of the congregation, along with three to five major initiatives that should have priority in the ensuing three years and three to five steps it should take in the next year, all aimed at making the vision become a reality.

At a two-day retreat the Task Force works out a refined draft of the ReVision Report on which it can agree.  After consideration by the entire congregation and incorporation of its input, a final ReVision Plan goes to the congregation's governing body for adoption.

Next comes work toward implementation of the first-year steps.  At the end of the year, there is an evaluation of that effort and the following year's steps are chosen.  The process is repeated and then, at the end of the third year, mission statements are reviewed and adapted as necessary in light of a refreshed Context report and new initiatives and one-year steps are set.

The ReVision process is fitted to the specific congregation.    Built into the survey instrument is a section designed to let the congregation rate its own programs and ministries.  The specific geographic boundaries of the local community used by Percept for comparison are set by the congregation.  Some congregations have also amended the process, for example, by shortening the reflection process and by meeting in large, rather than small, groups.

The Outcome

The results include a better understanding by the congregation of how it compares with the local community, a vision it would like to achieve, and the beginnings of movement in that direction.  There are also other benefits, those that come from a large segment of the congregation participating in serious Bible-based discussions of current conditions and visions for the future.  People talk to each other more openly than they may ever have before.  Significant issues are brought to the surface, perhaps for the first time.  And the Gospel is more likely to be taken into consideration as the congregation chooses its path.

The more the members of the congregation are involved in the planning and in execution of ReVision, the more likely that positive concrete actions will be the result.

Requirements

In addition to Percept's fees, there are expenses for newsprint for the small groups in the reflection phase and for a great deal of copying.  The human effort involves 1) planning and coordinating the whole process, beginning with the survey of the congregation; 2) as many members of the congregation as possible meeting in small groups for eight sessions of two hours each; 3) combining the diverse recommendations from all the small groups into a single report that represents the beliefs and thinking of the congregation; 4) working out a final ReVision Plan that the congregation and its governing body support; and 5) finally actually making the changes in the life of the congregation that are indicated in the plan.  The grace of God, which is also needed for the success of the endeavor, is available for the asking, through prayer.