Transitioning Leading Your Church Through Change

Transitioning Copyright © 1999 by Dan Southerland First Zondervan Edition 2000 Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Southerland, Dan. Transitioning: leading your church through change / Dan Southerland. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN: 0-310-24268-1 (softcover) 1. Church growth. 2. Church renewal. I. Title. BV652.2 .S59 2000 253-dc 21 96-086314 All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJ are from The New King James Bible, Copyright © 1984. Scripture quotations marked LB are from The Living Bible, Copyright © 1971. Scripture quotations marked ASV are from The American Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1946. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other - except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Permission is given to reproduce any of the outlines and materials in the workbook section of this publication (pages 173-239) for use in your local church only; not for resale or publication. Printed in the United States of America 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 - 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 We want to hear from you. Please send your comments about this book to us in care of zreview@zondervan.com. Thank you. Step 1 Preparing For Vision In my family, we grew up with a standard vacation plan. Every year we would drive from whatever part of Texas or Oklahoma we were living in at the time to the same lake in Arkansas where we would go tent camping. And we would spend every waking moment skiing, swimming, fishing, and motorcycling. Taking a family of six on a two week out-in-the-woods style vacation was not a small venture. Although the journey to our destination was not long (five-six hours), it took weeks of getting ready. It was such a major change in lifestyle to transition from the suburbs to the lake shore that it took some very deliberate preparation to pull it off. Vision is not just a destination; it is a journey Preparation is a major part of vision. The reason lies in the essence of vision itself. Vision is not just a destination; it is a journey. Vision is not just a product; it is a process. Vision is not just the finish line; it is the whole race. Any business guru can tell you that research and development is a major part of producing a winning product. Any athlete knows that winning the competition begins with training. Any seasoned traveler can testify that front end preparation is vital to a successful trip. Paul captured the essence of vision when he wrote these words: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9 For our eyes to see God's vision, for our ears to hear God's voice, and for our minds to conceive of God's plan, we must spend time in major preparation. Before we can receive God's vision for His church we must prepare for vision. God's vision for your church is big stuff so the preparation for that vision must be big stuff as well. Our plans versus God's vision I love this verse about vision: Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 This verse was written with today's church in mind. Today, our churches tend to have many plans. They have nuSoutherland, Dan is the author of 'Transitioning Leading Your Church Through Change', published 2002 under ISBN 9780310242680 and ISBN 0310242681.