A Time of Celebration

When Vision New England looks to the future, we see cause for great hope in churches across New England. For the past several years, churches from more than 25 denominations are focused on becoming vibrant and healthy through the Healthy Church Initiative. We see pastors and church leaders changing their approach, trying new and innovative ways of proclaiming the unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ—and seeing their churches grow, at times dramatically. We see renewed excitement and commitment to live for Christ at events like the Pastors’ Prayer Summit. We see individuals transformed as the Holy Spirit’s power moves them to new levels of intimacy with Christ and commitment to His Great Commission. We see people joyously working together across barriers that have previously divided, creating unprecedented unity. These evidences of God’s renewing work of grace in our region affirm our vision for the future.

We want to share and enlarge that vision. We want to tell New England that great things are happening within the body of Christ and how you can strengthen your participation in the Time of Celebration

Input from New England churches leads to ministry success

Developing and delivering the right ministry solutions for addressing today's ever-changing ministry requirements remains a constant challenge for Vision New England staff. Yet we are constantly re-invigorated! We are continually encouraged with the evidence that our ministry initiatives are making a difference across New England. We credit our Ministry Directors with developing ministry initiatives and resources that help us deliver the right solutions to our member churches. But we want to do even better.

We want to listen to you consistently and with an open mind so we can serve you better!

And our vehicle for encouraging dialogue with churches across New England is called the Strategic Leadership Network.

Maximum ministry impact

Churches across New England face new and different challenges and the need for continuous change. To continue your ministry success tomorrow, you must prepare today. As a result, becoming a healthier church calls for healthy self-assessments, identifying areas of health and ill health. Strategic planning, once considered a luxury or unnecessary in churches, helps you determine how to move purposefully toward greater health. Vision New England has emerged as a leader in providing comprehensive, church-wide self-assessment opportunities that enable you to turn ministry needs into opportunities for healthy growth and renewed vitality.

Churches across New England—members of the Strategic Leadership Network—agree with this perspective. If you do too, you are an ideal candidate for membership in the Strategic Leadership Network.

Putting good ideas into action

With commitment and support from Vision New England, the Strategic Leadership Network plays a key role in helping Vision New England bring health and vitality to local churches. The Strategic Leadership Network—a vibrant, New England-wide, continually-growing network of church leaders, lay leaders and Ministry Directors from Vision New England—contributes to our ability to develop the right solutions for meeting ministry needs.

At regularly scheduled Network Conferences—held in the Vision New England headquarters in Acton, MA, and at churches “out in the Region”—members gather to share their unique perspectives, review and analyze ministry trends and future plans. They identify new ministry requirements necessary for serving their church more effectively. Input from Network Fellows, church leaders who are recognized as strategic thinkers within the Christian community, help Vision New England focus on designing and delivering the very best ministry initiatives--initiatives that members tell us they really need.

Sharing makes the Strategic Leadership Network an

             effective ministry tool for all involved.

Network Fellows: focused on their ministry

The Network Fellow is the primary member of the three-member triad within the Strategic Leadership Network. Each Network Fellow is a personally invited representative, recruited specifically because of his or her commitment to an environment that encourages strategic thinking—and their reputation as a leader in the application of new and innovative ideas for proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in their church and their local area.

Fellows are nominated because they:

* are leaders who think strategically about the impact of their churches on the community;

* are responsible for selection and deployment of ministry efforts within their churches;

* have demonstrated experience in moving toward a healthier church environment, and

* can discuss strategic ministry issues, share insights, and provide recommendations for specific ministry initiatives.

In exchange for their candor, Fellows receive up-to-date ministry and program information, and possibly tailored solutions for their short-term needs. Over time, their involvement with the Strategic Leadership Network ensures that they—and all churches in the region—can have the very best ministry initiatives and services supporting their churches' prime asset, the members of the Body of Christ.

Network Advisors: nurturing relationships

Network Advisors add a unique “lay” dimension to the Network. Typically, they have a close relationship with several churches within their local area. As the second key member of the Strategic Leadership Network triad, they become advocates for their churches, able to seek—and receive—support from Vision New England. In this liaison position, Network Advisors are assets to all Network members, ensuring that the issues and perspectives of their local churches and Vision New England are in line.

Network Partners: developing the ministry programs

The third member of the collegial triad comes from the Vision New England staff, one of the Ministry Directors or senior managers. Within the Network, the Partner is in a unique position to listen and learn how effective their ministry initiatives are—or are not—in the real world of the Fellows and Advisors, and then influence or direct change.

Network Partners want to hear the strategic issues and needs facing Fellows and Advisors, and obtain the broader feedback on Vision New England services and business practices. In this way, they can affect ministry initiative development that more accurately reflects the needs of the churches and the communities that they serve. And, in certain cases, Partners may be able to provide Fellows with specially tailored solutions to their short-term ministry situations.

Network Conferences: reflecting commitment to churches

Each Network Conference is a reflection of Vision New England’s commitment to listen very carefully to the needs of the churches, and prayerfully incorporate these insights and new ideas into their ministry initiative development. This will provide our churches with the practical ministry initiatives they need to serve their community more effectively. Held twice annually – sometimes in the Vision New England headquarters but more often “out in the Region” --  each Conference is an opportunity for Fellows, Advisors and Partners to spend significant and productive time together, face-to-face in a collegial environment.

Attendees review progress made on issues brought up at the previous Conference. They give feedback on current issues ranging from policies to potential new ministry initiatives. They provide insights on the changing environment and suggest potential new offerings. They join in roundtable discussions that focus on future directions, or strategic issues and perspectives. Regardless, Fellows and Advisors experience first-hand Vision New England’s commitment to listen carefully to their needs, address their concerns appropriately, and respond in a timely manner.

A flow of information to keep you up-to-date

It is important to stress that the Strategic Leadership Network is a grass-roots group of church and lay leaders whose “need to know” is as great as Vision New England’s “need to hear.”

That is why the Strategic Leadership Network maintains continual contact with its entire membership across New England between conferences. They receive quarterly electronic and hard-copy communication. Each “package” contains new program information, new literature, program updates, and ministry articles—all kinds of information, useful on multiple levels. They receive full reports of the feedback from Fellows and Advisors following each conference. Members may access a “community-building website” at any time.

Help Vision New England deliver solutions for this new century

Meet with us and talk with us. We commit to listen to you. Your peers represent churches across New England! The combination of diverse cultural backgrounds and ministry experiences provide a fertile environment for honestly sharing information on what it takes to serve effectively within the Body of Christ—from your local church perspective, and from our regional, organizational one—here in New England.