An Acts 2 Vision For Your Church
Imagine pastoring a church where revival came. The Word was preached with Pentecostal anointing. People were coming to the altar, getting saved, and being blessed. Miracles were happening. People were being filled with the Spirit and speaking in tongues. A dream come true? But what if that church continued a pattern of over three decades? That’s the dream or nightmare that Alton Garrison found himself living through.
After 18 years as an effective evangelist, Alton was entrusted with the congregation of a historic church. The year was 1986. He prayed, preached, and gave invitations that resulted in salvations every Sunday. The congregation grew. And yet, after 24 months, he was frustrated. He felt the church had a potential it had not obtained.
In his words, Alton lacked a “process.”
Equipping For Five Functions
It wasn’t long before he prayerfully surfaced a model, a plan, and a strategic process from Acts 2. The plan is based on five functions observed in Acts 2:41-47: evangelism, discipleship, ministry, fellowship, and worship.
These five functions are what a biblically functioning community looks like. The terms are nothing new. Implementing them is transformative. To lead a vitalized New Testament church, a pastor needs to implement a strategic plan to equip every believer of all ages and stages in their congregation to worship, connect, grow, serve and go.
You are one of those leaders who are passionate about following God’s will, building a soul-winning church, and making disciples who make disciples. But you’re also looking for a plan to channel your passion because you realize that passion without a plan is fruitless.
We know that pastors seeking to do God’s will don’t want a simplistic, formulaic plan that requires no spiritual fervour or biblical depth. You want to see God do something only He can do. The Acts 2 Journey is not a stereotypical approach that is the answer to all the problems in a church.
Simply put, the Acts 2 Journey will help you discover God’s vision of the “next” for your church and develop a strategic plan to fulfill that vision. Vision is a difficult word. It suffers from overuse. Vision can mean many things to many people, much like the idea of “love.” Simply put, a church’s vision is where you are going, why you are going there, and how most likely you will get there.
An Acts 2 Journey
The beauty of the ACTS 2 Journey is that it works in small or large churches, rural or urban, large or small budgets.
The Acts 2 Journey will help you assess your church’s current reality, discover a renewed sense of vision, clarify the values that will drive you toward your purpose, and emerge with properly aligned systems and a contextualized plan to reach your community and make disciples.
Coaches facilitate the Acts 2 Journey to help you strengthen your church spiritually, numerically and relationally.
The secret sauce of an Acts 2 Journey is working with a team of chosen leaders from your church. Every pastor needs a team. A team chosen by you. People who care, people who believe, and people who will dream with you about the future of the church.
In an Acts 2 Journey, the team meets for a series of four weekend retreats over the course of ten months to pray, dream, and strategize about the future of your church.
Here’s what we’ve seen in the ABNWT. The Acts 2 Journey can create or deepen a partnership between a pastor and her or his team that will benefit the local church for years. The fun and encouragement of working together can make a huge difference that lasts.
10 Strategic Questions
You and your team will answer ten strategic questions. The answers become the basis for a plan you can follow to get you from where you are to where God is leading you.
Why do we exist? (Mission)
Where are we going? (Vision)
How should we behave? (Values)
How will we get there? (Strategic Plan)
How will we engage new people? (Go)
How will we treat them when they arrive? (Connect)
How will we disciple them? (Grow)
How will we train them to serve? (Serve)
How will we involve them in missions, both locally and globally? (Go)
How will we help them encounter God? (Worship)
The first three questions will occupy your team’s attention for the initial months. Answers to questions 5-10 will help you craft a strategic plan to take you into your future.
Nuts and Bolts
The Acts 2 Journey is based on the book A Spirit-Empowered Church by Alton Garrison. Alton was the pastor who led his church into vibrant discipleship and evangelism. He subsequently served as a District Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of the Assemblies of God. He now leads a team that supports churches in North America and around the globe through Acts 2 Journeys.
The nuts and bolts of an Acts 2 Journey revolve around:
the book,
your team,
4 Saturday retreats,
leadership training for the pastor and spouse,
monthly team meetings for prayer and planning,
a vision launch Sunday at the end of the ten months and
ongoing support of coaches.
A retreat weekend looks like this:
Friday afternoon in-person meeting with the pastor and spouse or a Zoom call before the Saturday retreat for practical training to assist the pastor lead adaptive change.
Saturday team meeting from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm facilitated by coaches.
Between retreats, there are monthly team meetings to develop the mission, vision, and values of your church, as well as a strategic plan.
Your team works towards a Vision Sunday when the whole team shares in launching the vision and plan. The beauty of this is the unity of your team, which is made up of people in the congregation who are recognized as friends or influencers in your congregation. This is a shared vision and plan. The Launch Sunday will be followed up with coaching-supported implementation over the next few years.
The cost to your church is simply:
• A book for each team member, $15 Canadian.
• $150 for each of the four retreats or $600 over ten months.
• Lunch, coffee, and snacks for each team member at the retreats, about $16 each.
Struggling With Change
Alton discovered that embracing the plan God had for his church required something pastors typically shy away from.
Adaptive change.
What got you to where you are won’t get you to where God wants you to be.
Pastors like Alton, who struggle with change, may think that people are the problem. Churches don’t change because the people won’t let them change. However, the people aren’t always the problem. More often than not, it’s us as pastors that need to change. An unwillingness to do things differently is one of the biggest challenges that keeps pastors and churches stuck.
Do you want to create an environment for people in your church to become healthy and to grow?
Do you want God to do something only He can do – in and through you?
Are you ready for more effective discipleship, a new outward focus and the experience of the Holy Spirit’s power?
Are you ready to equip and elevate believers to become effective and committed ministers?
Your first step is to let us know if you are interested in discussing an Acts 2 Journey.
Email us at coach@abnwt.com or call Bob Jones at 780-707-5569.
Our next Acts 2 Journey cohorts start in November 2024 and run in January 2025.
Bob Jones is the founder of REVwords.com, an author, blogger, and coach with 39 years of pastoral experience. Bob is also an Advance Coach with the ABNWT Resource Centre. You can connect with Bob here.