Radio has two stakeholders. The audience and the sponsors, or donors in the noncommercial radio world.

Each of the stakeholder’s needs must be met, in both the analogue and the digital space, for the radio business model to thrive again.

Christian teaching and talk radio has a third stakeholder. The content provider.

The content provider — pastor, teacher, leader, church, ministry and organization — is the most important stakeholder in the Christian teaching brand.

Why?

No content provider. No gospel radio.

Creative programmers can dream up all sorts of content ideas.

However, without the teaching and preaching of the gospel, and the conversations and community that surround it, the Christian teaching and talk radio format will cease to exist as we know it. Over the air or online.

Some Christian media experts have argued that the age of distributing sermons in realtime throughout the week via electronic media (vs. podcast, archive, etc.) has ended.

The most common reasons? The almost limitless supply of religious content online. People are seeking individualized and customized media experiences. Technology is producing shorter attention spans and a marked reduction in our ability to think abstractly.

Perhaps some of these things are true. The Internet is changing everything. Neuroscientists are looking earnestly at the way technology is changing behavior.

Internet is not changing these five things about Christian media

However, the Internet is not changing at least these five things about Christian media (technology).

1. Communicators will sense a call to “preach” the gospel throughout the world via media every day, until the coming of that last day. (1 Corinthians 9:16)

2. There are millions of Americans and billions worldwide that are lost and many will only hear about the hope and love of Christ through media. (Matthew 24:14, John 12:48)

3. Specialists will be needed to help communicators with the best practices and to share in the risks of distributing the gospel using all types of media. (Romans 16:3-4)

4. There will always be a need for innovative thinking and creative ways to use media for advancing the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:22)

5. There is no more important area for content curation (the highly proactive and selective approach to finding, collecting, presenting and displaying digital content around predefined sets of criteria and subject matter) than the gospel. (Romans 10:14)

Creating community and distributing regionalized content are in this mix too. Ideas are being developed.

Key to successful partnership with ministry stakeholders

The key to a successful partnership between Christian broadcasters and ministry stakeholders has not been the station transmitter and tower (technology). It won’t be about transcoding or encoding data, mobile platforms or digital convergence either.

Success has been and will continue to be based on how effective media specialists are in doing two things: connecting content providers with the people God has called them to reach; and, creating a quality experience around those relationships to advance the gospel.

Technology facilitates the spread of the gospel.

That hit home to me again during a recent evening of stimulating discussion about ministry and technology with church consultant Will Mancini and church planters Russell Cravens and Andrew Minchew from Neartown Church.

How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!

God has placed two distinct but complementary visions for spreading the gospel in the hearts of these men. They see people groups in Houston and around the country that no one else is reaching. There was no mistaking that God has put a sense of purpose in their hearts for connecting specifically identified people with Christ and the gospel.

The need, the call, and the vision were intact. There was clarity about the mission. And while they were a little less clear on how digital technology could facilitate their visions, they believed it could. We explored the possibilities.

Technology is no longer the main challenge

All the technology is in place to build the next generation of Christian broadcasting. It is no longer a technology problem.

Helping Christian radio’s current and future content stakeholders leverage technology assets for accomplishing their God-given missions is, as it has always been, a priority.

Listening to their needs and then responding with innovative solutions has to be a part of every Christian broadcasters survival kit.

This is an edited version of notes taken from the live blog of the Auxano Houston co::Lab Session #6. All coaching sessions took place at Gateway Community Church in Clear Lake, TX with Vision Coach, Will Mancini.

The Primary Objective: To define Vision Proper, explain how to cast vision and discuss how to use the Vision Frame in ongoing visioning and planning work.

Vision Proper defined

Vision Proper is the living language that anticipates and illustrates God’s better intermediate future.

The importance of living language is that the vision is always a developing Polaroid picture.

Never static. Always evolving.

Vision Proper is not a vision statement. It is a new dynamic vocabulary. It anticipates and illustrates your future.

We listened to Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream.” The full text here.

Casting vision

Vision is not to be confused with mission. Mission gives direction and integrates activity. Vision inspires sacrifice and creates energy.

There are two types of vision. Qualitative and Quantitative.

Qualitative vision comes first to the leader. God reveals a picture of the future that captures the leaders imagination and affects his heart. The leader can’t contain it and shares it with others.

Quantitative vision expresses milestones used by the leader to focus the people on measurable checkpoints. Benchmarks set to inform the people of their progress toward reaching the mountaintop.

Metaphors are used to connect people to the vision. Vision ought to be like a conk shell at the beach. When you’re not there, it can be picked up and heard.

Jesus used metaphors to communicate. As one co::Lab participant pointed out, “The language of everyday images and stories used by Jesus would have been perfectly understood by His disciples and the people around Him.”

There are six essentials to casting vision effectively.

1. Common Denominator – An emotional connection based on shared history.

2. Burning Platform – People will not be emotionally connected to your vision unless they have been previously connected to the problem the vision is addressing.

3. Golden Tomorrow – The promise of a better world in which people will want to live. How will the vision sound to people that get great satisfaction from spending Sunday’s sleeping in, reading the paper, enjoying relationships with others, having brunch and resting?

4. Wake-up Call – Creating urgency and inducing action. In contemporary terms, The Jack Bauer Factor of articulating Vision Proper. The “NOW!”

5. Mind Stretch – Find an idea, a cross functional initiative, that everyone joins together to accomplish at the same time. “I would throw away a notebook full of plans, objectives and strategies any day, in exchange for one milestone that everyone buys into.” Will Mancini

6. God Smile – Clarifying the biblical basis of the vision and showing how God’s heart is pleased.

Using the Vision Frame for ongoing visioning

Vision Proper lives within the Vision Frame – mission, values, strategy, measures. The Vision Frame provides boundaries for what will be an unpredictable journey. Changes are going to occur.

With the Vision Frame in place, team members will be able to contribute ideas and insights of their own that will complement the actions of the leader. There is room for all the leadership roles of Ephesians 4:11. The entire team has a common starting point and vocabulary adaptable to their individual gifts.

Every day brings vision-casting opportunities. In regular patterns for church at large. Every time leaders meet. When making changes such as multiplying a small group. Every time people are considering membership. Every time you introduce change. Every time you recruit a volunteer.

Leaders must help their teams to live vision daily. This one of the seven things I learned about casting vision during co::Lab, shared in my previous post. A transforming insight.

Thanks Will, Cheryl and Jessica for a great co::Lab. Enjoyed being with everyone and tracking together on vision clarity. Blessings on next steps!! –Andy Sytsma, New Life Church

The Auxano Houston co::Lab has inspired four previous posts: Pursuing God’s Vision for Technology in the Church; Finding Your Church’s Sweet Spot; Digital Missions: What Do You See? and Whose Vision is it Anyways?

In the final hours before our last session (that will be live blogged), I have been reflecting on what I’ve learned about casting vision.

Vision-casting was not new to me prior to co::Lab. Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” I’ve participated in vision planning retreats many times.

I was fairly comfortable with the process.

Where have we been? Where do we want to go? What will the future look like when we get there? Creating vision statements. Writing a strategic plan.

co::Lab reminded me that we should always leave room for continuing education on any subject.

This is especially true when God gives a leader new insights on that subject. During co::Lab, Will Mancini shared with us his original approach for discovering and articulating vision.

Here are seven things that I learned about casting vision during co::Lab.

1. God is the source of all true vision for the local church (and for individuals).

2. God’s vision is unique.

3. Activities, programs and personalities do not equal vision.

4. Discovering uniqueness requires a systematic process.

5. Preparation – praying, learning and discerning what God is doing – is more important than planning.

6. Clarity and simplicity are new imperatives for the Digital Age.

7. God’s unique vision is a lifestyle to be lived daily.

During session five of co::Lab, I journaled in real time for the first time using ScribbleLive.

The last entry from the live blog that day was “Wherever there is great ministry results you will find that people have been intentional in how they work and think.”

co::Lab gave me the opportunity to observe this principle in action.

The intentionality of the Coach and his team. Will and his Auxano team are spearheading a movement for radically changing how the church identifies and expresses God’s unique plan. This is a unified team. They love Christ. It has been a privilege to spend these months together. Participating in co::Lab was a great opportunity. I am grateful.

The intentionality of the Leaders. My fellow co::Laborers were some of the most humble, interesting, on fire pastors and leaders anywhere. It was energizing to watch these men and women focus on discovering God’s unique plan for their churches, their congregations and their own individual lives. I will continue to pray for them.

The co::Lab sessions and collaboration with church leaders provided me with an excellent education about daily church leadership. I’ve learned a lot about the importance of vision integration, particularly as it relates to my own area of focus with New Media and communication technologies.

I knew the co::Lab sessions would come to an end. Though, as I’ve learned, living a lifestyle of visionary leadership is a daily journey that is just beginning.

Postscript: God is using co::Lab and Church Unique to redefine vision with catalytic clarity. I highly recommend Will Mancini as a leader and Auxano as an organization.

When I participated in Auxano’s co::Lab, vision coach Will Mancini led us on the “Vision Pathway” toward a lifestyle of visionary leadership.”

By definition, a lifestyle affects relationships, actions and how things get done.

That makes the source of vision, from which the lifestyle gets its meaning, very important.

Working with Will, I learned three truths about visionary leadership:

Principle #1: All true vision comes from God. “Then the Lord said to me,’Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.’” (Habakkuk 2:2)

Almighty God is the source of all true vision.

God alone wants to reveal His plan for our churches, our ministries, our businesses, and our lives. Not only that, His message is to be assembled in such a way that it can be clearly articulated to others.

From the outset in any major undertaking, there is to be no mistake about the origin of the vision.

Principle #2: God alone enables us to see His vision. “I could not do anything of my own accord.” (Numbers 24:13)

Self centeredness defeats clarity when seeking God’s vision. Leaders must subordinate every desire, every dream, every whim in order for the Lord’s vision to break through. Staying spiritually fit will keep us out of mental fog.

Humility allows the Spirit to confirm in our hearts and minds that the dream or plan is from the Lord, and not something we have conjured up on our own.

Principle #3: The ability to think about or plan toward God’s future takes His wisdom. “I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.” (Proverbs 4:11)

God told Solomon that he could ask for anything and it would be given to him. Solomon asked for wisdom. That may be the number one prayer request of leaders today. God give us wisdom to _____.

Only the Creator of the universe can give us a mental image followed by an understanding of the pathway toward the splendid future He has planned.

Identifying enemies of the vision

It might seem obvious for a Christian leader to say God is the source of all true vision. After all, He is also the author of every true value and every right principle that guides our lives.

What is not always so clear, is identifying the enemies that can cloud our ability to see God’s grand picture. Entrepreneurial leaders are constantly coming up with the new: new ideas, new ways of doing things, new directions, new avenues of growth.

But here’s the thing. The new may be good, but it may not always be best.

In the past year, we have been working with a team of very talented and dedicated digital warriors on a large project.

There have been a few times when our good ideas just didn’t seem good enough to move us forward. The Lord had brought us to a place where to demonstrate that the vision was His, and that He was in control, we needed to agree that we would not take another step until He showed us the best path forward.

We had to put ourselves in a place where either God showed up or we would bow out. By letting go of our good, and waiting for His best, we were saying, “Lord it’s your vision. Lead us.”

His vision, His way

When we subordinate our good for God’s best, even if it means the deal is off, we will experience a greater intimacy with the Creator than if we pushed ahead on our own. What plan, no matter how grand it is, can be better than that?

When we let God carry His vision, His way, we will experience victories over all enemies, foreign and domestic, bent on thwarting our dreams and spiritual lives. We will see the One who called us, the One who is faithful, and the One who will complete the vision.

We will see with a clarity that will completely redefine how we lead others forward with vision.

Question: What is your biggest obstacle to living a lifestyle of visionary leadership?

We just completed the second track of Auxano’s Vision co::Lab at Gateway Community Church in Houston. This is a portion of my notes from the day long session. I wrote previously about the Lab and reasons why I’m attending here.

One of the greatest benefits to being in this learning community is the opportunity to make new friends. Church leaders participating include Wendell Hutchins, Church of Champions; Jim Martin, The River UMC; Steven Barr, LifeWorship Ministries; Matt Neely, The Watershed Church; and Andy Sytsma, New Life Church. Our lead navigator is Will Mancini, Auxano founder and visionary captain.

The primary objective for this session was to learn how to identify and develop The Kingdom Concept. The one thing your church does better than 10,000 others.

Focusing on mission is important to my current thinking and activity regarding media and technology in the church. So I leaned in close to listen.

Finding the sweet spot

Up front, we were told that getting to a single unifying purpose for any individual or organization would be hard work. Mancini said this was because Church leaders had not been trained to think that way. In the past, traditional church models influenced leaders toward the idea of doing a number of things well.

Mancini referred to the hugely successful book, The Purpose Driven Church, where Rick Warren identified five purposes of the church: worship, discipleship, fellowship, mission and ministry. Building vision and mission around those five aspects of ministry enabled churches to generally stay on course.

In today’s challenging climate of declining and plateaued churches, however, Mancini believes greater focus and clarity of purpose are needed. His main point was that God has a unique plan for every church. You just have to be willing to slow down long enough to discover it, he stressed.

Think of it, Mancini told us, as finding your organizational sweet spot; the place where your church’s unique experiences flow as a body of Christ. What your church can do better than any other church.

This thinking may sound familiar. Mancini paid homage to the book Good to Great, where Jm Collins called the idea of doing one thing better than anyone else in the world, ‘The Hedgehog Concept.’  Mancini has creatively reinterpreted the concept for a local church context.

We weren’t left hanging with theory. Mancini took us through the practical process of getting to The Kingdom Concept. We learned that it begins by considering three sets of questions, represented by three concentric circles, stacked pyramid style. Each circle, a different theme of exploration, was designed to help unpack the various expressions of your church’s uniqueness.

The following is a small sample of his questions.

Your Kingdom Concept

Circle One: Local Predicament – Answers the question, “What are the unique needs and opportunities where God has placed you?” What burning issues are alive in the public’s eye and brought to attention by the media? How would you describe the ‘atmosphere of lostness’ in your community? Does the history of your community bring to light any spiritual strongholds?

Circle Two: Collective Potential – Answers the question, “What are the unique resources and capabilities that God brings together in your church?” If a guest visited your church several times and answered the question, ‘What did you like best about that church?’ what would they say?  If your church was immediately uprooted from the community, what would people in the community feel is missing? What spiritual gifts seem to be more prominent in your church?

Circle Three: Apostolic Esprit – Answers the question, “What particular focus most energizes and animates your leadership?” What one thing bothers you most about the world? What do you tend to pray for the most? If you knew you couldn’t fail, what one thing would you pursue for God?

Getting through the entire list of questions will often take a period of weeks or months. The Kingdom Concept is found where the three circles overlap. The ‘sweet spot.’  The final expression comes, he said, when you can fill in the blank below with a clear and concise phrase…

Our church glorifies God and makes disciples by:

________________________________________________________________

We were cautioned about keeping some things out of The Kingdom Concept:

1.  Church growth projections, capital campaigns and building plans

2.  Flashy mission language or the mission language of another church

3.  Random thinking about future possibilities

Mancini likes to quote his mentor, Professor Howard Hendricks, Dallas Theological Seminary. With reference to point #3, he recalled Hendricks saying, “Can dos make it hard to know what one must do for God.”

Chapelwood United Methodist Church, under the leadership of Senior Pastor Jim Jackson, identified their ‘must do’ like this: To Embody God’s Grace As We Receive It To Those Who Need It

Mancini recounted a remarkable event to illustrate how Chapelwood knows its  people are living out their unique mission mandate.

“A number of years ago, on a Sunday, I came to Chapelwood to steal a car. A parking attendant saw me. Instead of calling the police, he invited me into the service. What I found that day was something that I couldn’t steal. I found God’s grace.” (Chapelwood Ministry Leader)

Mancini said Chapelwood’s expression of its Kingdom Concept, had the ‘OOZE Factor.’  O-rginal O-rganic Zeroed-in E-xtravagant…and S-weet.

Question: What does your church do better than 10,000 others?