Writing during the past 14 days of blog silence…

I have been “blog silent” for the past 14 days since my last blog on reaching the “14 years in London” mark. I have been doing a different kind of writing however, and its the kind of “writing” no leader can afford to neglect, which is “Writing the vision.” God told this to the prophet Habakkuk in the book with his name, chapter 2:2 “Write the vision…make it plain…so that he who reads it will run with it.”

Over this month of September we are doing a series entitled “Our Every Nation London DNA” which is my attemp to as clearly as possible state and impart our vision, mission & values. Whatever else I “write” as a leader, this is probably the most important. If I cant write the vision, it shows that I dont really “have” it. If I dont write it, people cant “run” with it. Someone has said that vision “leaks” – thats why vision must be clearly and regularly seeded in the communication of the leader. And it must be compelling, a vision worth the sacrifice callled for by the leader.

If you’re interested, here is the written version of our Every Nation Church London Vision, Mission & Values (Audio version of the four part “Our DNA” series available as download on http://www.everynation.co.uk/)

Our Vision (The church we see and believe we are called to be):

We believe that we are called to be a growing city-wide Christ-centred Bible-based Spirit-filled God-honouring act-local-think-global church which makes a massive difference for God through campus ministry, community transformation, and church planting.

Our Mission (This is what we exist to do – our “main thing” – the fruit our vision must produce):

“To make disciples of all nations”

Our Core Values (The essential values which determine and evaluate our actions and shape our church culture):

REACHING: We value sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with all non-believers and leading them into a personal relationship with God.

CONNECTING: We value relationally connecting people into authentic Christian community.

EMPOWERING: We value purposefully building strong Biblical foundations in every believer, and equipping them for fruitfulness in ministry, leadership, and life.

REPRODUCING: We value growth and multiplication in every area of church life by consistently raising and releasing leaders into their God-given calling.

TRANSFORMING: We value being a socially responsible church that makes a positive difference in every sphere of society.

This is the way we write it. We are committed to live it. Like Moses in Numbers 10:29, I want to say to everyone at EN London, and those on the fringes: “…We are setting out for the place of which the Lord has said, ‘I will give it to you.’ COME WITH US…”