There are a lot of books around on formulating mission, vision and strategy, so it is rare to find one which has something new to say on the subject. Will Mancini’s book Church Unique: How missional leaders cast vision, capture culture, and create movement succeeds in bringing a fresh and very useful perspective to the subject. He says that churches commonly neglect what makes them unique, instead gravitating towards adopting programs and mindsets that work elsewhere. A church can become truly effective only once it discovers its own uniqueness.
In my view the author’s critiques of other people’s strategic planning models (such as Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church model) are a little overdone, but the book comes into its own when it starts talking about clarifying the vision. The process starts with discovering your Kingdom Concept, which is found at the intersection between your Local Predicament (the unique needs and opportunities of the location in which God has placed you), your Collective Potential (the unique resources and capabilities found in your congregation), and your Apostolic Esprit (the particular focus which most energises your leadership).
One of the imperatives of clarifying the church’s vision is “framing” it. The Vision Proper is framed by the church’s Mission (statement of purpose), Values (shared convictions that guide the actions of the church), Strategy (process which the church uses to accomplish its mission) and Measures (things which are measured to determine how well the church is achieving its mission). While none of these individual components is new, the manner in which the book suggests working through them is both innovative and very helpful. I highly recommend this book for church leaders.