First published on this website in August 2006 and last updated in July 2012

These notes seek to bring some clarity to a confused understanding of what is meant by 'vision' in a planning context. They introduce six themes to explain what a vision should be about. Test your own church's vision against these.

1. Destination: a description of where you want to get to
2. Changed lives: "with a vision you are seeking to change the world"
3. Ends not means: opening a building is not a vision
4. One clear vision: you can have visionaries without a vision
5. God at work: vision is about our faith in what God might do, not our achievements
6. Leadership: you need a leader to move you from A to B

The is followed by footnotes on time-scale in vision, and on the idea of a vision statement.