Vision-casting is an important part of leadership. It’s not enough to simply have a vision; you also need to create buy-in so the vision can be fulfilled. As author Ray Pritchard once said, “Good leaders have a vision; better leaders share a vision; the best leaders invite others to join them in spreading this vision.” It’s when others understand the vision, share the vision, and rally around the vision that great things can happen.  

So, what does effective vision-casting look like? How do you cast vision in such a way that people want to join you in the journey to a better future? We recently completed of a major two-year vision initiative at 7 City Church. To create the engagement necessary to see the vision move forward, I communicated the vision in five stages. 

1. Celebration 

Vision casting doesn’t start by looking at the future; it starts by celebrating the past. That might sound strange, even counter-intuitive, but one of the best ways to create buy-in for the future is to first acknowledge what has already been accomplished. This lets people who have “paid the price” for yesterday’s vision know how much they are appreciated. It’s a simple way to show honor and respect for the people who paved the way for the church or organization to get to where it is today. 

Celebration sets the tone for the gathering. It focuses on the wins, and it reinforces the organization’s ability to influence positive change. It celebrates growth, impact, life change, testimonies, and the difference made over the past few years. In some cases, it can stretch all the way back to the inception of the church or organization. 

2. Problem 

After highlighting the organization’s impact and progress, you have to introduce a problem. Every vision meets a need or solves a problem, so at this stage, you need to introduce the problem you hope to solve. To make the transition from “celebration” to “problem,” I used the following phrase when casting our vision: “We celebrate what God has done in the last five years…but there’s a problem.”

I used that statement as a springboard to introduce a problem we were having with space in our auditorium and kids environments. I also used it to introduce the need for churches in other culturally influential cities, as well as the need for impactful ministry in some of the most broken parts of our world. 

Once everyone felt the weight of the problem, I transitioned with this statement: “All of these needs—the needs in our church, our cities, and our culture, are simply too big to ignore. God has done great things through 7 City Church in the last five years, but we cannot stop now. We cannot afford to get comfortable, or to sit back and coast. Instead, God is calling us to act now.” 

3. Solution

The statement above set up the opportunity to introduce a bold new vision that we titled, “Brave.” Brave was a two-year vision initiative that addressed needs in our church, cities, and culture. I first took a moment to express how God had been stirring a fresh vision in my heart and the hearts of our leadership. I talked about the time we had taken to pray, reflect, and seek counsel. And then I introduced a five-minute, professionally produced vision video. The video re-highlighted some of our past accomplishments, and then it spelled out the vision in detail, as well as how much it would cost to fulfill the vision. 

Once the video was finished, I connected the dots between the problem and the solution. Even though the connection was made clear in the video, I reiterated it by saying, “By pursuing this vision, we will have room in our auditorium to reach people in our city who are far from God. We will have room for our kids ministry to continue to grow and thrive. And we’ll be able to serve those in need by planting new churches, caring for orphans and foster kids, developing leaders, and serving the poor in Kenya, Africa and other parts of our world.”

After the solution was clearly articulated, I then transitioned into the question everybody was thinking. I said, “So, what will it take to see this vision fully realized?” That set-up the fourth stage of vision-casting. 

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4. Price 

Every vision comes with a price tag. The bigger the vision, the bigger the price. And the bigger the price, the more intentional you have to be about layering your vision-casting. In other words, you have to cast the vision to different groups of people at different times.

The first layer of my vision-casting was to our staff and board. Even though they already knew the details of the vision, it was important to articulate the entirety of the vision to them and their spouses in one gathering together. The second layer of vision-casting was to our faithful givers, and the third layer was to our volunteers. By the time we publicly introduced the vision in a Sunday morning service, we had already shared it with half of the congregation. This takes time, but it is absolutely essential to create the buy-in necessary to achieve a major vision. 

At each vision-casting meeting, I announced the date (our 5^th birthday as a church) that we would publicly share the vision. I also announced that we would engage our congregation in a two-year generosity initiative to raise the money to see the vision fulfilled. I provided a specific dollar amount, and I acknowledged that it was the biggest and most significant vision we had ever pursued as a church. 

I did not go into the nitty gritty details of how much every part of the vision would cost. Instead, I gave the bottom-line price tag, and I encouraged every person to participate. That led to the fifth stage. 

5. Partnership

The final stage in vision casting is to invite people to participate. We clearly communicated that our biggest priority was not a financial goal, but rather a participation goal. Yes, we made the financial price tag very clear, but we emphasized that if we had 100% participation, we believed God would help us reach our financial goal. 

During my invitation to partner with the vision, I said, “We believe this vision is so critical to the future of 7 City Church, and to the impact we can have on our community and world, that we will ask our congregation to elevate giving over the next two years.” I shared a few more details, and then told them that Karen and I had been praying about what God would have us to pledge to this vision. We were committed to leading the way. 

Finally, I highlighted a couple of printed vision resources (Brave vision one-pager and pledge card), and then I said, “We’re not asking you to write a check tonight.” Instead, I gave them three actions steps. First, I asked them to pray about how God would have them to participate. Second, I asked them to simply do whatever God told them to do. Third, I told everyone I’d like to meet with each of them one-on-one over the next 4-6 weeks to answer any questions they have. I assured them I’d be in touch to set up a time to meet. 

While we wanted every person to make a pledge, we didn’t want them to make the pledge until we had rolled out the vision to the entire congregation. This church-wide rollout included a 5-week sermon series, small groups, and pledge Sunday.

I closed our vision-casting gatherings by reading a verse that was core to our vision: “Remember that I commanded you to be strong and BRAVE. Don’t be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go” (Joshua 1:9). Then I prayed and thanked everyone for joining us. 

These five stages of vision-casting can be used anytime you’re introducing people to a bigger and brighter future. They work. But they also require you to be extraordinarily intentional.