Vision 2020 - What's That?

A few weeks back, we conducted a survey at all of our worship services at both campuses. One of the questions on the survey was . . .

In two or three sentences, could you describe what the Journey Church’s Vision 2020 is all about?

Below are six of the 300 responses we received. They give a pretty thorough scope in determining how clear we have been in communicating our church vision to our congregation.

Answer #1 - Not sure. I have only been attending for a month. Nearly half our church has joined the Journey family since we first talked about Vision 2020 in February 2014. That is exactly why we are going to take a few minutes before every sermon in June to give a 5-minute review and update.

Answer #2 - It is money to be used for a new building down the road. While a portion of the money that is being raised is for a new building off of I-26, this is not the primary objective of Vision 2020. Any building we leverage for the sake of the gospel is simply a tool used for a greater purpose.

Answer #3 - Plant a Goose Creek Campus, start a counseling center, build a new building. It’s kind of complicated. It can be complicated! This answer provides the outcomes of our vision. Vision 2020 is focused around three main objectives—1.) Deploy 1,000 missionary disciples, 2.) Redeem the family, and 3.) Plant churches. For instance, in our attempts to see families redeemed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, we dedicated ourselves to helping people overcome challenging family issues by opening a counseling center. Again, though, these are tools to help accomplish the ultimate goal.

Answer #4 - I think it is planting 20 churches. Our people just may have a greater vision for our city than we do! While I do hope that one day we will plant our 20th church plant, the goal we set was to plant five more churches by 2020. That would bring us to a total of 9 church plants in our first 13 years. Maybe planting our 20th church could be a goal for 2030!

Answer #5 – Journey Church’s attempt to become a megachurch. While I have no desire to get into the merit/deficiency debate of the megachurch movement, I can say this, “Journey Church’s sole desire has to be a Mothering-church.” A Mothering-church births, cares for, and helps raise new church plants. What I have learned is that God entrusts with greater responsibility those individuals and churches who faithfully take great care to accomplish his will (Luke 16:1-13). While Journey Church’s pursuit is to be a Mothering-church, I am going to let God decide how large he wants our womb to be.

Answer #6 - Redeem the Family, Deploy 1000 Missionary Disciples, and Plant Churches. If this is your response, you hit the jackpot! These are our three main objectives of Vision 2020. First, we want to raise up and deploy 1,000 missionary disciples across this city, nation, and world. Second, we desire to see the family redeemed in our city; this means we want to see orphans adopted, marriages healed, and homes become training grounds for gospel transformation. Third, we want to be the most dependable church planting church in South Carolina.

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