vision statements

I've been slaving over the creation of a variety of statements that are poetic, punchy, meaningful, profound, pithy, etc. Because when you express an interest in planting a church, you're supposed to have a bunch of statements like that. You have to have your purpose statement, your vision statement and your mission statement. You have to write out your goals, your strategy and your values. You need 10 words that all start with the letter Q that describe the church's DNA, and an acronym like "P.R.O.S.E.L.E.T.Y.Z.E" that outlines your outreach strategies.

I love dreaming about the possibility of a great, Biblical church in downtown San Diego that reaches people in need of God. I love talking about it with others. But I'm not very good at that other stuff. What I am pretty good at is stealing. So I've borrowed some Vision/Purpose/Mission statements from great churches (luckily, most good churches do basically the same things).

"to help people to find and follow Jesus Christ." (hmmm, definitely familiar)

"love God, love others, serve the world."

"to bring people to Jesus and membership in his family, develop them to Christlike maturity, and equip them for their ministry in the church and life mission in the world, in order to magnify God’s name."

"We are a community of followers of Jesus Christ, committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope."

"... to create environments where people are encouraged and equipped to pursue intimacy with God, community with insiders, and influence with outsiders."

I'd love to hear what others think. Don't get me wrong, we're not voting. I just want to hear your opinions...