Write the vision; make it plain… so that a runner may read it.
Habakkuk 2:2
This is the second of two blog posts on Minimum Viable Belief (click here for previous post), the term I have used to describe the driving vision of a faith-based community or organization. Minimum Viable Belief – or MVB – is the seminal belief or value that is so deep, so shared, so core to the community that it is the source of all other beliefs, values, and actions of the organization. It is the core source of meaning and purpose to the community and its members. Simply put, it is the “Why of Whys.” MVB is a vision that is so clear and plain that it creates and sustains an enduring organizational culture that can guide a faith community throughout its life, even when the community encounters turbulent times.
So far so good! But how does a faith-based community or organization discover, articulate, and communicate its MVB?
There are seven steps involved in discerning your community’s MVB:
- Naming
- Calling
- Clarifying
- Seeing
- Dreaming
- Visioning
- Proclaiming
Allow me walk you through each of the seven steps, while providing real-life examples from my own former congregation, a mature startup in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. [Read more…]
