Churches that lead with clarity will grow

July 31, 2025

By Rev. Rick King

On July 13, New Life and Falcon Heights approved the Plan of Union and entered a new chapter: moving toward life as a NEW church with a new mission, vision, and identity. Carey Nieuwhof’s essay 10 years ago, titled “13 Predictions about the Future Church,” continues to be relevant to what we’re trying to do. This is the third in a series of columns on these in light of our merger opportunity.

Churches that thrive in the future will be those with a clear identity, mission, vision, and strategy. This fall, New Life and Falcon Heights people will engage in conversations with our surrounding neighbors, each other, and God to discern as clearly as possible WHO God is calling us to be, WHAT God is calling us to do, and HOW the world will be different because we exist as a church in it.

Clarity is not just about having well-worded vision and mission statements—it’s about consistent leadership that stays focused on loving God and neighbor. When a scribe asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is, that’s what Jesus answered (Matthew 22:36-40).

“Without vision [clarity], the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). But when a church is clear about why it exists, who it’s called to reach, and how it will do so, momentum builds. You and I are drawn to clarity. We want to be part of something with a defined purpose and direction.

After achieving clarity and setting some goals in 2019 through participating in the Crossroads church vitality initiative through the MN Conference, the pandemic struck in early 2020 and we lost our way. I take responsibility for that: I became so focused on day-to-day survival that I lost sight of what parts of that clear vision we might still have pursued.

But with this merger, we have a chance to reconnect with our wider community, our members and friends, and the Holy Spirit via a tool and process called Community Discovery, designed to help faith communities understand community needs and identify assets that will support the development of transformational ministries. We’ll be working with Rev. Emily Meyer of The Ministry Lab as our consultant.

Clarity doesn’t mean everyone will agree. In fact, leading with clarity requires the courage to say “no” to good things so you can say “yes” to the best things. The churches that grow in the coming years will be those that boldly define their mission and align their ministries, culture, and communication around it.

I’m SO looking forward to doing this important work with you this fall.

What does clarity in our identity and mission mean to YOU?