"Vision Discovery Kits" mailed to all U.S. Assemblies of God churches

"The Third Triennial World Assemblies of God Congress and 2000 Celebration," the international gathering of the Assemblies of God in Indianapolis, Ind., is now less than a year away. A key part of that event will be the announcement of a vision statement for the church. As part of the statement's development, "Vision Discovery Kits" are currently being mailed to every Assemblies of God church in the United States.

"God has put in the hearts of our church leaders and congregations vision for ministry in the new millennium," says General Superintendent Thomas Trask. "To release this vision, I have commissioned this process that will equip our entire Fellowship to develop and contribute to the creation of a common and clear vision. The outcome of this 2-year process will be one common vision for our work for the Lord in this coming millennium."

According to Efraim Espinoza, coordinator for the U.S. Decade of Harvest, about 1,500 of the 11,937 kits mailed are in Spanish. This includes a Spanish dubbed version of the accompanying video.

"Just as the Decade of Harvest gave us direction for the 90's, this is giving direction to the church for the future," Espinoza says.

The packet includes the videos, "The Harvest" and "Together We Can," printed leader's and participant's guides for church teams developing a vision statement, the pamphlet, "Our 16 Doctrines," and guides to other resources.

A cover letter with the packet originates from General Superintendent Trask and the Fellowship's district superintendents. Once local church vision statements are in written form, they are to be sent to the district offices for input into a district statement prepared by the district presbytery. These will be sent to the national office. The final step will be a Spiritual Life Committee gleaning from the district statements to prepare a national statement for presentation at "2000 Celebration."

"This is the most aggressive strategy to get down to the grassroots and have their input," Espinoza says. "Our district and national leadership is saying to our local churches, 'Help us develop a vision statement for the 21st century.' Every church can say, 'I had an opportunity to contribute.'"