FAQs


	FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT VISION NEW ENGLAND What is the mission of Vision New England? Why did your mission change? What is the relationship between evangelism and pastoral care? How does Vision ONE change a church and create a culture of evangelism? Don’t all churches believe in evangelism? What does Vision New England believe is the key missing ingredient in evangelism, today? Are the old methods of evangelism effective today? What about the impact of Alpha in New England? What can a church do that wants to create an impact on its community? Why is your mission ‘intentional evangelism’? Isn’t it enough to say ‘evangelism’ alone? Whatever happened to Congress? What is a Solutions Workshop? What about Prison Ministry? What are Evangelical Relations? What is Pastoral Mentoring? What is Vision New England doing about Church Multiplication? What is the Strategic Leadership Network? What is the mission of Vision New England? “The whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole New England region.” Vision New England is committed to helping to train everyone in the church to give reason for the hope that is within them. Evangelism is not just for SOME Christians, but an invitation for EVERY Christian to give reason for the hope that they have in Jesus Christ (I Peter 3:15). “The whole gospel” is the message in both word AND deed. Vision New England has always been committed to practical expressions of the power of the gospel in mercy ministry and community outreach since VNE’s beginning in 1887. “The whole New England region” is our particular focus. We are New Englanders, who love this region, and believe that the Savior’s appraisal of New England is summarized in His own words, “Open your eyes; the harvest is huge. Pray that the lord of the harvest would thrust laborers into the harvest fields.” Why did your mission change? The mission of Vision New England since 1887, when it began as the Evangelistic Association of New England, has always been the same. Strategies have changed; programs have changed; and even locations have changed, but the design of God for the Evangelistic Association of New England, now known as Vision New England, has always had evangelism in focus. A few years ago, our board of directors spent an extended time seeking God’s purpose and direction for the ministry. After much prayer and fasting, God directed us to evangelism and pastoral care. The Vision ONE process emerged during this time. What is the relationship between evangelism and pastoral care? We didn’t know ourselves how these two high values, which emerged, were connected, but we soon discovered that if pastors, themselves, were not healthy and committed to a high value of evangelism, personally, the church would never create a culture of intentional evangelism, where people were regularly and routinely coming to faith in Jesus Christ. The Vision ONE process begins with seven full days of training pastors in spiritual formation, leading change within the local church, and evangelism and discipleship. How does Vision ONE change a church and create a culture of evangelism? We believe that churches are not changed through programs, but they are changed through a process over, what we believe is, a period of three years of intentional teaching, training, mentoring, coaching, and discipling. When a church begins the process and the pastor is trained, the next step is training, coaching, and mentoring the leadership of that church. Once the pastor and leaders have been trained, the Vision ONE process moves into the entire life of the congregation, assessing where the church is presently and designing a strategy together that is a customized solution for evangelism and discipleship in that particular congregation and community. Don’t all churches believe in evangelism? Yes, most churches, in fact 80% of churches, list evangelism as one of their top three priorities, however, less than 2% of New England congregations experience ongoing adult conversion evangelism taking place. In many growing churches the rate of transfer growth is 85 – 95% of congregational growth. Transfer growth, Christians moving from church to church based on consumerism, does not represent true conversion growth, so although many churches say evangelism is a top priority, practical analysis indicates this is far from the present reality. What does Vision New England believe is the key missing ingredient in evangelism, today? Our Recent Convert Study indicates that 71% of individuals, who have come to a living faith in Christ in the last two years, began their spiritual journey in a relationship with a caring Christian friend, neighbor, coworker, or family member. Relationships are the single most important factor in seeing new friends discover a living faith in Jesus Christ. Are the old methods of evangelism effective today? The answer is “yes” and “no”. Over 86% of friends in our Recent Convert Study indicated that their conversion experience took months to even years, as they were on a journey toward crossing the line of faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ. However, 14% still indicated that their conversion experience happened as a result of a one-time event. What about the impact of Alpha in New England? Alpha is a course designed to assist new friends and un-churched people on a process of discovering who Jesus Christ really is. This ministry, developed in Great Britain, has had a powerful impact in the New England region with over 600 churches having offered Alpha courses. The impact of this dynamic process of evangelism is a powerful phenomenon in the New England region. Vision New England and Alpha New England joined together in 2007 to combine their emphasis on intentional evangelism. What can a church do that wants to create an impact on its community? One question we frequently ask churches is: If your church disappeared tomorrow, who in your community would notice that you are gone? If the answer is no one, then your church is more like a country club than a mission base serving your community and communicating the claims of Jesus Christ in word and deed. Mercy ministries, that serve the community, have had a powerful impact on individuals, who have recently experienced new life in Jesus Christ. Often they report that during a time of loss of a job, death of a child, death of a spouse, illness, divorce, financial need, or in hard times of despair, grief, and depression, the mercy ministries of a local congregation reached them for the gospel. One of the best strategies for developing a mercy ministry in your local church is “find a need and fill it; find a hurt and heal it”. Why is your mission ‘intentional evangelism’? Isn’t it enough to say ‘evangelism’ alone? Based on the statistical evidence with 80% of churches saying evangelism is a high priority and yet only 2% are actually engaged in evangelism with new friends regularly and routinely enfolded in the church, we believe that intentional evangelism is the key, because a church does not tend to drift into making a commitment to creating a culture of evangelism. Whatever happened to Congress? In 2007 Vision New England celebrated the last Congress in Boston. Our surveys indicated that the cost of Congress for the participants was becoming prohibitive: not simply the cost of registration, but hotels, parking, meals, and all associated costs had simply priced this event out of the range of people, who needed it most. God used Congress in powerful ways for many years, and our hearts are filled with thanksgiving. Our present conferences are now having a regional impact in terms of numbers that equals what was happening in the Congress event. Right now, Vision New England has regionalized its conferencing in workshops, pastors’ conferences, conferences on conversational & friendship evangelism, prayer summits, and partnerships with other ministries and churches, as together we seek to serve the needs of the region. Our conference planning simply is aligned with our central mission of intentional evangelism, and conferences are now happening all over New England. What is a Solutions Workshop? A Solutions Workshop is a workshop designed to serve the needs of pastors and leaders, who are seeking practical ways of connecting people with Christ. A Solutions Workshop is a one-day experience, which is being offered all over New England, to train and equip believers in the process of intentional evangelism. Through the Solutions Workshop, each church leader will learn how to develop a unique pathway for their congregation to do evangelism and discipleship. Participants leave the one-day session with expanded thinking about what evangelism / discipleship really is and some creative ways they can implement intentional evangelism and discipleship in their local church. What about Prison Ministry? Vision New England has been committed to Prison Ministry in this region since 1960. Our Prison Ministry team is actively engaged in reaching inmates with the Good News of Jesus Christ through the local church teams, which are regularly engaged in Bible Studies, Chapel ministry, and after-care. Our Vision New England Caleb Conferences have trained over 1,000 individuals in serving Christ in Prison Ministry. Our Prison Ministry team led by Denis Frediani, Al LaMorey, and in partnership with Peter Dewberry, is currently having an impact all over New England. What are Evangelical Relations? Vision New England has served a multi-denominational network of churches since its beginning in 1887.Today, the ministry of Evangelical Relations is led by Dennis Gill. Regular meetings of evangelical leaders are held to discuss ways in which churches can partner together to further the cause of Christ. Keeping Christ at the center is first and foremost. What is Pastoral Mentoring? Pastoral Mentoring is vital to maintaining spiritual health of the pastor. Steve Poole leads this ministry of Vision New England. Pastors are assisted in their own personal spiritual formation as well as connected to other resources that can serve them, as they seek to develop their personal ministry skills through pastoral training opportunities. What is Vision New England doing about Church Multiplication? We believe that New England needs hundreds of new churches. Vision New England, through a partnership with Praxis Center for Church Development, is serving the region in offering assessments for church planters, training opportunities, and coaching. Seventy percent (70%) of new church plants are failing because of the wrong selection process of a planter, the wrong location, or the wrong process for establishing the new church. Vision New England wants to serve a multi-denominational coalition in planting gospel-centered churches all over New England. What is the Strategic Leadership Network? Jack Richardson, of Vision New England, has been leading the Strategic Leadership Network for many years. His conferences address pastoral issues and concerns, develop lay leadership, and develop one-on-one relationships with church leaders throughout New England.