Connecting vision-based leadership and Presbyterian polity in the governance of a large congregation

There has been a recent emphasis on the need for not-for-profit governing boards to operate according to principles of vision-based leadership. This requires a board to take on the responsibility of discerning a vision for the organization that is based upon its core values and mission. For this model to be valid in the governance of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), vision must be formally related to the concept of God's will for the church, since elders are elected by the congregation to lead the people in the way of Jesus Christ, who is head of the church.; The purpose of this final project is to construct a process through which the board (Session) of a large Presbyterian Church can discern a vision for the church, and then conduct focus groups with the elders after the Session has used the vision statement for a period of six months in order to evaluate the degree to which they connect the vision with the concept of God's will for the church. The focus group transcripts were subjected to thorough qualitative analysis with the assistance of NVivo coding computing software. The findings demonstrate that the elders believed the vision statement to be God's will for the church. They related their confidence to its relationship to the Scriptures, the group consensus which served as a sign of God's guiding presence, and several other factors.; This discernment model was developed to function not only within the parameters of Presbyterian polity, but also the Reformed theological tradition. Evaluation of the focus group transcripts explores various perspectives held by elders regarding the discernment process and product, and the implications for ministry are derived from observations related to the particular context (size, leadership culture, socio-cultural values) of Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, on the Session of which the final project was carried out.