To follow up on the summary of the six battles for Auckland, a core of leaders over time have sensed collectively as crucial for the city of Auckland, it may be helpful to reflect on our initial formulation five years ago of collective goals for action in the city.  These came out of the first discussion with folks that Bruce Patrick and I called over at David & Jenny Hays home and reflect five themes we have used to build unity in other cities globally. Interesting to see how rapidly (slowly?) unity has developed since then to accomplish these.

Viv Grigg

VISION for AUCKLAND: 72 GOALS

1... leadership unity, vision and infrastructure

• Heads of Churches meeting regularly and backing key initiatives
• Interdenominational strategy group meeting regularly with trust and collective discernment
• Leaders from each of the five areas of the city (North Shore, Central Auckland, Waitakere, East, Manukau ) meeting every three months.
• A central co-ordinating office and servant team with database of churches, media officer and networker.
• Mapping of existing churches and analysis of areas for new growth
• A monthly events and news broadsheet for the churches
• A Vision for Auckland book published, along with a strategy document that puts legs on it. Versions of this for the political and secular leaders of the city.

2... the gospel of the kingdom to every person (evangelism)

• Prayer Walking of the city by each church taking the ten blocks around their church and praying weekly.
• Ministers associations across the city mobilising Houses of Prayer in 50% of the cities' streets, praying monthly for their street and generating involvement through street BBQ's, visitation of the needy etc.
• The gospel personally to every home and every person
• Christian television and radio accessible to every sector of the city

3...a church accessible to every geographical or cultural community (church growth and expansion)

• Increase 11.7% church attendance to 20%
• Consolidation of church growth moving from a congregation for every 1000 people (1050 cong) to a congregation for every 800.
• At least one ethnic congregation for each major people group of over 1000 people.
• Networks or denominations of ethnic churches in people groups larger than this

4... renewal in every major denominational stream.

• Some new theological breakthroughs
• New visitations by the Holy Spirit
• New patterns of lay leadership development
• Small group movement dynamics
• Affirmation by denominational leadership.

5... significant transformation of the values of society and its institutions

• The impact of a whole gospel through a movement in at least each of 12 major societal sector
• A vision of the impact of the Kingdom of God in each sector defined and owned by key Christian leaders
• Think-tanks on value systems, and marketable strategy
• A leadership team in each sector.
• These leaders linking to a core leadership network
• Involvement in public debate on issues in the media, through forums etc.
• Study groups within churches mobilising people in these directions.

6... key events to catalyse christians in greater auckland

• A Vision for Auckland gathering of key leaders to define collective vision and strategy with publications.
• Yearly Reclaiming Easter and Reclaiming Christmas. Unified posters and banners for Christmas and Easter in strategic places around Auckland
• Citywide Prayer gatherings in each city and the whole Auckland region
• Central Auckland marches (Queen St)
• Millenium events and Americas Cup Outreach
• Public cultural events involving reconciliation and mass evangelism

From dreams to vision to strategy to prophetic statement ?

• Take the above goals and refine them into specific objectives, milestones and events, and from that into some kind of prophetic vision for the city. Input into the process is welcome.

Operational city leadership

The above processes at different points include five groups of functional Christian leadership in the city:

• Denominational leaders.
• Catalyzers, network leaders, apostolic and prophetic leaders, and evangelists within the denominational/ pastoral leadership of the 1050 congregations of the city
• Ethnic church leaders from the 342 ethnic congregations
• Transformational network leaders (leaders of sectors of society, usually lay leaders)
• God-ordained elected city officials