Church Guesswork

They say that an awful lot depends, in ministry, on correct guesswork -- and it's not the kind of guesswork that detectives make, or mechanics, or dealers, where guesswork yields fairly early results. In the Church, it may be five or ten years -- and what if the guesswork was wrong? Some ministers live in fear. OBSERVATION: Typically, the guesswork lies in vision-casting and strategy, in the Church leadership courses. But looking back on my own ministr(ies), I have placed little emphasis on vision-casting or strategy -- rather on things of a more "present" nature, like the spiritual and charitable -- and by and large, this has led to thriving Churches. The "guesswork" isn't all the minister's, though. In a Congregational Church, the Church's future lies in the hands of all. "Guesswork" isn't the word either, where one acts in faith.