Book samples The Vine Project (Contents and Introduction) | Page 18

(After all, they are usually the ones most invested in
everything that is currently in place.) You may put before
your existing elders the idea of forming a new team to focus
on The Vine Project—perhaps consisting of some existing
key leaders (or elders), as well as some emerging leaders
with potential.
• Whatever the mix of new and existing leaders in your team,
or however they relate to your current structures, the really
important thing is that they are F.A.T. (to use the old
acronym)—Faithful, Available (at least potentially) and
Teachable. You want people who are Faithful to the gospel
in their convictions and in their lives. This is not the time or
place for new converts (no matter how gifted and impressive
they are), or for powerful, influential people who are really
not solidly converted, mature, gospel-hearted people. You’ll
want people whom you can call upon to be Available to work
with you and each other, and to keep working together over
a significant period of time. This may mean freeing them
from other responsibilities—in fact, it will almost certainly
mean this, given the way F.A.T. people usually get involved
in church life. There may be some pain associated with
this—with pulling a leader out of an existing ministry, and
thus creating a hole—but unless you have a team of people
who are available to meet together fairly regularly, and to
put in some work together to bring change, then the whole
exercise will probably end up being an unproductive
talkfest. And finally, you don’t need people who have arrived
and already know how to do everything, or who have strong
hobbyhorses that they are continually riding. You want
people who have a humble Teachable heart, who know they
still have a long way to go, and who are keen to keep making
progress as disciples of Christ.
Fifthly, once you’ve gathered a team, one of your first tasks will be
to draft a rough plan together as to how you are going to work
through the five phases of The Vine Project. How often are you

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SETTING THE SCENE

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