For many, the new year brings a renewed sense of hope and expectation for what lies ahead. It’s a time that feels natural to dream big, set goals, and make plans. It can be easy to focus our sights forward without pausing to reflect on where we’ve been. 

‍

At VOUS, we like to celebrate constantly. The path can twist and turn and take us through highs and lows, and it’s an honor we get to celebrate the journey every step of the way. While it’s vital that we have vision for everything ahead, it's equally vital to thank God for everything He has done. 

‍

Twice a year, we set aside a night to gather large as a church community and celebrate the wins from the previous season. This gathering, called Heart & Soul, is a celebration of where we’ve been and where we’re going. 

‍

Heart & Soul is designed for all of the servant leaders and stakeholders who call VOUS Church home. It’s a night of worship, encouragement, reflection, and vision. It allows us to pause and acknowledge all that God has done in our community through salvations, baptisms, Crew attendance, Growth Track graduations, VOUS Kids and VOUS High, and more. It serves as a reminder of God’s past faithfulness and sets our sights on the months ahead. We leave feeling refreshed, revitalized, and ready to dive into the work God wants to do in the season ahead.

‍

For a night like this to come to fruition, our Programming Departments (Production, Creative, and Worship) come together to design a unique flow that serves the night. 

‍

Creative

Heart + Soul frequently happens within the Pray First Calendar, kicking off the year in January, and occurring again mid-year in August. As the design team develops art direction for Pray First, they simultaneously work to develop art direction for Heart + Soul. This art direction is usually an iteration, or extension, of the previously debuted Pray First art direction. 

‍

Social and Marketing teams work together to invite and RSVP guests. Heart + Soul is a night for anyone, however, we take extra caution to ensure that Servant Leaders, Key Leaders, Crew Leaders, and other core teams are in the room. More is caught than taught, and we find these nights of inspiration to be integral to morale throughout the year. 

‍

Programming

The program itself helps shape the tone of the night. We allocate time for three key areas: worship, celebration, and encouragement. 

‍

Worship 

Before we reflect and celebrate we take time to put first things first, setting our hearts on God, the one who sustains every story, has directed every number, and whose presence we couldn’t do any of this without. 

‍

Celebration

We put extra time into the program to celebrate key wins from the SZN, whether it’s live testimonies or data moments, we pause to highlight all that God has done. 

‍

Encouragement 

We end the night with a stakeholder message and encouragement from our pastors and key team. This is a moment to deposit vision and place purpose on where we’re going. Our gatherings in January allow us to project into the future, casting a wide net for the goals and plans we have not only for the first few months but for the year as a whole. 

‍

Whether you’re looking to refresh your vision gatherings or institute one for the very first time, we hope this outline helps you plan accordingly. If there’s one thing to take away it’s this: Lead with value. There’s no place your values should be more evident than during a gathering for your key teams.