October 16, 2026
The year after I graduated from high school was a tough year. I had already decided to attend Cincinnati Chrisitan University the following year. However, because I made that decision later in the summer, I stayed with my, then current plan to attend Miami University. During that school year I not only studied as a full-time student, but I also found myself working three jobs (two on campus and the other was at Pizza Hut. Yeah. Pizza Hut). Because I was commuting from home to school and working so much, I had almost no time for friends or a social life. To be honest, if I were to advise past me, I probably would have encouraged me to dial back on the commitments. In any event, there was one future reality that kept me going. Attending CCU the following fall.
There was a picture of the future that I could see in my mind and the things I was doing now were going to help get me to that preferred future. That’s what vision is. Vision is a stated or picture or a preferred future that acts as a driver for current actions, values, and priorities.
White Oak has a vision statement: Everyone is on the path to full life by discovering their identity in Jesus, being equipped to love, and deployed on mission. This statement evokes a few things. One, we believe that people begin to discover the full life Jesus talks about in John 10:10 by realizing who they really are in Christ. They are beloved by God, and he wants to adopt us into his family through no merit of our own. This kind of love and acceptance should ground us in faith and worship! Two, we believe that people will grow in life with Jesus as they give themselves over to the spiritual rhythms that will help them to spend time with Jesus, to learn from him, and be equipped to do the things he did. And third, we believe that everyone has gifts which should be used to love God and to love and serve others. We believe that if the people of WOCC were to embrace that kind of life, then our communities and city would be changed by the Gospel of Jesus!
This vision ought to drive everything that White Oak says and does. There were times back during that year I was at Miami when I got so discouraged. The days seemed long, tedious, over-filled, and lonely. There were seasons where I got so focused on what was happening right in front of me that I forgot that picture of the preferred future which I was working toward.
Proverbs 29:18 says, Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. (ESV)
As you read through the story of Israel’s faith journey in Scripture, you get an idea of what the writer of this proverb is saying. When people lack or forget the vision that God has given to them, they wander. Some spin out of control. Others slowly and perhaps unwittingly slip slowly away from the vision toward something else. This concept is called vision-leak. And it describes exactly what it sounds like. You see Israel deal with this throughout their history. They praised God and worshipped him for his acts of mercy and kindness but before too long they are grumbling against him and practicing all kinds of bad stuff. They suffered from vision-leak. The reason for their worship and obedience to God was often forgotten or neglected.
Vision-leak can happen anywhere and at any time. That’s why this fall and into next year I and the staff at White Oak are working hard to remind us of the preferred future God has in store for us. We will be focusing on some key areas which are not limited to but certainly include the following:
Expanding our space and ability to facilitate catalytic worship environments at both of our campuses where more people may encounter Jesus and discover their identity found in him.
Reimagine wayfinding and communication throughout our spaces so that guests can navigate easily to where they want to go and know what they want to know so that they may take next steps and be equipped.
Dive deeper into meeting practical and spiritual needs by deploying our resources through special initiatives and opportunities with our global and local mission partners.
Building strong teams and resourcing our kids and student ministries with the tools they need so that young people may thrive in a growing relationship with Jesus.
We will study, learn, and press into what it means to have genuine, growing, and active faith.
My prayer is that these priorities will serve as encouragement and reminders for us as to why we do what we do each Sunday, throughout the week, in our homes, as we practice spiritual habits, and any time we gather as a community of believers. White Oak, God has given us a high calling and an exciting vision! Let’s move toward it together!
With you,
Nathan
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor
