{"id":452,"date":"2011-01-13T17:11:47","date_gmt":"2011-01-13T22:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=452"},"modified":"2016-12-16T16:14:06","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T21:14:06","slug":"faith-and-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/faith-and-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Ministry Planning 101: 7 Steps For Your First Strategic Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Compass<\/a>One of the best things<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We all do all sorts of things everyday.\u00a0 The list of events and activities seems dizzying at times.\u00a0 Wise people and effective organizations stop from time to time and consider, “of everything we are doing right now, what has helped us the most?”\u00a0 Ask anyone who has been at Faith for an extended period of time and here’s one of the answers you’ll consistently hear, “consistently developing five-year strategic ministry plans<\/a><\/strong>.”\u00a0 It might not be the most exciting thing we do and it is certainly not the easiest, but it is clearly one of the most important.<\/p>\n

For everyone<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Part of the beauty of this topic is that strategic planning principles can be applied to all sorts of relationships, activities, and organizations.\u00a0 For example, you may be at a great point in your life to make a strategic plan…for you.\u00a0 There won’t be endless committee meetings and focus groups, but the time you invest in the process personally may really help you focus on what God has for you in the days ahead. Think about it from the perspective of your friendships<\/strong>.\u00a0 Where is that particular relationship headed?\u00a0 Do you have a goal and a plan?\u00a0 Are you investing time and resources to deepen certain relationships this year?\u00a0 Have you made a goal to establish new friendships?\u00a0 How do you plan to make that happen? Consider strategic planning and the family<\/strong>.\u00a0 When is the last time you and your spouse sat down and talked about the status of your marriage?\u00a0 What direction is it heading? How are each of your children doing? What are their strengths and weaknesses?\u00a0 What specific steps should you take this year to grow your marriage and build into the lives of your children?\u00a0 How likely is it that these goals are going to be reached this year or any year without a plan? All of this is equally\u00a0true for whatever ministry <\/strong>you lead or participate in.\u00a0 A small group should have a strategic plan.\u00a0 So should an Adult Bible Fellowship.\u00a0\u00a0The youth ministry should have their own strategic plan.\u00a0 And the community baseball league…and on and one.\u00a0 Are you a ministry leader?\u00a0 What’s the plan for this year? When you bring this around to an entire church<\/strong>, the importance of strategic planning becomes especially crucial.\u00a0 \u00a0If we really believe that God is mediating His plan in and through the establishment and development of local churches around the world, then we must have a clear and specific idea of what we believe God wants us to accomplish together.<\/p>\n

Here are 7 steps I recommend for creating your ministry plan:<\/p>\n

1. Start with clearly identifying your mission or purpose<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Why do you exist?\u00a0 What is the purpose of your friendships?\u00a0 Why are you part of a family?\u00a0 Why is your particular ministry important and what does God want you to accomplish?\u00a0 Sit down and write a clear, concise, biblical, measurable mission statement. At Faith, we believe the mission of Faith Church<\/a> is to glorify God by winning people to Jesus Christ and equipping them to be more faithful disciples.\u00a0 What do you think of our mission?\u00a0 How can you adapt these core ideas to the specific area in which you are seeking to plan?<\/p>\n

2. Prayerfully analyze\u00a0where you are currently<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ask God to give you a humble, teachable, learner’s spirit.\u00a0 Write out what you believe are your strengths and weaknesses.\u00a0 What are the greatest threats to the accomplishment of your mission?\u00a0 What are the most significant opportunities that lie ahead? Invite others to give you honest input and evaluation.\u00a0\u00a0What do they think you are doing right?\u00a0 How do they believe you need to improve?\u00a0 Effective planners invite brutal honesty.<\/p>\n

3. Brainstorm initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Now the fun starts.\u00a0 Begin writing down all the things you could do in the coming year to best accomplish your mission.\u00a0 At this step, ask God to give you unusual creativity and vision.\u00a0 Don’t be afraid to dream.\u00a0 Remember, because we are the children of God, we have significant resources at our disposal if our goal is to truly glorify Him. Invite as many people in your life as possible to brainstorm with you.\u00a0 What are all the steps your family could take this year to develop greater unity, love, and Christ-likeness?\u00a0 The goal at this stage of the process is not to only discuss things that are doable–that comes later.\u00a0 Right now you are simply asking, “if time and resources were unlimited, what are all the things we could do this year, next year, the next five years, whatever–to best accomplish our mission?” Don’t leave the children and young people out of this step.\u00a0 Our kids need to see us and hear us wrestling with the best ways to please God.\u00a0 They should see a sense of commitment to a mission-driven lifestyle that seeks to leave no resources on the table coupled with an amazement that God allows us to use our creativity and intellect to decide the best ways to serve Him. It would not be unusual to have dozens and maybe even hundreds of ideas at this phase.\u00a0 Don’t be intimidated by that.\u00a0 It does not cost a dime to dream.<\/p>\n

4. Begin making a reasonable, achievable plan<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Once you have brainstormed every conceivable initiative, now it is time to bring in the voice of reason and reality.\u00a0 Yes, it would be fun to fly to the moon together as a family, and the trip would probably draw us together; but it might be hard on the budget. This is the point of the process that is especially crucial because you marry your initiatives to your mission by asking, “what could we do this year that will advance our mission the furthest with the smallest expenditure of resources?”\u00a0 So no, we can’t fly to the moon, but we can plan two\u00a0overnight camping trips so dad can have concentrated time with his sons.\u00a0 Or no, our church can’t hire every unemployed person in our county, but we can offer a job-loss support group one night a week for those in our community without work.<\/p>\n

5. Keep it short at first<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If this is your first attempt at strategic planning, keep the plan short in terms of amount of time and number of initiatives.\u00a0 A simple plan that is achieved is far better than a complex one that simply discourages and frustrates everyone involved.\u00a0 If a simple plan helps you be more effective the first time around, it is highly likely that everyone involved will joyfully participate in the process in the next cycle.\u00a0 The goal is that planning becomes a part of the very DNA of that relationship or organization.<\/p>\n

6. Welcome accountability<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Create a way to regularly check up on your progress.\u00a0 That might be a simple reminder on your computer.\u00a0 It may be a monthly soup\/salad date with your spouse to check up on your progress.\u00a0 Perhaps you should ask a friend to hold you accountable.\u00a0 Most of us are much more likely to follow through if we know someone is going to check on us.<\/p>\n

7. Enjoy the blessing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Plans that have a godly mission and focus will be blessed by the Lord Himself.\u00a0 Proverbs 16:3 – Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established<\/em>.\u00a0 That is a promise, from God Himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the best things We all do all sorts of things everyday.\u00a0 The list of events and activities seems dizzying at times.\u00a0 Wise people and effective organizations stop from time to time and consider, “of everything we are doing right now, what has helped us the most?”\u00a0 Ask anyone who has been at Faith… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[257],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMinistry Planning 101: 7 Steps For Your First Strategic Plan - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/faith-and-planning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ministry Planning 101: 7 Steps For Your First Strategic Plan - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the best things We all do all sorts of things everyday.\u00a0 The list of events and activities seems dizzying at times.\u00a0 Wise people and effective organizations stop from time to time and consider, “of everything we are doing right now, what has helped us the most?”\u00a0 Ask anyone who has been at Faith... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/faith-and-planning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-13T22:11:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-16T21:14:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/files\/2011\/01\/Planning.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/faith-and-planning\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/faith-and-planning\/\",\"name\":\"Ministry Planning 101: 7 Steps For Your First Strategic Plan - Faith Church Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-13T22:11:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-16T21:14:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/b83c7b6a62eab6b6e07c6659b204826c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/faith-and-planning\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/faith-and-planning\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/faith-and-planning\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ministry Planning 101: 7 Steps For Your First Strategic Plan\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Church Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/b83c7b6a62eab6b6e07c6659b204826c\",\"name\":\"Steve Viars\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121939\/ViarsSteve.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121939\/ViarsSteve.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Steve Viars\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Viars has served as a pastor and counselor at Faith since 1987. 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