Planning a Church's Future

When I first became a senior pastor of a sizable church in my early ministry, I soon realized I did not have the skills to manage a larger church effectively. So, when the opportunity arose, I attended a two-week National Institute on Church Management seminar led by two Harvard Business School professors. The planning process I learned was extremely helpful and I soon found myself serving as a consultant (as time permitted), leading local churches in planning their futures. The process I led looked like this:

A. Building a Statement of Purpose characterized by the following:
KISS (keep it simple stupid)
Will the person off the street immediately understand the Mission Statement?
Is it doable?
Is it forward moving?
Is it biblically based and theologically sound?
etc.
[I've seen Mission (Purpose) Statements that are long and winding, uninspiring.]
B. What goals need to be reached for the statement of purpose to be realized? Limit the goals to the five most crucial
I. Goal 1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
II. Goal 2 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
III. etc
IV. etc
V. etc
C. What objectives, if accomplished, would insure the goals are realized?
1. Objective
2 - ?? etc
D. What strategies, if implimented, would insure the objectives are accomplished?
a. strategy 1
b - e ?? etc.

Recently I noted a number of churches using a similar approach which looks like this:
A. Where have we been?
B. Where are we now?
C. Where do we want to be?
D. How do we get to where we want to be?

Whatever approach is employed, the point is that if a church (or any organizatioin) wants to be relevant, successful, sure of their path to a desired future, serious planning has to be completed, then reviewed/monitored regularly.

Too many local churches are simply maintaining rather than building a planned future. They are reactive rather than proactive. Leaders have no clear idea where and what they want to be -- meaning they haven't seriously sought God's direction for their future. They haven't asked:
Why are we here?
Why has God placed us here at this time in our life as a congregation?
What is it God wants us to be and be doing?
MOST IMPORTANT: Are we willing to risk ourselves to be what God wants us to be?
If we don't know where we're going and how to get there, we'll get nowhere, simpy dog paddling along.

The Holy Spirit is waiting to empower churches of all and any size.