A Blue Print: Planning
For Church Growth
Prepared by Alan L. Joplin
CONTENTS
Conceptual Outlook
To Get To The Future You-Need To Know Where You Are Now
Transforming The Local Church
Programming Concept
Conceptual Outlook<
Get to the future you need to know where you are now!
A church seeking to fulfill its vision for ministry needs to have an honest and realistic assessment of its situation. It may use some of the same methods for ministry as another church, but how that ministry unfolds and when to begin new ministries will vary because each is beginning at its own unique place.
Sometimes people do not see the need to move toward a new future because they do not see anything wrong with the current situation. Statistics are good, money is coming in, why is there any reason to change.
Other times people do not have a realistic assessment of what there situation is really like. Like the person who doesn't exercise or eat right, as long a they feel good they will not do anything to change their lifestyle, until they have a heart attack or some other serious health problem.
People make up churches, so churches often do not see themselves for what they really are-dying, over weight or malnourished dinosaurs. They may see the need to make some chances - i.e new members or cutting back on some committees, but unless there is a recognition that the environment about them is changing and seek to change the way they do ministry they are going to die.
Ways to get a picture of your church.
How does your church measure up?
You can not reach your vision if you do not fully understand your current situation. Knowing where you are beginning can avoid some detours and dead ends along the way. Doing an honest evaluation of the church- a health check- can avoid the impending disease, disaster, or death down the road.
Transforming the Local Church
Transformation of a local church requires a holistic process; planning, visioning, and restructuring and this may not be enough. Too often a church writes a mission statement and continues in the same direction; or a church reorganizes and yet the way it does ministry remains the same. As the local expression of the body of Christ, the local church's system must be transformed; the environment surrounding the church is a part of that system and must be engaged as well. The mind, body (internal and external), spirit, and surrounding environment are interdependent and needed to be treated as a whole.
Francis Goullart and James Kelly in their book "Transforming the Organization" maintain that an organization is like a living organism and must be treated holistically. The mind, body, and spirit of the organization are interdependent and all the parts need to be a part of the transformation process. They suggest four interdependent parts of the transformation process: Reframing, Restructuring, Revitalization, and Renewal.
The body needs to have a new orientation or mind reframing; it must be able to envision the future to which God is calling. The internal structure needs to reflect the values and vision. New life, comes to the body as it engages its environment in mission. Their study, sharing, and mutual ministry must renew the individuals within the body and the corporate body.
TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION/REVITALIZATION
Transformation can begin within any part, but is interdependent and simultaneous with the other three but at varying speeds. A new vision can begin the transformation, but a renewed individual or group can initiate the process as well. A restructured system must reflect and support the vision. A sustained vision will take time. A new ministry may be up and running in a few months.
Reframing: Romans 12 speaks of the individual Christian being transformed by the renewing of her/his mind. Paradigm is a well-worn word today. But it speaks an important truth. How we view the world, the church, and what we envision will affect how we do ministry and determine the results we get. Fertile soil is needed before a vision can grow. An initial task in reframing is creating an environment for transformation. Pastors can work with key church leaders who are open or able to be open to change. Spend time in study and prayer; give them books to read; discuss the implications for your church with them.
TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION/REFRAMING
TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION/RESTRUCTURING
An organizational structure needs to support this kind of ministry and the vision of the church. Reorganizing for downsizing is not the answer. It needs to be permission giving allowing those in ministry to make the decisions. Those decisions need to be accountable to the vision of the church. Management needs to be minimized and mission maximized.
Facilities need to support the ministry and vision of the church. A church, which seeks to be inclusive and has a building that is not handicap accessible, is not faithful to its vision. A cold, dark, traditional, sanctuary can affect a goal for worship to be contemporary and experiential. Overlooking the 80% rule can limit growth.
The stewardship of resources under girds or undermines the vision. Members need to discover their spiritual gifts and be free to use them. Many churches struggle with meeting financial needs. A church needs to not only teach the giving of financial resources, but also understand why and how people give. How budgets are developed and who makes the decisions can affect the way ministry does or does not happen.
Revitalization is achieved through the creation of new ministries, which impact the needs of others. There is a South African word 'Ubuntu' which means "I can see myself only through your eyes." We can only see ourselves as the church when we see through the eyes of the people in our mission area. How well do you know the people? What are their needs, hopes, desires, and life concerns? We need to reach out not so we can add new members, but to offer them something of value for their lives.
Each local church needs to know its mission area and target whom they can best reach and minister. New ministries are best based on the strengths of a local church. What are the core ministries you have to offer? If a core ministry is with children, begin there. Adding one exciting ministry of outreach can be the spark of revitalization.
Communication is also key to sharing the good news of revitalization. How well does your church communicate within and outside the church? What are the formal and informal means of communication? Is it quantity or quality? The church of the 21st Century will also have to be high tech. how are computers, web sites, E-mail, and other means of communication being used?
Ultimately a local church is about the renewal of persons. Transformation can begin when a person is renewed by some spiritual experience. I know one pastor who was renewed when he went on a trip to Africa. It changed his life and has since changed his church.
Renewal means personal growth. Persons discover their spiritual gifts and use those gifts in ministry. One church asks its members "What is the burning bushing your life? What is God calling you to do?"
TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION/RENEWAL
Are we as a church open to learning? Are we a learning organism?
Has transformation affected the way people work together? Is it encouraging a team concept? Are there alliances between groups that have a common concern and passion? Transformation may begin with one area of a church life. But it ultimately needs to impact the church's vision, use of resources, organization, facilities, mission, and the renewal of its people for it to last.
Programming Concepts
Interactive Community of MinistryA Vision for Transforming Communities
Introduction
Simply redefining programs will not by itself address the important issues of growth and development. When you reflected on new questions, a new way to conceptualize Church can begen to emerge.
Vision
Interactive Community of Ministry provides a new way of being in community with one another out of which new ministries to communities can be created.
Mission
Interactive Community of Ministry will encourage the development of clergy and lay community, which focuses its strengths, gifts, and passions to a geographic community of their choice. This model affirms that when people are personally transformed through the development of their own faith, while being in community, they can produce ministry aimed at transforming people, businesses, school systems and other organizations in their neighborhoods.
Interactive Community of Ministry: Scriptural Foundations
The New Testament church emphasized giftedness, spirit power, and a focus on gathering together as one body. Ultimately, the gathered body gave witness to the spirit's presence by being engaged missionally with other people.
A critical component of community formation and transformation is an awareness of God’s grace through individual gifts for ministry. As the ministry plan for each Interactive Community of Ministry takes shape, each congregation will have the opportunity to participate in an assessment process.
Description of "Interactive Communities of Ministry (ICM)"
A Interactive Communities of Ministry (ICM) is a team-building effort that focuses on:
Shared compassion: ICM is built on relationships. As relationships develop into an experience of community, ministry can then emerge. Compassion for ministry is the by-product of the relationships.Shared relationships: ICM is relationship-focused. It provides a context for people to form their own community, which then serves as a platform to launch ministry to the surrounding geographical community.Shared parish passion: ICM encourages regional-based ministry and asks us to lay aside our competitive desires for kingdom building.Shared oversight for ministry: Every ICM will have an elder who will be responsible for an assessment of ministry effectiveness of the ICM.Shared concern for congregational effectiveness and community transformation: We live in an era of doing ministry in anxious times. CTM provides a model for ministry that shares concerns that arise from congregations who are trying hard to respond to these times. Every ICM will have an leader who serves as a "first responder" for those concerns. By doing so, responses to concerns are more direct and pertinent to the situation and the communities impacted by those concerns.Shared resourcing for ministry in mission: Resources will be available to assess congregation strengths, community needs, and a plan for meeting that community needs. Those strengths, which every congregation has, can then be used to provide ministry to a common community. This will also result in the creation of ministry opportunities that allow people to use their gifts.
To Begin Again - Leading a Church Through Change
A New Day for the Church and Pastors. "Cease to dwell on days gone by and brood over past history, for I am doing a new thing in your midst; can you not perceive it?" Isaiah 43:18. "We have it in our power to begin the world all over again. A situation similar to the present hath not appeared since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand." Thomas Paine 1175.
Pastoral and Staff Leadership
A. The Role of Leadership is changing
1. It is about leadership and not administration. Managers do things right, leaders do the right things.
2. It is not about power, position, accomplishment, but serving and developing other leaders.
3. A leader helps people to know the environment and map the journey toward their destination.
"Leadership is about creating a domain in which we continually learn and become more capable of participating in our unfolding future. Leadership is about creating, day by day, a domain in which we and those around us continually deepen our understanding of reality and are able to participate in shaping the future . This is, and then, is the deeper territory of leadership-collectively ‘listening’ to what is to emerge in the world and having the courage to do what is required." Joseph Jaworski in Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership"
4. Being a prophetic pastor means to help people understand what is happening in our world. Where is God at work? What happens if we fail to respond.
5. Being a pastor is equipping people for the journey into the Future.
6. Being a shepherd (king) is leading people toward the vision and calling. It is not about managing the fields.
B. The Tasks of Leading (Adapted from John Kotter’s "Leading Change")
Making sure there is a solid foundation, you need to have in place the first four of these areas. They will be worked on at different levels at the same time, but ultimately they need to be accomplished in order to move on without a great conflict or problems.
1. Create an environment of expectation and urgency. "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" "Repent the Kingdom is at hand" Help people to understand the need for change. Teach, have them read books, visit growing churches.
2. Develop a team to help carry forth the mission and vision. "And the twelve who Jesus called" Develop a team of people who can help you move toward the future. It needs to be a team effort, do not go it alone.
3. Develop a Vision and Strategy. "And Jesus was tempted in the wilderness" Take time to develop a clear mission, vision, and values to guide your church.
4. Communicate the Vision and Mission. "I have come to preach good news to the poor and release to the captives" The role of leadership is to articulate the vision and keep it before the people; if leadership does not do this, no one will. It needs to be done weekly. Spend time listening to people, allow them to refine the vision and develop ownership of it.
5. Empowering People to Serve. "And he sent out the seventy, two by two" "Greater things you will do" Help people to discover their gifts. train them, equip them.
6. Creating a Environment to Support and Sustain. "After me shall come the Holy Spirit" Sometimes structure need to be changed to allow for an environment and system to facilitate ministry.
7. Establish a New Way of Living Together. " And they were in one accord" When you work on the above, new way of living together forms. You make this new way of doing things, the norm. But you are always refining, learning, evaluating.
C. The "Stuff" which makes for Leaders (Adapted from "Leading Change" by John Kotter)
1. A sense of call and mission. Moving ahead despite the limited road map.
2. A PASSION for the mission.
3. Openness to God’s leading
4. Risk Taker
5. Humble Self Reflection
6. Solicits Information and Feedback
7. Careful listening
8. Openness to new ideas: Willing to learn from others and other disciplines,
9. Endurance - You are in this for the long run.
D. "Servant leaders serve the mission and those who are on the mission." Gene Wilkes
MAPPING INTO THE FUTURE KNOW
THE PRESENT/Church and Environment
A. In an unstable world of random change, strategic planning is an oxymoron.
1. By the time a plan is on paper, it is unlikely to be strategic (got any of them lying around gathering dust on a shelf somewhere?).
2. The most productive periods can occur during those times when there is little or nor plan to follow.
B. Strategic mappers are like Lewis and Clark or the Star Trek generation, wandering through an unknown wilderness, charting courses where no Protestant has been before.
1. Contrary to our computer generated maps, their maps are simple and are added to and enhanced by those who come after them.
2. Strategic Mapping is not . . .Long Range Planning , Forecasting the future; Brainstorming
C. Strategic mapping is not a linear extrapolation of the past into the future.
1. Strategic mappers care more about where they are going than where they are have been. Their focus is on the future and how present actions can actually be a partner in making the anticipated future a reality.
2. The basic question strategic mappers ask is "what must we do today to cause the future to be what God wants it to be?"
A. Anticipate the changes which effect the future-In a time of major change strategic mapping rather than strategic planning is the way to the future.
B. Strategic mapping is learning to anticipate the random, changing needs of the next generation and developing ministries before the need arises.
C. Strategic mapping is about breaking new ground and learning how to think and act differently
D. Tools for Understanding the Future. Reading ….Prayer and Discernment….Learning from those on the cutting edge….Workshops
TRAINING FOR THE FUTURE
Paradigm Pioneers- Joel Barker….Get Outside Your Borders….Break Rules of Past Success….Develop New Reading Habits….Be Ready for Failure….Listen, Listen, Listen
ESSENTIALS FOR TRAVELING INTO THE FUTURE
Strategic mapping is learning to identify the routes to the future and avoiding the detours and side roads that do not position us to be effective in the future. It is the ability to understand the clues to the future and place ourselves at the major intersections of the future instead of being stranded on some dead end trail.
Scripture: Philippian Church: Vision, Gentiles, Worship, Lay Ministry- Equipping, Small Groups, Diversity, Social Justice, Prayer
Strategic mapping is done by teams of people who know they are lost in the wilderness.
1. Strategic mappers must be able to suspend their judgement long enough to see the unthinkable.
2. They must unlearn what has worked well for a long time. To do this, they must be able to separate themselves from what they know has and is working and ask, "what might work?"
3. Teams work best because they can anticipate more multiple options. Humility, spiritual gifts, naivety, and curiosity are strategic mapping essentials for the members of these teams.
TRAVEL LIGHT
Core Ministries
1. Core ministries are those essential ministries, like worship, that a church must provide to meet the basic needs of society. Often these ministries can not be started without letting go of some of the ministries from the past.
2. Improving quality is essential only if the ministry is meeting needs. The same is true for restructuring. If a church is not anticipating future needs, it doesn't matter how much it restructures, it is merely buying time.
"RULES"- META RULES. Often, strategic mappers find it necessary to break existing rules. When this is the case, it is essential for the team to agree upon the rules for breaking the rules. In The Twenty First Century Organization Beneveniste calls them "meta rules." Sample Meta Rules
1. It is okay to change, break, or eliminate some rules.
2. The fewer rules and policies we have the better.
3. Err on the side of giving permission to innovative ministries.
4. It is better to innovate, make mistakes, and ask for forgiveness than it is to safe-guard the status quo.
DETAILS-Don’t Get Bogged Down. Strategic mapping avoids detailing the "how" of strategic planning.
1 . The details about how to get to the future are best left as broad and as flexible as possible to allow for the various gifts among the congregation as well as the shifts that are occurring along the crack in history.
2. Strategic mapping is more unstructured thought than carefully laid out plans. It is not a science. It is done as one travels. As Hamel and Prahalad said in Competing for the Future: "Getting to the future is a process of successive approximations."
TRAITS FOR THE JOURNEY
Intuition….Willingness to Risk…. Endurance
AIDS FOR THE JOURNEY
Strategic mappers ask the following questions.
A. Is most of our time spent on the needs of the community instead of the needs of the congregation?
B. Of the time we spend thinking about the needs of the community, how much of it is spent considering how ministry will be different ten years from now versus how to improve our present ministries?
C. Of the time we spend thinking about the needs of the community, how much of it is spent in establishing alliances and networks that will help us be ready for future needs?
D. Does our church do most ministries differently than most other churches in our denomination?
E. What is impossible today that if it were possible would change the way we minister to people?
Seven mapping steps that can lead to the intersections of the future.
A. Let go of the past and the present and suspend all judgement.
B. Find a group of people like yourself who will admit that very little works like it used to.
C. Establish the meta rules.
D. Develop a set of clues to the future.
E. Ask the right questions.
F. Begin mapping your way to the future.
G. Avoid allowing the process to become too detailed and drawn out.
Based on these seven steps, mapping shows that people are at the intersections to the future while they are learning how to...
A. Reach people who have never been to church;
B. Develop tithers out of people born after 1946;
C. Develop small, relational groups that help people grow spiritually; develop worship in which the music celebrates the Gospel as much as the sermon;
D. Stop trying to prop-up ministries that no longer meet the needs of people;
E. Reach people of all ethnic backgrounds;
F. Develop Lay Pastors;
G. Form alliances
H. Prepare to minister in a hostile world and develop new ways to plant churches;
I. Understand and use electronic media, computers, etc
J. Develop Spiritual Gifts
K. Not see gender when we see a person.
Incident Analysis Steps Worksheet
Step I: Clearly and completely identify the current issues, problems, or questions.
Step II: List all the facts/information pertinent to each of the above.
Step III: List the critical problem, issue, or question demanding immediate attention.
Step IV: List the alternative courses of action and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Alternative A:
Alternative B:
Alternative C:
Step V: Draw conclusions, make recommendations/decisions (justify your position).
Step VI: What is the fundamental management problem, issue, or question underlying the current problem?
For Church Growth
Prepared by Alan L. Joplin
CONTENTS
Conceptual Outlook
To Get To The Future You-Need To Know Where You Are Now
Transforming The Local Church
- Twenty Questions For Transformation/Revitalization
Twenty Questions For Transformation/Reframing
Twenty Questions For Transformation/Restructuring
Twenty Questions For Transformation/Renewal
Programming Concept
Interactive Communities of MinistryA Vision for Transforming Communities
Introduction
Interactive Communities of Ministry Scriptural Foundations
A Combination of Community Formation and Congregation Assessment
Description of " Interactive Community of Ministry"
What do " Interactive Communities of Ministry" provide that is not currently provided?
Mapping Into The Future Know The Present/Church And Environment
Envision The Future
To Begin Again - Leading A Church Through Change
Get to the future you need to know where you are now!
A church seeking to fulfill its vision for ministry needs to have an honest and realistic assessment of its situation. It may use some of the same methods for ministry as another church, but how that ministry unfolds and when to begin new ministries will vary because each is beginning at its own unique place.
Sometimes people do not see the need to move toward a new future because they do not see anything wrong with the current situation. Statistics are good, money is coming in, why is there any reason to change.
Other times people do not have a realistic assessment of what there situation is really like. Like the person who doesn't exercise or eat right, as long a they feel good they will not do anything to change their lifestyle, until they have a heart attack or some other serious health problem.
People make up churches, so churches often do not see themselves for what they really are-dying, over weight or malnourished dinosaurs. They may see the need to make some chances - i.e new members or cutting back on some committees, but unless there is a recognition that the environment about them is changing and seek to change the way they do ministry they are going to die.
- Do some basic demographic studies of your congregation. Age profiles, worship attendance over the past ten years. Compare your church's average age with that of the community you serve. Compare the percentage of your church in each generation with those in your community. Are you older or younger than your community.
- Have your leadership read. Help your leadership see that the environment is changing and new situation call for new strategies. Bill Easum' Dancing with Dinosaurs. Loren Meads "The Once and Future Church". People need to understand the reason for change or be given some information to help they see that if they do not change they will die. Even with information some people will not change.
- Seek to have God help you and your leaders to see yourself as you really are.
- Meet with a small group of members seeking to be intentional about understanding what your church is like and what it could be if it fulfilled God's vision for it. Study the book of Acts; compare the church in Acts with your church.
You can not reach your vision if you do not fully understand your current situation. Knowing where you are beginning can avoid some detours and dead ends along the way. Doing an honest evaluation of the church- a health check- can avoid the impending disease, disaster, or death down the road.
Transformation of a local church requires a holistic process; planning, visioning, and restructuring and this may not be enough. Too often a church writes a mission statement and continues in the same direction; or a church reorganizes and yet the way it does ministry remains the same. As the local expression of the body of Christ, the local church's system must be transformed; the environment surrounding the church is a part of that system and must be engaged as well. The mind, body (internal and external), spirit, and surrounding environment are interdependent and needed to be treated as a whole.
Francis Goullart and James Kelly in their book "Transforming the Organization" maintain that an organization is like a living organism and must be treated holistically. The mind, body, and spirit of the organization are interdependent and all the parts need to be a part of the transformation process. They suggest four interdependent parts of the transformation process: Reframing, Restructuring, Revitalization, and Renewal.
The body needs to have a new orientation or mind reframing; it must be able to envision the future to which God is calling. The internal structure needs to reflect the values and vision. New life, comes to the body as it engages its environment in mission. Their study, sharing, and mutual ministry must renew the individuals within the body and the corporate body.
TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION/REVITALIZATION
- How well do we know our community/mission field?
- What are the pressing needs in our area?
- When have we talked to people in the community? Leaders?
- Have we done a demographic study?
- What are the changes happening in our community?
- Why do we want new members? For meeting the budget; committees; survival? Are we seeking to bring the gospel to bear upon their needs?
- Are we mostly concerned with maintenance or mission?
- Are the new ministries for others or us?
- Are we spending more time on others than ourselves?
- Are we expecting people to come to us?
- Are our new ministries based on our strengths?
- Do we listen to new members?
- Do we listen?
- Do we know our mission field? Boundaries, limitations.
- Do we know whom we want and can reach?
- Do we have a passion for reaching out? For sharing Jesus Christ?
- How well do we communicate within and without the church?
- What is our church known for on the community grapevine?
- Are we communicating to control and coordinate or to share the needed information?
- Do we have computers in the office? Are we on line?
Transformation can begin within any part, but is interdependent and simultaneous with the other three but at varying speeds. A new vision can begin the transformation, but a renewed individual or group can initiate the process as well. A restructured system must reflect and support the vision. A sustained vision will take time. A new ministry may be up and running in a few months.
Reframing: Romans 12 speaks of the individual Christian being transformed by the renewing of her/his mind. Paradigm is a well-worn word today. But it speaks an important truth. How we view the world, the church, and what we envision will affect how we do ministry and determine the results we get. Fertile soil is needed before a vision can grow. An initial task in reframing is creating an environment for transformation. Pastors can work with key church leaders who are open or able to be open to change. Spend time in study and prayer; give them books to read; discuss the implications for your church with them.
TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION/REFRAMING
- Am I in ministry out of a sense of call or for a profession?
- Am I clear about my own vision?
- Where is our church on the organizational cycle?What is the culture of the church; traditions; the unwritten rules
- Am I teaching and preaching about Gods calling for this church?
- Am I restless? Is there a vision burning within me?
- What am I willing to risk; lose?
- Who are the leaders who could capture the vision? Is there one, two? Have I identified them? Talk with them. Invited them to join me in study, prayer?
- What am I reading? What do I need to learn?
- What retooling do I need?
- Am I an equipper for ministry?
- Do I share the vision at least once a week? Do you have as passion to see it fulfilled?
- Are success stories becoming the legends of our church?
- Am I or is our church willing to bring a consultant in?
- What are we studying? Is it about mission and ministry for the future?
- Do you have a vision statement; mission statement; values?
- Are they just statements or the driving force of your church? Is there ownership of the vision? Do people know it?
- Do you have a steering or vision team?
- What barriers need to be broken down?
- What must we do today to cause the future to be what God wants it to be?
- What is or are the leverage point(s)?
Preach and Teach about the changing culture and the need for the church to be equipped for ministry in the 21st Century. Take groups of people to workshops, which deal with transformation. Have several members visit churches, which are on the cutting edge of ministry. Develop a relationship with a growing church; see if they are willing to develop a mentor relationship.
Vision is essential for the effective church in the 21st Century. Each local church needs to be clear about what kind of church God is calling them to become. A vision is a clear mental image of a preferred future which comes from an understanding of the church, the community, and discerning where God is leading. Vision gives direction and purposes to church; it provides the focus and energy for ministry.
A compelling vision will…Energize passion for ministry…Move us out of safety to risk adventure …Unite the hearts of people and pull us toward ministry that transforms our communities
God never gave a vision to a committee, but a vision that remains with one person is only a lingering idea. A vision must be developed and shared. If it begins with the pastor, she/he must find ways to share and articulate that vision. It may begin by working with some key leaders and then forming a vision team to develop the details of the vision. While not everyone will own the vision, the people of the church need to be involved in the process.
A vision without a plan is only a dream, but a plan without vision is drudgery. All goals and plans need to flow from the vision. A church needs to discern the strategic areas to address in order to fulfill its vision. An important part of reframing is to begin telling the success stories - big or little. Let them become the legends' of the transformation process.
Restructuring: A vision, which is not supported by internal and external support, is like a person without a skeleton or muscle. A church may have a vision for developing lay ministry and then have such a bureaucracy that new ministries are 'old' before they can ever begin.
Restructuring how ministry and mission occur relates to reframing. There is a need for a new understanding of the role of the pastor and laity. Pastors need to become equippers and mid- wives. The role of the pastor is to equip the saints for ministry (Ephesians 4). Laity need to be in ministry and not simply on committees. The operational organization needs to reflect the values and the vision of the church.
TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION/RESTRUCTURING
- What are our rules and regulations? Written; unwritten.
- Does our church act its size? Are we a medium or large church with a small church syndrome?
- What are the barriers or boundaries for our church?
- Who gives permission for ministry to have?
- Who or what are the blocks to ministry happening?
- What are our Sacred Cows?
- Are we organized for decision-making or disciple making? Are we committed or committed?
- What is expected of laity? What is expected of the pastor?
- Is `every member a minister' a slogan or a driving value or vision?
- When was the last time the organizational structure strategically changed?
- Is our structure mainly reflective of our vision or our denominational affiliation or polity?
- Do we use a nominating process or spiritual gift discovery?
- Do we ask people to serve on committees or invite and equip them to use their gifts?
- Is our leadership style and organization right for our church size?
- Do our facilities support our vision?Are our facilities and the environment consistent with our values?Where is the 80% factor at work?
- Do we have enough land?
- Do we have the necessary staff to support the vision?Are we paying staff to do ministry or equip for ministry?
- What are we doing to teach biblical stewardship?
- Do we have a spiritual gift discovery and equipping process?
- Your budget reflects and supports the vision and core ministries?Who controls the budget process?
An organizational structure needs to support this kind of ministry and the vision of the church. Reorganizing for downsizing is not the answer. It needs to be permission giving allowing those in ministry to make the decisions. Those decisions need to be accountable to the vision of the church. Management needs to be minimized and mission maximized.
Facilities need to support the ministry and vision of the church. A church, which seeks to be inclusive and has a building that is not handicap accessible, is not faithful to its vision. A cold, dark, traditional, sanctuary can affect a goal for worship to be contemporary and experiential. Overlooking the 80% rule can limit growth.
The stewardship of resources under girds or undermines the vision. Members need to discover their spiritual gifts and be free to use them. Many churches struggle with meeting financial needs. A church needs to not only teach the giving of financial resources, but also understand why and how people give. How budgets are developed and who makes the decisions can affect the way ministry does or does not happen.
Revitalization is achieved through the creation of new ministries, which impact the needs of others. There is a South African word 'Ubuntu' which means "I can see myself only through your eyes." We can only see ourselves as the church when we see through the eyes of the people in our mission area. How well do you know the people? What are their needs, hopes, desires, and life concerns? We need to reach out not so we can add new members, but to offer them something of value for their lives.
Each local church needs to know its mission area and target whom they can best reach and minister. New ministries are best based on the strengths of a local church. What are the core ministries you have to offer? If a core ministry is with children, begin there. Adding one exciting ministry of outreach can be the spark of revitalization.
Communication is also key to sharing the good news of revitalization. How well does your church communicate within and outside the church? What are the formal and informal means of communication? Is it quantity or quality? The church of the 21st Century will also have to be high tech. how are computers, web sites, E-mail, and other means of communication being used?
Ultimately a local church is about the renewal of persons. Transformation can begin when a person is renewed by some spiritual experience. I know one pastor who was renewed when he went on a trip to Africa. It changed his life and has since changed his church.
Renewal means personal growth. Persons discover their spiritual gifts and use those gifts in ministry. One church asks its members "What is the burning bushing your life? What is God calling you to do?"
TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION/RENEWAL
- Are we encouraging persons on their spiritual journey?
- Are we seeking faithful members or disciples?
- Do our leaders have a sense of calling?
- Do our members make connection with the church's vision?Is the vision helping them in their walk with Christ?
- Are members experiencing spiritual renewal and transformation?
- Are people in our church desirous of learning?
- Are people using their spiritual gifts?
- Are persons carrying their ministry into the world?
- Are leaders acting as midwives?
- Do we have spiritual redwoods?
- Do we need to retool our leadership?
- Is there a sense that the Spirit is alive and well in our church?
- Are we seeking to keep the doors open or to be in mission?
- Are we willing to lose our life; to give ourselves away?
- Are we seeking to preserve or to risk?
Do people feel free to do ministry any time and any place?- Hat alliances do we have?
Are we as a church open to learning? Are we a learning organism?
Has transformation affected the way people work together? Is it encouraging a team concept? Are there alliances between groups that have a common concern and passion? Transformation may begin with one area of a church life. But it ultimately needs to impact the church's vision, use of resources, organization, facilities, mission, and the renewal of its people for it to last.
Programming Concepts
Interactive Community of MinistryA Vision for Transforming Communities
Introduction
Simply redefining programs will not by itself address the important issues of growth and development. When you reflected on new questions, a new way to conceptualize Church can begen to emerge.
Vision
Interactive Community of Ministry provides a new way of being in community with one another out of which new ministries to communities can be created.
Mission
Interactive Community of Ministry will encourage the development of clergy and lay community, which focuses its strengths, gifts, and passions to a geographic community of their choice. This model affirms that when people are personally transformed through the development of their own faith, while being in community, they can produce ministry aimed at transforming people, businesses, school systems and other organizations in their neighborhoods.
Interactive Community of Ministry: Scriptural Foundations
The New Testament church emphasized giftedness, spirit power, and a focus on gathering together as one body. Ultimately, the gathered body gave witness to the spirit's presence by being engaged missionally with other people.
- “In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." Luke 3:11
- “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” I Corinthians 12: 12
- “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.” Philippians 2:14,15
- “On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Rev 22:2
- God gifts all people for ministry.
- All people have capacity to organize themselves into Christian community.
- God’s spirit empowers all people, made alive in community, to produce ministry.
A critical component of community formation and transformation is an awareness of God’s grace through individual gifts for ministry. As the ministry plan for each Interactive Community of Ministry takes shape, each congregation will have the opportunity to participate in an assessment process.
Description of "Interactive Communities of Ministry (ICM)"
A Interactive Communities of Ministry (ICM) is a team-building effort that focuses on:
- The development of faith community by congregations who choose to be in relationship with one another.
- The emergent plan for ministry aimed at targeted groups represented by the congregations who choose to be in relationship with one another. The ministry aimed at a targeted community flows out of, and is created by clergy and lay people who are united and connected together around a common vision for their community.
Shared compassion: ICM is built on relationships. As relationships develop into an experience of community, ministry can then emerge. Compassion for ministry is the by-product of the relationships.Shared relationships: ICM is relationship-focused. It provides a context for people to form their own community, which then serves as a platform to launch ministry to the surrounding geographical community.Shared parish passion: ICM encourages regional-based ministry and asks us to lay aside our competitive desires for kingdom building.Shared oversight for ministry: Every ICM will have an elder who will be responsible for an assessment of ministry effectiveness of the ICM.Shared concern for congregational effectiveness and community transformation: We live in an era of doing ministry in anxious times. CTM provides a model for ministry that shares concerns that arise from congregations who are trying hard to respond to these times. Every ICM will have an leader who serves as a "first responder" for those concerns. By doing so, responses to concerns are more direct and pertinent to the situation and the communities impacted by those concerns.Shared resourcing for ministry in mission: Resources will be available to assess congregation strengths, community needs, and a plan for meeting that community needs. Those strengths, which every congregation has, can then be used to provide ministry to a common community. This will also result in the creation of ministry opportunities that allow people to use their gifts.
To Begin Again - Leading a Church Through Change
A New Day for the Church and Pastors. "Cease to dwell on days gone by and brood over past history, for I am doing a new thing in your midst; can you not perceive it?" Isaiah 43:18. "We have it in our power to begin the world all over again. A situation similar to the present hath not appeared since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand." Thomas Paine 1175.
Pastoral and Staff Leadership
A. The Role of Leadership is changing
1. It is about leadership and not administration. Managers do things right, leaders do the right things.
2. It is not about power, position, accomplishment, but serving and developing other leaders.
3. A leader helps people to know the environment and map the journey toward their destination.
"Leadership is about creating a domain in which we continually learn and become more capable of participating in our unfolding future. Leadership is about creating, day by day, a domain in which we and those around us continually deepen our understanding of reality and are able to participate in shaping the future . This is, and then, is the deeper territory of leadership-collectively ‘listening’ to what is to emerge in the world and having the courage to do what is required." Joseph Jaworski in Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership"
4. Being a prophetic pastor means to help people understand what is happening in our world. Where is God at work? What happens if we fail to respond.
5. Being a pastor is equipping people for the journey into the Future.
6. Being a shepherd (king) is leading people toward the vision and calling. It is not about managing the fields.
B. The Tasks of Leading (Adapted from John Kotter’s "Leading Change")
Making sure there is a solid foundation, you need to have in place the first four of these areas. They will be worked on at different levels at the same time, but ultimately they need to be accomplished in order to move on without a great conflict or problems.
1. Create an environment of expectation and urgency. "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" "Repent the Kingdom is at hand" Help people to understand the need for change. Teach, have them read books, visit growing churches.
2. Develop a team to help carry forth the mission and vision. "And the twelve who Jesus called" Develop a team of people who can help you move toward the future. It needs to be a team effort, do not go it alone.
3. Develop a Vision and Strategy. "And Jesus was tempted in the wilderness" Take time to develop a clear mission, vision, and values to guide your church.
4. Communicate the Vision and Mission. "I have come to preach good news to the poor and release to the captives" The role of leadership is to articulate the vision and keep it before the people; if leadership does not do this, no one will. It needs to be done weekly. Spend time listening to people, allow them to refine the vision and develop ownership of it.
5. Empowering People to Serve. "And he sent out the seventy, two by two" "Greater things you will do" Help people to discover their gifts. train them, equip them.
6. Creating a Environment to Support and Sustain. "After me shall come the Holy Spirit" Sometimes structure need to be changed to allow for an environment and system to facilitate ministry.
7. Establish a New Way of Living Together. " And they were in one accord" When you work on the above, new way of living together forms. You make this new way of doing things, the norm. But you are always refining, learning, evaluating.
C. The "Stuff" which makes for Leaders (Adapted from "Leading Change" by John Kotter)
1. A sense of call and mission. Moving ahead despite the limited road map.
2. A PASSION for the mission.
3. Openness to God’s leading
4. Risk Taker
5. Humble Self Reflection
6. Solicits Information and Feedback
7. Careful listening
8. Openness to new ideas: Willing to learn from others and other disciplines,
9. Endurance - You are in this for the long run.
D. "Servant leaders serve the mission and those who are on the mission." Gene Wilkes
MAPPING INTO THE FUTURE KNOW
THE PRESENT/Church and Environment
A. In an unstable world of random change, strategic planning is an oxymoron.
1. By the time a plan is on paper, it is unlikely to be strategic (got any of them lying around gathering dust on a shelf somewhere?).
2. The most productive periods can occur during those times when there is little or nor plan to follow.
B. Strategic mappers are like Lewis and Clark or the Star Trek generation, wandering through an unknown wilderness, charting courses where no Protestant has been before.
1. Contrary to our computer generated maps, their maps are simple and are added to and enhanced by those who come after them.
2. Strategic Mapping is not . . .Long Range Planning , Forecasting the future; Brainstorming
C. Strategic mapping is not a linear extrapolation of the past into the future.
1. Strategic mappers care more about where they are going than where they are have been. Their focus is on the future and how present actions can actually be a partner in making the anticipated future a reality.
2. The basic question strategic mappers ask is "what must we do today to cause the future to be what God wants it to be?"
- Strategic Mappers know the lay of the land they are in and want to leave.
A. Anticipate the changes which effect the future-In a time of major change strategic mapping rather than strategic planning is the way to the future.
B. Strategic mapping is learning to anticipate the random, changing needs of the next generation and developing ministries before the need arises.
C. Strategic mapping is about breaking new ground and learning how to think and act differently
D. Tools for Understanding the Future. Reading ….Prayer and Discernment….Learning from those on the cutting edge….Workshops
TRAINING FOR THE FUTURE
Paradigm Pioneers- Joel Barker….Get Outside Your Borders….Break Rules of Past Success….Develop New Reading Habits….Be Ready for Failure….Listen, Listen, Listen
ESSENTIALS FOR TRAVELING INTO THE FUTURE
Strategic mapping is learning to identify the routes to the future and avoiding the detours and side roads that do not position us to be effective in the future. It is the ability to understand the clues to the future and place ourselves at the major intersections of the future instead of being stranded on some dead end trail.
Scripture: Philippian Church: Vision, Gentiles, Worship, Lay Ministry- Equipping, Small Groups, Diversity, Social Justice, Prayer
Strategic mapping is done by teams of people who know they are lost in the wilderness.
1. Strategic mappers must be able to suspend their judgement long enough to see the unthinkable.
2. They must unlearn what has worked well for a long time. To do this, they must be able to separate themselves from what they know has and is working and ask, "what might work?"
3. Teams work best because they can anticipate more multiple options. Humility, spiritual gifts, naivety, and curiosity are strategic mapping essentials for the members of these teams.
TRAVEL LIGHT
Core Ministries
1. Core ministries are those essential ministries, like worship, that a church must provide to meet the basic needs of society. Often these ministries can not be started without letting go of some of the ministries from the past.
2. Improving quality is essential only if the ministry is meeting needs. The same is true for restructuring. If a church is not anticipating future needs, it doesn't matter how much it restructures, it is merely buying time.
"RULES"- META RULES. Often, strategic mappers find it necessary to break existing rules. When this is the case, it is essential for the team to agree upon the rules for breaking the rules. In The Twenty First Century Organization Beneveniste calls them "meta rules." Sample Meta Rules
1. It is okay to change, break, or eliminate some rules.
2. The fewer rules and policies we have the better.
3. Err on the side of giving permission to innovative ministries.
4. It is better to innovate, make mistakes, and ask for forgiveness than it is to safe-guard the status quo.
DETAILS-Don’t Get Bogged Down. Strategic mapping avoids detailing the "how" of strategic planning.
1 . The details about how to get to the future are best left as broad and as flexible as possible to allow for the various gifts among the congregation as well as the shifts that are occurring along the crack in history.
2. Strategic mapping is more unstructured thought than carefully laid out plans. It is not a science. It is done as one travels. As Hamel and Prahalad said in Competing for the Future: "Getting to the future is a process of successive approximations."
TRAITS FOR THE JOURNEY
Intuition….Willingness to Risk…. Endurance
AIDS FOR THE JOURNEY
Strategic mappers ask the following questions.
A. Is most of our time spent on the needs of the community instead of the needs of the congregation?
B. Of the time we spend thinking about the needs of the community, how much of it is spent considering how ministry will be different ten years from now versus how to improve our present ministries?
C. Of the time we spend thinking about the needs of the community, how much of it is spent in establishing alliances and networks that will help us be ready for future needs?
D. Does our church do most ministries differently than most other churches in our denomination?
E. What is impossible today that if it were possible would change the way we minister to people?
Seven mapping steps that can lead to the intersections of the future.
A. Let go of the past and the present and suspend all judgement.
B. Find a group of people like yourself who will admit that very little works like it used to.
C. Establish the meta rules.
D. Develop a set of clues to the future.
E. Ask the right questions.
F. Begin mapping your way to the future.
G. Avoid allowing the process to become too detailed and drawn out.
Based on these seven steps, mapping shows that people are at the intersections to the future while they are learning how to...
A. Reach people who have never been to church;
B. Develop tithers out of people born after 1946;
C. Develop small, relational groups that help people grow spiritually; develop worship in which the music celebrates the Gospel as much as the sermon;
D. Stop trying to prop-up ministries that no longer meet the needs of people;
E. Reach people of all ethnic backgrounds;
F. Develop Lay Pastors;
G. Form alliances
H. Prepare to minister in a hostile world and develop new ways to plant churches;
I. Understand and use electronic media, computers, etc
J. Develop Spiritual Gifts
K. Not see gender when we see a person.
Incident Analysis Steps Worksheet
Step I: Clearly and completely identify the current issues, problems, or questions.
Step II: List all the facts/information pertinent to each of the above.
Step III: List the critical problem, issue, or question demanding immediate attention.
Step IV: List the alternative courses of action and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Alternative A:
Alternative B:
Alternative C:
Step V: Draw conclusions, make recommendations/decisions (justify your position).
Step VI: What is the fundamental management problem, issue, or question underlying the current problem?
posted by reverend alan l. joplin/voices of the tribe ministries at
2:55 PM
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