Strategic Planning in the Early Stages of Church Planting
I once heard of a potential church planter who, during his assessment, revealed that he was planning to move into a distant culture where he planned to “pull a Chandler” (in reference to pastor Matt Chandler, who led the spectacular growth of The Village Church from under 200 to many thousands in just a few years). Though this potential planter was untested, unproven, and lacked any discernable plan, he assumed that merely arriving into a new city with a Bible would mark the beginning of worldwide revival. Thankfully, the assessment ended there and this man was confronted about his pride and encouraged to pursue other endeavors.
While the audacious arrogance of this potential planter might be unique, his lack of thoughtful planning is shared by many church planters. As a result, many new churches begin with an exciting vision that never gets implemented and grandiose ideas that never take shape. Trust in leadership erodes and momentum stalls.
Strategic planning is necessary in order to put feet to a vision. Anybody can talk about “creating an Acts 2 community,” “building a city within the city,” “developing fully devoted followers of Christ,” or (insert your vision here); but without a realistic plan, it’s just talk.
Here are 7 simple ways to begin developing a strategic plan that turns talk into action:
Realize that planning is good and biblical. Scripture affirms the value of planning. Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”
Embrace the reality that God is sovereign over our plans. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Similarly, Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” If we think that our planning will somehow dictate every detail of future reality, we are kidding ourselves. Our plans are in God’s hands and he directs the steps. So, it would be foolish to either: a) fail to plan or b) plan without trusting God’s sovereign care and direction over the outcomes.
Clearly articulate your vision. What do you see when you envision the future reality of your church or ministry? How does it look? What does it feel like? What kind of impact is being made? What kind of people are involved? The more specifics you can articulate, the more specific your ministry will be. Also, write this vision down for yourself. This doesn’t need to be for public consumption, but it does need to be written down somewhere to force you to think through as many specifics as possible. In many cases, you will want to write down specifics for every aspect of the ministries of your church.
Determine what resources are needed to implement the vision. What people need to be involved? What equipment is required? What kind of facilities are needed? How much money will it all cost? Some of these will be resources you currently have—money you’ve raised, leaders you’ve recruited, etc. Many of the resources you need will be things you need to find. Either way, it’s crucial to identify your resource needs.
Work backwards from your vision to develop clear steps and actions to take. Again, these steps need to be as specific as possible. For example, if your vision includes having an energetic, engaging worship experience it’s not enough to just say, “Find worship leader.” Instead, you’ll probably have many specific steps like: 1) Identify 5 potential worship leaders, 2) Contact top three choices to schedule an introductory meeting, 3) Write 1-page job description, 4) Host dinner for each potential leader and his family, etc. Even under each of these steps you may develop other steps. The goal here is to think strategically through the specific steps required in order to make them more manageable and clear.
Prioritize these steps and set deadlines. Which steps are most important? Which are most urgent? Are there some things that require more immediate attention? Are there some things that should be done quickly because they are easy? Should you tackle the hard things first or the easy things? All of these questions will help you focus on what’s most important.
Get to work and stay focused. Church planting, like any new venture, is lots of work. Now that you’re armed with a clear sense of where you want to end up and actionable steps take you in that direction, you can actually make progress. Stay focused on the things that you have prayerfully determined are key, and rest in the promise that God will direct your steps and Jesus will build his church.
Questions?
