Bible Students

The whole of life of a ministry organization is defined by the “S” curve. Movements grow, gain speed, plateau, and die. People need to be ready to kick things off of the plateau and grow again. Is there anything a church can do to stop the plateau? Yes. They need to send off new beginnings. None of the ancient churches are still around, no matter how good they were. Church planting is a way of starting new things. Many people believe they do not need to start a new thing because the current thing is doing well. Too many people wait until it is declining to begin a new thing. Leaders who are leaving must help the new leaders to continue the church on the incline. Many people wait until there is a sinking ship to give aid to the church. New S curves must be started as soon as possible. 

What do pastors who can begin new S curves look like? Things do not often unfold neatly. Strategy will not always work. Churches should clearly have their mission and value statements. Strategic planning can be a soul searching and painful process for all involved. Good navigators make sure that the ship is in good order before setting off. The leader must make sure the beginning is in order so that it can run well starting off. If the leader does not say why he is doing what he is doing, many may lose focus on the mission.

Leaders must determine if they are a lead navigator or could be better used doing something else. Leaders must be vision casters, have mentors who will fill in their gaps, be team players, focused, communicators. Is the leader one of these? If not, then the church will likely plateau. God will likely use those who are this way. A person without a gift can still develop the skill of leadership and adapt to the temperment of a leader. 

Strategic planning makes a difference. Churches must reevaluate themselves constantly. Planning and reevaluation is key. Who is the church? Where are they going? How will they get there? Clearly weighing these will have a huge impact on the survival and success of the church. Working harder does not help if there is no reevaluation of the direction and method of going. Strategic planning requires a strategic leader. It should be a part of a team, but there must be a leader who can make decisions in a moment without a meeting when they need to happen. 

Envision the future and ask how the team will get there. Decisions today will impact tomorrow. The church’s vision is clearly articulated in the Gospels by Jesus. The vision must have a goal, steps, and a way to get there, especially in terms of finances. Strategic planning can be found throughout the Bible. Moses strategically moved the Israelites throughout the wilderness, Jethro helped him, Joshua led them into the promised land, Nehemiah lead them back. Jesus lead the church to its beginning, and the Apostles obeyed the Spirit by living strategically. It seems that we are doing the planning, but the Lord is the one who is doing the work. Hold plans with an open hand. You can plan while still holding an open hand. 

Why strategize? Discover the church’s strengths, weaknesses. Builds strengths and minimize weaknesses. Facilitate congregational mission. Implement Christ-like change. Get everyone on the same page. Promote spiritual revival. Articulate values. Churches that evaluate themselves will do better. Be able to work with technology. Hiring consultants is a helpful method. Going on tour as a consultant is helpful to many churches. Team centers are areas with the most recent technology and useful things like whiteboards and a table which can effectively be used for long planning sessions. 

Brainstorming is good in an isolated environment without interruptions. No criticism, quantity is better than quality. All ideas. Storyboarding should be done without interruptions. Purchase storyboard paper. No killer phrases. Foam balls to throw at the people breaking the rules. Develop core values or mission statement. Post-it-notes, place them on a big whiteboard to group ideas. Only after all ideas are exhausted should the leader go through and find the most important ideas. Leaders can use a 1-10 evaluation to see where people lie on issues. 

Good church consultants bring fresh ideas, even from over the phone. 

The pastor must be committed to the process. Are the empowered people of the church on board with the changes? The first step is assessing openness to change. Pastors are vulnerable to failure because they do not know if the congregation will stay with them if it comes. Pastors in charge of small churches must be aware of a patriarch or matriarch who holds the true spiritual authority in the church. Meeting with them and seeking their involvement in change is key. 

Teams and team involvement is absolutely needed. Those on the team and involved on the team will have their trust. Involve the leaders of the church. They should care about the church and its leadership and direction. If leaders do not communicate with people, they will not be trusted. One-way communication involves bulletins and other things sent out. Two-way involves a way they can respond. Do not allow Gossip in the church, but give options for the person to address the individual. Jesus was one who used probing questions. If a leader continues to do what they are currently doing, what makes them think it will change? There is a whole manner of purposes for the church, and there are seasons for different ministries. Having a balance between reality checks and vision is very helpful. 

Pastors must be willing to stay for the long term if they are going to implement strong change. They must lay a spiritual foundation. Obedience to authority in the church is very important. Additionally, resolving conflict is very important. People will respect leaders when they feel they have been heard. People can easily believe their church is their church, not Christ’s church. Those people may be upset when leaders change the furniture in their house. 

This week’s reading listed many practical and helpful methods for exploring the whole counsel of a team. This was an exciting chapter, as I am excited to brainstorm ideas with a team in the future. I appreciated the appeal of putting all ideas out, without criticizing any, and then going through afterward to find the best ideas. This allows the ideas to be free-flowing and have more liberty with finding a solution. 

Strategization is an exciting future, and this reading has helped to bring that to the surface. Additionally, I appreciated the comments on being transparent and communicating with the team. Leaders must love and trust their team enough to communicate difficult issues with them and be able to talk about hard problems. If the leader wants their team to trust them, they need to trust in their team. I am excited for strategic planning in the future.