Step 1: Educate yourselves
Learn all you can about your community (strengths,
weaknesses, needs, etc.). Then do the same thing about ministry possibilities
and physical options for church facilities.
Make sure the planning/visioning committee has
people of various types. That means young and old, newcomers and
“old timers”, visionaries and bean-counters, followers and leaders. Make
sure everyone is coming into the process with an open mind and isn’t guided
by personal agendas.
You might want to print out copies of the special
planning and visioning issue of the June 2002 Interpreter. At least
ask them to read through it online <http://www.umc.org/churchlibrary/misc/0602Interpreter.pdf>.
If everyone has an understanding of the planning/visioning process, things
will go much better.
Step 2: Decide where you are right now
Before you can start planning the future, you have
to know where you are at right now. What are the strengths of our
church? In what areas do we need improvement? What ministries
would we like to do that are not in place at all? What areas of our
physical set-up are holding us back or are in need of improvement?
Step 3: Listen
A visioning committee should be there to work with
the Adm. Bd. or Council to coordinate the vision of the entire congregation,
not to set the goals themselves. Listening posts should be set up
in as many venues as possible … church-wide meetings, Sunday School classes,
UMM, UMW, UMY, small group settings, etc. Send out a printed survey
for members to complete.
Step 4: Pray
This is actually a step that should be present
throughout the process. But it should be especially a part
of the actual planning section … asking God for guidance in the correct
path for the future of your congregation.
Step 5: Plan
Start putting everything together in terms of goals
(physical and ministerial) for the church. Start with the long-term
overview. “Where do we want to be in 5, 10, 20 years?” Then
make a plan for getting there, based on the mission statement of The UMC
and your local church.
Think about what we do now that we want to expand
upon. Consider new ministries that we want to address to fulfill
our mission. What changes in our facilities need to be made to allow
us to maximize our ministry?
Step 6: Gain Consensus
Just because you have a plan, don’t start running
with it. It needs to be presented to the leadership and general congregation
of the church. Some modifications may be necessary. When it’s
in it’s final form (with the understanding that continual revision will
be necessary as time goes by), the church body should approve the plans
and be willing to back them with their prayers, presence, gifts, and service.
Step 7: Implement and Assess
Working from the Administrative Board on down (since
it’s the Board’s role to set the mission and ministry of the church), start
implementing the plans necessary to reach your goals. Throughout
the process, look at how things are going since adjustments will surely
be needed. |
