Strategic planning for churches

INTRODUCTION
TO
STRATEGIC
PLANNING IN THE
CHURCH

HIBC by Pst. JOHN IBEBUNJO

Course Content
 Definition of terms; Planning, Strategy, Strategic Plan
 The Concept of Strategic Planning
 What is strategic planning?
 Theology of Strategic Planning
 Benefits of a clear strategic Plan
 The Importance of Strategic Planning
 The Process of Strategic Planning
 Key Elements of Strategic Planning
 What are these elements
 How do the elements fit together
 The top ten tips on strategic planning
 Strategic Leadership in Church Organization
 The Process and Approach of Church Leadership in Strategic Planning
 Preparation
 Execution (Implementation)
 Core Process of Execution (Strategy Process, People Process and Operational
Process)
 Best practices in execution

Definition of Terms
 What is a plan?
 a blueprint, a map, a design, a system for
achieving an objective, an intention to do
 What is planning?
 The process of carrying out a plan
 What is Strategy?
 The tactics, method, approach carefully devised
to carry out a plan
 What is Strategic?
 The LOGICAL tactics, method, approach carefully
devised to carry out a plan

WHY DO A STRATEGIC PLAN?

 Strategic planning is a process that helps
focus on aligning the unique gifts and
resources that God has given your church/
ministry to take advantage of your
opportunities.
 Scripture says, ―Be very careful, then, how you
live—not as unwise but as wise, making the
most of every opportunity‖ (Ephesians 5:15–
16).
 As you do the planning, let God do the
directing.

STRATEGIC PLANNING
EXPLAINED
 STRATEGIC PLANNING HELPS YOU PAVE
THE MOST DIRECT PATH TOWARDS YOUR
MINISTRY VISION, SAVING YOU TIME AND
MONEY.

 STRATEGIC PLANNING IS ABOUT MOVING
YOUR MINISTRY/ CHURCH FROM POINT A
TO POINT B AT A GIVEN TIME AND AT A
COST.

 The journey to take your ministry, church or
organization to THE POINT in her vision

A SCRIPTURAL BASIS FOR
PLANNING
GOD’S WORD TEACHES THAT WE SHOULD
PLAN

 ―Theplans of the diligent lead to proﬁt‖ (Proverbs
21:5). ―Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and
your plans will succeed‖ (Proverbs 16:3).

PLANNING
PLANNING HELPS TO ENABLE GOD’S BEST
FOR US
 God wants only the best for his children. When

we make Him the center of our planning, we
free Him to give us His best.
 ―May
he give you the desire of your heart and
make all your plans succeed‖ (Psalm 20:4).

PLANNING
PLANNING MEANS ANTICIPATING COSTS
AND CONSEQUENCES
 ―The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought

to their ways‖ (Proverbs 14:8). Prudent
churches know where they are going. Planning
helps them get there.
 Every mistake revealed on a planning sheet
saves the cost, pain, and waste of the same
mistake in real life

PLANNING
PLANNING PRODUCES FAVOR
 When God gives us understanding, we gain
favor with man. ―Good understanding wins
favor‖ (Proverbs 13:15). People will see that
we know where we are going and how to get
there, that we know the costs as well as the
consequences. Being diligent assumes
planning, and those plans lead to plenty.
 ―The plans of the diligent lead to proﬁt as
surely as haste leads to poverty‖ (Proverbs
21:5).

The FOUNDATIONS for Planning
 Your church planting experience will be greatly
enhanced through a prayerful development of a
strategic church planting plan.
 The chart below suggests a flow of the ideas and
process for a focused strategic plan. The plan
begins in the Word of God. God’s Word reveals His
desire for His church that He has called you to
plant. Begin with the biblical foundation.
 What is Jesus saying in the gospels about the
kingdom of God and the church?
 What does the great church planting book—the
Book of Acts—say about the need for church
planting and how does it record the early church
planting process?

 Many of the New Testament letters will take on new
meaning if you see them from a church planting
perspective.
 1 & 2 Thessalonians were written by a church planting
team to a very young church that was experiencing
persecution and growing pains.
 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus were written by the leader of a
church planting team that had been forcibly separated
from team members and record some of his instructions to
church planting team members.
 Ephesians was written by a church planter to a church (or
group of churches) helping to deal with important
theological and practical matters.
 1 & 2 Corinthians were written by a church planter to deal

Strategic Planning Process for
Starting a Church
BIBLICAL FOUNDATION
VISION STATEMENT
CORE VALUES
FIELD CONTEXT
MISSIONS STATEMENT
STRATEGIC PLAN
(Objective &
Priorities)
STRATEGY AND
ACTION PLANS

Budget
&
Calend
ar

Strategic Planning Components
(four foundational elements)
1. The development of a Vision Statement that
answers the question, ―What has God called this
church to be?‖
2. The identification of Core Values which defines the
foundational values and resulting behaviors
(Corporate Culture) that will be expected in the life
and relationships of the new church.
3. The clarification of the Field Context that includes
the ministry focus group and the geographic
area that the new church will target on reaching.
4. The development of a Mission Statement that
answers the question, ―What do we need to do to
help us move from where we are (current reality)
toward what God wants us to be (preferred future
reality or vision)?

Strategic Planning Components:
Questions to ask?
 Where and when will the church be planted?
 What will be the style of worship in the new church?
 What will be the plans for small groups?
 What will be the strategy for evangelism and
discipleship in the new church?
 What ministries will be developed to address needs in
the community?
 How will missions be addressed in the church?
 What kind of leaders will be needed in the new church
in the short term and long term?
 What type of facilities will be needed for the church in
the short term and long term?
 What resources are needed for the church in the short
term and long term?

 These questions cannot be answered in relation to this
specific church until the four foundational elements are
firmly in place.
 In Matthew 7, Jesus describes those who obey his
teaching by contrasting two builders.
 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and
puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his
house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house;
yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the
rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and
does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who
built his house on sand. The rain came down, the
streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that

 Jesus describes the wise man as one who lays
a solid foundation and the foolish person as one
who builds a house without laying the
foundation. The same truth applies to the
person who seeks to plant a church without
completing the foundational elements of a
strategic plan. Strategic planning is not
something done in addition to regular tasks; it is
a way of focusing work to accomplish the
necessary tasks.
 The development of Aims (long term goals),
specific objectives (short term goals), and action
plans flow out of the four foundational planning

Development Objectives (long
term goals)
 After the four foundational components are in place, the next
step is to identify developmental objectives (long term goals).
 A development objective is described as a specific end which
gives direction for a long period of time and gives purpose to a
program, ministry or activity that can be translated into specific
objectives and action plans. The development objective gives
focus or a general target for future changes needed to meet a
need or challenge facing an organization.
 Development Objectives generally emerge from needs
discovered in gathering information about the community or
church. Development Objectives are general statements of
intent for a lengthy period of time. They are usually never
completely accomplished but provide direction for a number of
years.
 The ―Associational Strategy Planning Guide‖ stated,
―Development Objectives can be thought of as statements of
ultimate idealized intent… Development Objectives should
seldom be more than five or six in number.‖

Specific Objectives (Short term
goals)
 Once the four to six or less number of Development objectives
is in place, specific objectives must be developed as a series of
steps that move the church toward reaching the Development
objective. Specific Objectives grow out of Development
objectives and provide measurements or standards for
evaluating progress toward the Development objective.
 A Specific Objective (short term goal) is defined as a
statement of dated intent to obtain a measurable result in
keeping with the Development objective.
 SMART is a common acrostic to identify Specific objectives.
 S pecific: in terms of actions to be accomplished
 M easurable: in number of activities or results desired
 A ttainable: given the resources at hand
 R ealistic: within given and available resources
 T ime: there is some date attached for completion of the goal

PLANNING PROCESS
 ASK QUESTIONS
 Why does our church exist?
 What is its purpose as a congregation?
 One clear aspect of every church’s purpose is to make
disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). If the church planter and his
leaders take seriously this biblical purpose, they will sit down
first and count the cost or consider how to build the tower
(the new church) and how to attack the enemy (Satan).
 Involve a prayerful and careful planning process. It should be
prayerful in that the leaders should spend quality and
quantity time with God so that He can reveal to them where
He is already at work. Once that is revealed, a planning
process can be put in place to assist the church in joining
God on mission.
 It should also be careful taking into consideration all of the
proper components of good planning.

STAGES OF PLANNING
 Planning stage is critical and should
begin with a stakeholders meeting.

 “Stakeholder management is critical to the
success of every project. By engaging the
right people in the right way in your
project, you can make a big difference to
its success----”
 Rachel Thompson

Stage 1; PLANNING
• Stakeholders’ planning meeting
• Identify what to be done – what vision,
mission and value
• Identify How - strategies

• Identification of key activities of strategies
• Identify who should implement what

Stage 2; COMMUNICATION
 Communication between stakeholders,
team leaders, implementers etc.
• Board (Executive or Pastoral)
• Leadership
• Workforce
• Congregation
• Others Stakeholders identified
• Communication with members of the
Various Teams

Stage 3; REVIEW
 Review policy & strategic
documents for Background
Information (AS IS)
 Review Secondary data (Lit.
search) on Main Subject Matters
(RECOMMENDATION)
 Always seek to gain knowledge and
understanding of the type of project, by doing
extra research on the project type. Eg. League

Stage 4; DESIGN
 Information Gathering tools: (Survey Tools)
• Questionnaires
• Checklist
• Topic guides
• Database for data storage
• Etc.
 Reporting Format:
 Implementation Strategy

Stakeholders analysis & benefits
 You can’t do it single-handedly.
 Identify those that will ask why and why not and
at what cost?.
 Gaining support and resources
 Communicate the reason for the
project/intervention (purpose, goals that solves
the broad problem)
 Anticipate peoples reaction to the project/
intervention (opportunities & threats -

BASIC SCHOOL OF STRATEGY DESIGN

Eight Steps of Strategic
Planning

Steps of Strategic Planning

PREPARATION

STRATEGY
IMPLEMENTATION INFORMATION
GATHERING

INFORMATION
REPORT FINALISATION
PROCESSING
(ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION)

REPORTING
FEEDBACK FINDINGS

The Approach of Church
Leadership to Strategic Planning
 A more culturally relevant, updated approach
of Church Leadership to Strategic Planning is
now available that will help leaders to be a
vital part of Christ’s church building process in
the twenty-first century. In Matthew 16:18,
Jesus stated that He will build his church.
While this was true in the first century, there’s
no reason to believe that He’s not building His
church in the twenty-first century. The question
is how?
 Observations and research of spiritually
healthy, biblically-based churches across the
world has made several things to become

The Key leadership approach to
SP
 First, pastors and church leaders make a mistake when they copy or
mimic one of these church models from some other part of the world
and try to implement it in their own culture. Church franchising fails
more often than it works. The reason is that it’s difficult to ―cut and
paste‖ a church ministry from one part of the country to another. What
works wonderfully and honors God in the United States of America or
United Kingdom may not accomplish the same in Nigeria or Africa in
general.
 Second, these spiritually healthy, biblically-based churches all seem to
be following a similar process built on core biblical principles. The
biblical principles address the church’s purpose: to glorify God in all
that it does (1 Cor. 6:20, 10:31), its mission - to make disciples (Matt.
28:19-20) and its functions - to evangelize, fellowship, serve, worship,
and teach the Scriptures (Acts 2:41-47). These are well enumerated in
the Harvesthouse HLDI program. Take Note that God has not
changed the Functions of the church; that will never change but the
Forms of carrying out these functions change from generation to
generation. It follows a progressive pattern throughout generations.
Forms of worship, fellowship, evangelism etc, may change but the
Function of worship, fellowship, evangelism etc, WILL never change.

 Though each church is unique and presents a
different model of how to do church (whether
purpose-driven, seeker-focused, or traditional
Church), studies and research indicates that they
are following the same general process that
allows them to be “authentic” and “relevant” in
their own local, unique culture. And, most
important, these are the elements that are
covered when consulting to help churches do
strategic planning or envisioning and thus be a
part of Christ’s church building process in their
part of the World. This process emphasizes

EXECUTION
 Execution is a discipline and integral part to
strategy.
 No worthwhile strategy can be planned without
taking into account the organization’s ability to
execute and implement it.

Execution is the major job of the
Departmental/ Functional Heads
 Execution requires a comprehensive
understanding of the business, people,
environment and philosophy of that
organization.
 The leader of that functional group is the only
person in a position to achieve that
understanding.

 Only the leader can make execution happen,
through his/her deep personal involvement in
the substance and even the details of

Execution Must be a core
element of an Organization’s
culture
 Execution has to be embedded in the reward
systems and in the norms of behaviour that
everyone practices in an organization.

Three Building Blocks of
Execution
 Building Block One: The Leader’s Seven
Essential Behaviors
 Building Block Two: Creating an

Execution Culture.
 Building Block Three: The Job No leader
should delegate – Having the right people
in the right place.

The Leader’s First Essential
Behaviors
1. Know Yourself;
 Without emotional fortitude you cant be
honest with yourself, you cant deal with the
realities of your people and your
organization if you cant give a forthright
assessment of yourself

 Know your strength, weaknesses & special
endowments

The Leader’s First Essential
Behaviors
1. Know Yourself;
 Have Emotional Intelligence
 “Emotion”: ―a natural instinctive state of mind deriving
from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with
others….intuitive instinctive as distinguished from
reasoning or knowledge‖.
 “Intelligence‖: ―the ability to acquire and apply
knowledge and skills‖
 Self Awareness – take heed unto thyself
 Awareness of Others – mark them that cause
division
 Self Regulation – all things are lawful…but are not
expedient

The Leader’s Second Essential
Behaviors

2. Know Your People and Know your
Organization;
 Leaders have to know their business and know
their people. The leaders of churches and ministry
are usually in touch with the day to day realities of
church and the happenings in the lives of their
members.

The Leader’s Third Essential
Behaviors
3. Insist on Realism;
 Realism is the heart of execution, but many
churches and ministries are full of people who are
trying to avoid or shade reality- they are either
―forming‖ or ―hiding stuff.‖

 Startby being realistic yourself. Then make sure
realism is the goal of all dialogues in the ministry.

The Leader’s Fourth Essential
Behaviors
4. Set Clear goals and Priorities;
 Leaders who execute focus on a very few clear
priorities that everyone can grasp
(this one thing I do)

 Focusing on three or four priorities will produce
the best results for the resources at hand..

The Leader’s Fifth Essential
Behaviors
5. Follow Through;
 Clear,simple goals don’t mean much if nobody
takes them seriously

 Thefailure to follow through is widespread in
churches and ministries, and is a major cause of
poor execution.

The Leader’s Sixth Essential
Behaviors
6. Reward the Doers;
 Ifyou want people to produce specific results, you
reward them accordingly.

 The fact seem so obvious, yet many corporation
do such a poor job linking rewards to
performance that there’s little correlation at all.

The Leader’s Seventh Essential
Behaviors
7. Expand people’s capabilities via Coaching;
 Asa leader, you’ve acquired a lot of knowledge
and experience-even wisdom – along the way.
Your job is passing it on the next generation of
leaders.

 Thisis how you expand the capabilities of
everyone else in your organization, collectively
and individually.

Summary Of Lessons On
Strategic Planning
 One sure-fire way to impact your church’s future is to dust
off an old tool—the Strategic Plan.
 No one strategic model fits all organizations, but the
planning process includes certain basic elements that all
churches can use for next steps of an effective strategic
plan.
 Strategic planning is a process that helps focus on
aligning the unique gifts and resources that God has given
your organization to take advantage of your opportunities.
 A strategic Plan is the formalized road map that describes
how your organization executes the chosen strategy.
 There are several different components or pieces in a
strategic plan which is discussed in this course.

Lessons On Strategic
Planning
 Forming a strategic vision should provide long-term direction
and infuse the church with a sense of purposeful action.
 Strategic objectives state the broad direction and goals and
work towards converting your mission into actions that will
accomplish your vision and help sustain your unique
advantage.
 Strategy establishes a way to match your church’s strength
with opportunities so that your church comes to mind when
people have a need.
 Communicate the plan to everyone in your organization.
 A strategic plan is a living dynamic document.
 Strategic planning is about keeping the plan active so
that it does not gather that proverbial dust.
 Strategic planning needs includes setting of goals to
build on your church’s strength, shore up the
weaknesses, capitalize on the opportunities and
recognize the threats.

ACTIONS TO IMPLEMENT THE
STRATEGIC PLAN
 Accountability. In order to assure the timely implementation and review of
this plan, the leadership of the Church will:

1. Accept primary responsibility for the plan's execution.
 Assign implementation of Strategic Plan objectives to appropriate leaders
of the church
 Receive commission reports on plan progress at each strategic leadership
meeting.
 Provide for representation at appropriate planning meetings.

 Report on the Strategic Plan at the general leadership Meeting.

2. Regularly update the Strategic Plan.
 Review the Strategic Plan at the leadership retreat in even-numbered
years.
 Actively solicit comments and suggestions from the congregation in
advance of these biennial reviews.

Setting Strategic Goals-
Example
Strategic Goal 1.
 Church Ministry - Minister to the spiritual needs of the parish, with emphasis
on young people and senior citizens; reach out to the needy within our
community; and promote meaningful worship and a deeper understanding of
our Christian faith so as to lead others nearer to Christ in his Church.
Objectives:
1. Strengthen church youth programs.
 Encourage youth to take a more active planning and leadership role in church
programs.
 Provide ample adult leadership for youth activities by identifying, encouraging,
and supporting adults within the church who have a special gift for working
with youth.
 Encourage a larger percentage of our youth to participate in the activities of
the church.
2. Enhance ministry to senior citizens within the church and the
community.
 Institute an evangelism program focused on local retirement communities.

 Promote ongoing leadership and lay pastoral care with elderly citizens who
cannot regularly attend church.
 Expand our existing program to provide transportation and other assistance

3. Support ministry to those in particular need of prayer and pastoral care.
 Identify expeditiously those within our church and community in need of
support.
 Provide for regular clergy and lay visitations of those recognized as
being needy.
 Provide assistance and support to these individuals and their families.
 Offer a systematic response to lapsed members, including a review and
refinement of the Neighborhood Ministry program as an avenue for this
ministry.
 Enhance the church welfare program by establishing beneficial
connections with local health care institutions.
4. Identify and provide for other specialized ministries within the
congregation.
 Establish programs for young married and single parishioners.
 Offer programs tailored to families with young children, including the

5. Promote the worship of God through services
that both inspire and challenge the
congregation.
 Provide a variety of worship service formats and
opportunities to appeal to a broad spectrum of
church members.
 Seek ways to further enhance the quality of the
service, exploring ideas from other churches.
 Encourage maximum lay participation within
worship services.
 Provide a regular choir at every service that can
provide the foundation for exciting congregational
singing.

6. Provide effective Christian education programs that nourish the spiritual
growth of all church members.
 Offer ample Christian education opportunities for young people and adults,
communicating to the congregation the contents of the various curricula.
 Enhance parishioners' knowledge, understanding and respect for the history,
traditions, values and doctrines of Christianity as presented in the Bible and upheld
within the Commission.
 Educate parishioners about the theology of stewardship, as well as about our
church's financial needs and the breadth and depth of its ministries.
7. Strengthen evangelism and outreach programs.
 Adopt an evangelism strategy that actively ministers to the unchurched within our
community, including the urban professionals.
 Increase the publicity of church activities in the local community.
 Improve the effectiveness of the HLD newcomer program.
 Sponsor additional outside ministries, including community development programs.
 Develop relationships with historic foundations in the area to promote the historic
significance of the Church as a giving and caring church.
 Increase financial support for outreach programs, with special attention to the
establishment of international partnerships.

8. Improve communication within the Church and community.
 Regularly update the church web page with content designed
to attract newcomers and address the needs of members.
 Fine-tune the use of other modes of electronic communication,
including email, telephone calls, digital bill boards, bulk SMS,
etc.
 Improve coordination of volunteer schedules.

 Improve coordination among the units.

 Improve church signage., using more A boards, etc

 Improve communications with members away at college or on
military tours of duty.
 Proactively publicize church services, activities and events
within the community.
 Advertise the availability of church community service to the
community.

Strategic Goal 2. Workforce - Adequately
support the Pastors, Deacons and Lay ministers
in their ministries.
Objectives:
1. Support the senior pastor in defining and filling pastoral and lay
ministerial positions to provide an effective workforce.
 Regularly review the workforce needs of the congregation,
reconfiguring paid and volunteer positions proactively.
 Create and regularly update a Workforce Manual for Pastors,
Deacons and entire workforce.
2. Provide ample support to the Minister of Music for choir
rehearsals, Sunday services and public performances.
 Further expand the youth church by evaluating
practice/performance times that could lead to optimum
participation.
3. Actively recruit members into volunteer positions of
responsibility so that an ever-expanding base of people will
know, appreciate, and take ownership of the various programs
of the church.

Strategic Goal 3. Physical Resources - Provide well-
maintained facilities sufficient to carry out ministry

Objectives:
1. Develop a master site plan that addresses the imminent and
future needs of the congregation.
 Establish a baseline of members needs as the first step of the
plan.
 Incorporate into the plan the addition of portable water and
toilets to existing buildings, as well as those that might be built
in the future.
 Integrate within the plan adequate road and parking facilities in
conjunction with city wide master plan for road construction.
 Expand existing Church facilities to include:
 A larger common room with improved acoustics.
 A renovated kitchen.
 A gift shop and museum display area.
 Additional class and meeting rooms, including a library/conference
room.
 Additional office and storage space.

Thanks for listening
Kick me out. The
game is over

10/27/2012

Strategic planning for churches

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