Like any organization, a church ministry must have an action plan to guide them on where they will be going in the future, reflect their values in their church, assist everyone in the church in important decision-making to guide them on what actions they need to do to reach their goals. Without it, the ministry could face problems that could affect them negatively. If you’re in charge of making an action plan for your church, you’re in the right place. Read the article below for guidelines on making an action plan for your church.
An action plan can greatly help the church to improve itself as it focuses the resources and time of everyone in the church ministry on the same goals and objectives. An action plan must be quick and easy to implement.
When making a mission statement, know what is the purpose of the Church and the steps it needs to accomplish by following God’s teaching from the Bible. The mission statement can also serve as a foundation for the rest of the decisions for the action plan. To create a mission statement, know what core values you devoutly follow and practice within your Church. Focus on who the Church is and what you do.
Your values statement will be your guiding principles that will constantly be present. When making your values statement, you should base it on the beliefs that you stand for and that these beliefs are your guiding principles in your way of life. The values statement must be mutually shared by the congregation such as the pastors and staff so make sure you are all on the same page with your core values.
The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) is a tool to help an organization assess its current strategic position. This can also be used by the Church. To make the SWOT, gather information from your constituents and the congregation about the strengths and weaknesses of your current programs and services. Find out which areas you’re thriving in and which areas you need to improve. Then assess your opportunities and threats by determining which opportunities such as trends that you can take advantage of and which trends or situations that could negatively impact the Church.
To create your vision statement, you must have a mental picture of what your church will look like years from now and where your church is planning to head to. Having a vision can provide a long-term direction to the church to strive to continue its purpose and to also improve its current state. To help your vision be visualized, know what actions you need to do in order to make your vision come true. You can do this by having a clear set of objectives. Your objectives must also be long-term and must define a set of activities to do to reach your vision. You can develop a few objectives for your church. The objectives must answer the question of how will you achieve your vision.
To know what actions you need to do for your action plan so you can implement it, set it to a performance target. To do this, use SMART goals to state what you want to accomplish, when you want to accomplish it, how you are going to do it, and who is going to be responsible to accomplish it. Make sure your goals should realistic and measurable; they must be achievable within a timeframe of a year or so from the implementation date. The goals must align with your mission, vision, and objectives.
The ministry can help grow the church by asking for feedback within the congregation, inviting and encouraging people to attend church activities, make everyone especially newcomers feel welcome and comfortable, and share videos of church activities on social media.
The principles of church growth must consist of the following: truth, worship, leadership, excellence, and faith.
The Church can directly involve itself with formal education and bring its own values and insights to the lessons being taught.
The next part of the action plan is the implementation phase. When implementing, make sure to actively communicate to every member of the church the plans being implemented. Let them understand the reason and motivation to do this in order to successfully achieve your common vision and goal. Another thing to remember is that whatever you put in your plan, they are bound to be revised so be open to changes. After all, your action plan must be integrated into your regular routine. To start creating your action plan, refer to the free church action plan templates provided above by downloading them.
