Five questions for your ministry plan.

All churches are resistant to change.  Some act as if they are from Missouri-insisting that you “Show Me”.  Others act as if they are made of concrete all mixed up and set in their ways.  Every church that is resistant to change is reacting to the fear of loss.  “If we make this change what will we lose if it works (or fails)?”  Some churches will never move beyond superficial changes regardless of how good the ideal or persuasive the case. However, for those churches that might embrace change if it can be demonstrated as a positive here are five questions to help you prepare your cause.  Before you present anything to your leadership team and before your leadership team presents to the congregation at large you need to answer these five questions very carefully. Going off half-cocked is a guaranteed source of failure and frustration within your faith community. 

Question #1: What are we doing? This is where we have to be very specific about the project at the foundational level.   It is not the time to discuss every detail of the project, such as the tint of the paint on the walls or how much a visa for the mission team will cost.  It is, however, time to make sure that we are on the same page about the very nature of what we’re doing. Generalities are dangerous because they are open to interpretation.  Being very specific about what we are doing will save a lot of headaches as a project is drawing closer to completion.

Question #2: Who is doing this? In a project that involves several constituent congregations or organizations it’s important to answer this specifically and get buy-in from each entity. However, within a single-faith community project it’s really critical that we have clear buy-in from all the stakeholders in the church.  If this great new ministry plan is only supported by 50% of the congregation, its support will not only receive only half-hearted backing from the other 50% it might even lead to authentic and genuine opposition. Our objective is not to gain 100% support for every decision but to have a consensus of support from the whole body as we move forward.

Question #3: Why are we doing this? This is not the first question but it is the most important one.  This is not about the immediate need that we’re trying to fulfill.  This gets back to our vision and mission answering two critical questions, “Why did God put us here on earth?” and secondly, “What are we doing about it?” Every action, every spending decision, every future plan needs to fall into that matrix as we answer these two questions.  This is where the rubber meets the road of us carrying out our God-given calling and purpose.

Question #4: When are we doing this? Developing a realistic timeframe is critical.  Whether the project is a capital campaign, a building project or implementing a new ministry a time line is vital.  It must be realistic. A goal without a deadline is just a dream.  A goal with an unrealistic deadline is a nightmare.  Even simple projects become complex as soon as we fall behind on an idealistic time line. A realistic timeframe cannot predict delays. But a wise timeframe includes some margins for the “just in case” scenarios. It is better to have a long time frame and unexpectedly be ahead of schedule than to have a tight timeframe and face hopeless frustrations.


Question #5: How much will this cost? This is more than a dollars and cents question.  Cost estimates on construction are pretty easy to obtain. By all means be realistic and get competent help on any such projection.  But there are other costs that are much harder to estimate.  Any ministry change will also mean a change in the leadership dynamic and power structure of your church regardless of what people say.  The ministry that was for a generation the beauty queen of the church may become “Miss Congeniality”.  There will be a price to be paid but it will not be in shekels.  It is impossible to anticipate all these costs, but the more people are aware of these costs the better.

We should also note that even with the most careful plans inevitably things don’t always work out just right. But better planning will result in fewer frustrations.  These five questions are not the end-all-be-all of planning, but they might serve as a good beginning point for your next ministry step.