Skip to main content

Young Christian Leaders, The Holy Spirit, Planning and You.


I was reading a number of blogs this last week, where the authors were discussing and disparaging the need for 5 year plans. One of them thought that it was impossible to do any forward planning for churches, because of the inconsistency of human beings and therefore the inability to predict with any certainty the future. The other blogger was a little more circumspect saying that the maximum he could future plan was 2 years. They also discussed the God factor and the need to be open to the moving and working of the Holy Spirit and how human plans interfered with this. Both bloggers were right but both were also wrong.
Church Planning, particularly Strategic Church Planning isn’t about setting firm, guaranteed targets or goals. Nor is it about stepping in the way of any move of the Holy Spirit. Planning is for your benefit and the benefit of those you lead.
In churches you would ask yourself, as leader, where you as a church would like to be in 5 years’ time. You look at the vision, values and culture of the church and you begin to plan your programmes around these things. I always advise young Christian leaders to plan firmly for eighteen months out and then role it forward every six months thereafter, for a total of five years. That way you can plan firm dates for evangelistic programmes and baptisms, training and leadership development, church camps and special events such as Christmas and Easter. This will also give you pause for thought to plan your preaching rota and topics that you wish to teach your flock. It is after all your responsibility to help your congregation become self-feeders.
Planning is about leadership not ministry. If the next great move of God comes along it would be a very brave person who put their church’s strategic plan ahead of Gods.
The bible tells the story about the man who built a tower and how he should plan and budgeted for it. Leadership plans ahead, ministry deals with the needs of people here and now. Strategic planning deals with the future function and development of the church tomorrow, praying for the sick or preaching is ministry and feeds the soul today.
 Christian Leaders who are constantly feeding their congregations and constantly just meeting their ministry needs, will end up with fat sheep and leaders who are burned out.Let all Christian leaders learn to plan extensively for tomorrow  and meet the needs of their congregations today.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Part One of The myths of following a Christian Leader.

Christian Leadership disconnects. When I look to a Christian Leader to be my covering, I look for four things; are they biblical and scripturally sound? Do they have a vision? Are they good motivators? And lastly, can I trust them? On the face of it you may see, these things are obvious and self evident. I am not so sure though, sometimes I find a disconnect that is not always so obvious. Don't get me wrong, I want to sit under a great leader no matter what size their church. I want to know I am being taught sound doctrine and biblical and scriptural principles. I want to follow a great vision that is full of direction, purpose and passion. I want to be motivated not just by words but action and deeds. I also want to be able to say that the person I serve, I trust. As Christian leaders we have to accept that the world we live in is becoming more and more complex. We deal with issues that our New Testament counterparts say little, if anything about.   It is no longer g...
Post a Comment
Read more

Manifesto of Intentional Christian Leadership.

Manifesto: We Promise to do the following- with intent, when in Christian leadership: 1) People Matter. People are our purpose. People are not a means by which we can create our own ends. When we reach out to people they are our objective. 2) We will help people think. If people are our objective we will not get bogged down in the process. We will help people to think through our process in order to recognise our objective rather than just getting them to do and blindly follow. 3) Create great environments. We need to help people become great, not just fix their problems. We do this by creating great environments by which they can grow and build their relationship with God. 4) Create opportunities for initiative. People need to see and experience a spirit of excellence. They need to see opportunities where they can succeed rather than just avoid errors. 5) Be curious. As a leader you don't need to know everything even though a little knowled...
Post a Comment
Read more

Playing well with others.

Today's rambling. Looking over some of my old school reports the other day and was amused at how some of the comments, that teachers made about me have shaped my life and in many respects made me who I am today. One teacher wrote that I didn’t play well with others, I was 5 at the time maybe I had an excuse. Another teacher in my high school years, the wood working teacher or wood shop teacher for my American friends wrote; “If you value your life you will keep him away from power tools and other dangerous equipment. I can’t remember why he wrote this, obviously I did something that made him fear for his life. Today as an adult I have to say that I don’t do well in committees, for most of my life I have been self- employed. I have steadfastly stayed away from power tools and other wood working equipment, basically anything that can cut something off and is a danger to life and limb. Over the last 10 years I have been looking at and teaching about Emotional Intelligence ...
Post a Comment
Read more