EFFECTIVE MINISTRY STRATEGY (1)

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Anytime I walk into a new environment, whether it’s a job or a consulting engagement, one of my main objectives is to figure out “how can I help this organization to move from ‘here’ to ‘there’?” Ultimately, of course, that question typically leads to some sort of change. If change isn’t an option, ministries don’t need me. They’re more focused on “how do we stay here.”

Here’s how I typically approach the “here to there” question. I look at five buckets:

  • Strategy – How do we accomplish the mission?
  • Systems – How do we streamline what we do to improve our effectiveness?
  • People – Who’s on the team and what’s their role?
  • Buildings – Where do we do what we do?
  • Vision – Where are we heading?

One of the things I’ve learned along the way is that, in addition to addressing these five buckets, it’s just as important to hit them in the right order.

This may surprise you, but I’d rather have the right people before clarifying the vision. With gifted people who are a good fit with me (or the pastor I’m helping), you can accomplish just about anything. Of course, to get the right people, often times you need a clear, focused vision. Some people will follow you because of who you are, but other people, especially other leaders, need to be comfortable with both the person they will follow and the vision that you intend to pursue.

The ironic thing, though, is that often times organizations know me as the “strategic guy”, so they’re contacting me to fix their systems or strategy. I could try to help them tweak systems and strategy all day long, but it’s not going to have any impact going forward if the right people aren’t in place to execute.

If you forced me to rank the five buckets, I’d put them in this priority order:

  1. People
  2. Vision
  3. Strategy
  4. Systems
  5. Buildings

It’s easy to look at a the lack of growth in ministry and blame it on the facility. Yes, I really do believe facilities and locations can impede ministry impact. However, the greatest facility or location in the world can’t fix an unhealthy church.

Healthy churches are built around people God calls pursuing a vision he delivers. Churches are shaped by the strategies and systems, or lack thereof, that they embrace. (By the way, some churches choose not to worry about strategy, but that is also a strategy.)

Now you have a general understanding of how I do what I do. With that in mind, what’s in your buckets? How would you prioritize them?

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