Recharge Session 6

Goals and Action Plans

Session Agenda

1. Reconnect with your coaching group (if applicable).

2. Share a devotion and prayer.

3. Defining Strategic Planning Steps

This session continues the strategic planning process with further discussion about strategy, goals and action plans. As we continue making strategic plans and leading others through the process, let’s define the steps we’re taking:

Mission – Why we exist.
Vision – What we want to be and do.
Core Values – What we stand for—our guiding principles.
Strategies and Action Plans – How we’ll get it done.
Goals – How we’ll measure it.

4. Present your church’s core values, mission and vison statements. Show these statements to a trusted ministry partner as an accountability step. If you’re in a group, present your statements to your coaching group. Offer encouragement and constructive feedback for each pastor’s work. If your statements are partially complete, then provide an update on your progress. We recognize that some churches will require more time than others to complete these steps.

5. Advanced Strategic Planning Goals Discussion

Goals are numeric measurements attached to each value or defining objective. They describe a preferred ministry outcome. Numeric goals include anything that measures your vision-aligned objectives:

Worship, group, mobilization and participation goals
Spiritual growth, faith lifestyle and outcome-based goals
Evangelism goals—praying, relationships, invites and sharing
Baptisms or professions of faith
Per capita giving or stewardship growth goals
Leader development goals
Vision-aligned goals

Every goal needs a measuring stick, but not just any measuring stick. Centering your goal on the right measure is one of the most important things you can do to improve execution.

What’s the difference between lead and lag measures? Here’s a quick definition:

Lead Measure – Something that leads to the goal
Lag Measure – Something that measures the goal

The key idea is to take weekly stock of several lead measures, then show the lag measure they impact. Over time, positive movement in the lead measures should impact the lag measure in the right direction (attendance, participation, etc.).

Take a look at some Sample Goals with lead and lag measures:

Sample Goals

Mission - See to it that no one misses the grace of God
Vision - See people changed by the gospel and living out their Christ-centered purpose
Strategic Areas - Worship, Community, Service, Evangelism
Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) - Increase Worship, LIFE Groups, Mission Volunteers and Baptisms
Lead Measures - Action Plans that lead to the goal
Lag Measures - Measures for the WIGs

6. Continue to develop your strategic plan. Reference your mission, vision and core values statements to provide direction for your strategic plan of action. You can also draw upon the demographic data you’ve collected about your church and community.

Select broad strategic areas that match your ministry priorities and core values. It’s best to limit the number of strategic goals you believe God is calling your church to address in the next year. It should be a least two, but not more than five. Strategic priorities could be:

Evangelism – E.g. Neighborhood outreach, attractional events, witness training and more.
Discipleship – E.g. Starting new Bible study groups—this includes recruiting and training new leaders and teachers.
Worship – E.g. Starting a new worship service that reaches new people.
Missions – E.g. Launching a new church or campus, church planting partnerships, reaching specific countries or cities with the gospel and more.
Facilities – E.g. New construction to facilitate growth or upgrading your church’s facilities.

Strategy & Action Plans Summary

Strategic Area - Link your strategy to one of your core values.
Strategy - Your strategy answers the question: How we'll get it done?
Numerical Goal (if applicable) - Set a measurable goal for your strategy.
Sub-Strategy (if applicable) - Complete this when there are multiple sub-strategies for a larger strategy.
Action Plans - Detail one or more tactics to accomplish your strategy.

7. Advanced Strategic Planning Action Plans Discussion

While strategies provide a general plan of attack for accomplishing your vision, action plans are tactical decisions that lay out specific steps to get the job done. While it’s easy to create high concept strategic ideas or brainstorm an edgy innovative approach, that’s not the point. The goal is to do something meaningful that’s grounded in realistic expectations for a church and its people. Write a rubber-hits-the-road list of tasks that make sense for your church and community.

Action plans are the specific actions that your church will take to accomplish what you believe God is calling you to do (Malphurs’ model of how action plans are developed can be found on p. 267).

Action Plans Worksheet

What priority strategy area is addressed by this action plan?
Outline the action plan.
Detail the action plan’s target.
Describe why the action plan connects with its intended target.
Write a short phrase that "sells" the idea to your target.
Who's the leader responsible for implementing this action plan?
What ministry teams are mobilized for this action plan?

8. Scan the “Leading Effective Change” article by Everett Anthony. Consider these discussion questions:

How can your Church Leadership Team provide leadership and support for change in your church?
What are your best practices for communicating mission, vision and core values to your church?
What are some ways you can celebrate the win in your church?
How are you handling criticism and conflict about change and your strategic plans?
Any other takeaways from “Leading Effective Change”?

Leading Effective Change

Create a sense of urgency.
Create a leadership team to guide and support change.
Create a vision and a plan of action for implementation.
Communicate the vision.
Create short-term victories and celebrate them.
Assimilate the gains into the culture of the church and produce more change.

9. Church Leadership Team Check In

Lead your Church Leadership Team to select priority strategical areas for the year and to develop action plans to achieve them. Consider these points as you lead your team through this process:

It may be useful to include others from your church as you develop these action plans.
This usually involves people who will carry out the action plans.
The plans need to be specific and comprehensive and include timelines and the names of people who are responsible for carrying out the plans (see Action Plans Worksheet above).
One area that often hinders churches from moving forward is the lack of clearly defined priorities and actions that reach people (evangelism) and make disciples (discipleship).
It’s not enough for a pastor to talk from the pulpit about a vision without detailing a comprehensive set of action plans.

Recognize that some churches will require more time than others to develop comprehensive strategies with detailed action plans. Ask for help from trusted ministry leaders and friends if needed. If you’re in a coaching group, then share the pace of your progress with the group. Pray, collaborate and share to make burden easier to bear.

10. To Do Items

Lead your Church Leadership Team to develop a strategic plan for your church.
Determine your priority strategic areas (supported by your mission, vision and core values) and begin creating strategies for those areas.
Ask your Church Leadership Team to assist in the creation of these hyper contextualized strategies for your church and community. The team can brainstorm specific action plans to accomplish your strategic plans.
Prepare a draft strategic plan for your church by the next session. Show these plans to a trusted ministry partner as an accountability step.

Meeting 7 Prep

(to be completed in preparation for Meeting 7)

Read Chapters 11-14 in Advanced Strategic Planning by Aubrey Malphurs. Prepare to review your strategic plan at the next session.

Begin to develop your full strategic plan of action. If you need assistance, consult a ministry friend or other members of the group (if applicable). Leverage your Church Leadership Team to create strategies and action plans that fit the context and rhythm of your church and community.

Work to complete a draft strategic plan by the next session.

Resources

“Set the Journey” Strategy Development Process by OklahomaChurchPlanting.com