Ministry Program Planning: Fleshing Out the Vision
Ministry Program Planning: Fleshing Out the Vision
Bringing a vision into reality requires the discipline, as Barbara Skinner calls it, of "planning the work and working the plan." After your church has discerned a specific direction for outreach mission, the next important step is to develop a concrete ministry proposal based on this vision statement. A ministry plan should indicate what action steps are required to carry it out, who will do the work, when it should be completed, and how the leadership will follow up on the progress of the plan. This proposal will help your church's leadership follow through with support for the program.
The ministry program planning guide provides an outline for the ministry proposal. The guide includes two sections:
- Information about the new or revised ministry being proposed (who will be reached, how the church will serve them, what resources and partners the ministry will require, how the ministry will be organized and led).
- Information about what action steps are needed to make it happen (who will do the work of following through on the proposal, when it should start, how other church staff or systems will be affected). This section asks the planners to consider what adjustments may be needed in the church to support and sustain the ministry over the long run.
Feel free to add, delete or adapt sections of this guide as appropriate to your situation.
Ministry Program Planning Process:
- The plan may be developed by the Ministry Vision Team, or by a small group of 3-4 persons commissioned to produce the ministry proposal. The best candidates for this group are "detail" people with organizational and writing skills; people with proposal-writing or program-design experience; and people who are motivated to see the proposed program take place.
- The group should have input from church members who will be particularly impacted by the new program. As much as possible, also involve persons who are in the ministry's "target audience" in the planning process. Not only will this make the program more effective in the long run, but it also builds relationships between the congregation and people in the community. (See the Community Leadership Team.)
- The planning group should be in communication with the pastor and church governing body as it develops the proposal. Find out what kinds of information would be helpful to them in decision-making, what funds might be available, who is willing to help set up the program, etc.
- It is also a good idea to dialogue with other members of the congregation about the proposal. Does this ministry program idea make people excited? Anxious? Apathetic? How might they be willing to get involved? What suggestions do they have for improving the plan?
- Make sure the proposal is consistent with the church's mission statement, vision statement, and philosophy of ministry. (See Where is God calling us?)
- Once you have a concrete program proposal - in whatever format or level of detail is appropriate to your church - first circulate it among the Ministry Vision Team (or whatever group led the vision discernment process) for feedback, and revise as necessary. Then share the proposal with your pastor and church governing body.
- Be prepared to make further revisions as you go. The goal is to develop a flexible, adaptable plan within a structured, accountable framework. "The task of organizing is a puzzle to be solved, not a blueprint to be followed," Carl Dudley reminds us.
- As the Planning Guide indicates, you may want to consider starting with a pilot "seed project", especially if your ministry is ambitious or different from anything you've tried before. (See Mobilizing for Compassion on the importance of a pilot project.) For example, if you envision an after-school program for 15-20 children, your pilot could consist of a special one month after school "camp" for 5-10 kids. Or ministry staff and volunteers could "apprentice" themselves to volunteer in a similar program in a different neighborhood for a period of time to get the feel of the ministry. (See the Ministry Month on a way to introduce ministry ideas to the congregation).
For more detailed planning guidelines and resources, see the Handbook for Urban Church Ministries.
