Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan. (Isaiah 1:17)

God is inviting your church to “learn to do good.” What can you and your church do to help people achieve their potential and experience God’s good design for their lives? No one church can do everything . . . but each church is called to do something. Whether you are exploring Faith in Action service projects, an ongoing community outreach program, or international missions, the following exercise can help you identify ministry options that are relevant, practical, and timely for your context.

This exercise has two parts. The first step is to generate a list of ministry opportunities based on needs, resources, and partners, then select the most promising options. The second step is to set down a plan for turning ideas into action. Make prayer central in both of these activities.

These exercises can be completed by an individual, but are most fruitful if undertaken by a team. Gather a group of members who are energetic about external ministry, including Faith in Action coordinators and current outreach leaders.

I. Generating Ideas for Ministry

Use the chart on page 3 to spark creative thinking about ministry opportunities. If working with a group, reproduce the chart on a whiteboard, flipchart, or projector screen large enough for everyone to see.

Have people call out responses to the first four columns, aiming initially for 4-7 responses for each. Don’t let the process get bogged down by discussing each item or by pushing for more responses than come quickly to people’s minds. Start with column 1, then move on to column 2, etc. Don’t try to match up the rows—each column is an independent list. After going through all four columns, give an opportunity for people to add a few new items.

For each column, pay special attention to areas of interest identified by the “Ministry Opportunities Inventory” that small group participants filled out as part of the Faith in Action curriculum.

Column 1: Ministry focus – Who are the church’s neighbors (Luke 10:29)? List specific communities (locally or internationally), people groups (such as at-risk youth or refugees), or social concerns (such as health care or education) to which the congregation is drawn as a focus of outreach.

Column 2: Needs – What will you work on? While a ministry focus is a broad category, here you name specific problems. For example, what critical issues face your church’s neighborhood? What are the greatest struggles of refugees? Consider spiritual, relational and emotional needs as well as material ones. (The “Community Connections” section of this CD offers tools for discovering both needs and assets in a community.)

Column 3: Assets – What do you have to work with? List resources (such as buildings or funds), skills (vocational and people skills, ministry experience) and qualities (attributes with potential relevance to ministry). Assets can be found in the congregation and in the community or people group you seek to serve. Include tangible and intangible assets. For example, a church’s reputation for caring for children, or a community’s history of welcoming racial diversity, are intangible assets.

Column 4: Partners – Who can work with you? Name local and national organizations, other churches, community leaders, or resource providers who offer possibilities for collaboration. (Organizations you have connected with through Faith in Action are a good place to start.) This can mean several things—the church might come alongside an existing ministry program, the partner might support the work of the church, or the church and partner might plan a joint ministry initiative.

After filling out these four columns, move on to column 5. Here you brainstorm a list of ministry options that connect items in two or more of the columns (not necessarily in the same rows). Again, quickly try to come up with 4-7 ideas, without evaluating their merits at this time.

Column 5: Ministry opportunities – What work can you do? Envision possible connections between needs, assets and partners to serve a particular community or people group, or address a particular social concern. How can your congregation build on its experiences, skills, resources and relationships to bring hope to hurting people? The suggestions in “Ideas for Faith in Action Service Projects” and “Next Steps for Faith in Action” (found in the Planning Guide and on this resource CD) may spark your creative thinking.

Finally, select the top three possibilities from the list of ministry opportunities. Ask everyone to identify the one or two ministry ideas in column 5 that they find most compelling, strategic and doable, putting an asterisk next to the selected items. Then circle or highlight the three items in this column that have the most asterisks, as prospects to consider in more detail. (For more on narrowing down key options, refer to the guidelines for “Finding Your Ministry Bulls-Eye” on the resource CD.)

For each of the selected ministry prospects, go back through the first four columns and identify any new links among needs, assets or partners that can be added to round out the ministry ideas. Using colored highlighters can help you identify connections among the various items in your lists.

What key ideas emerged from this process? Write a summary of these ministry opportunities on a separate sheet. Then follow up with a plan to turn these great ideas into action (see part II below). How are the people who developed these ideas willing to be involved in making them happen?

Ministry Ideas Brainstorming Chart

Adapted with permission from Vision Discernment Guide: Establish a Direction for Your Church’s Community Ministry by Heidi Unruh (2007), www.urbanministry.org.

II. Turning Ideas into Action

Once your church has identified one or more key ministries to pursue, the next step is to flesh out a plan to put feet to the vision. For each ministry, fill in the following outline (this may take some research):

• What are the key decisions and action steps needed to make this ministry possible?
• Who in our church can take responsibility for the necessary steps, and who will maintain accountability for the action plan?
• Who can we connect with to obtain necessary resources, develop our expertise, build our capacity, or multiply our impact? (Follow up with the potential partners identified on the brainstorming chart; also see the supportive ministry organizations listed on the Faith in Action Web site” [www.putyourfaithinaction.com].
• How will we make prayer, love of God, and reliance on the Spirit the bedrock of this ministry? What key Scriptures and spiritual disciplines will sustain our congregation’s motivation through the challenges of service? (See 2 Corinthians 8:3-5)
• When can we put these steps in action (you may want to develop a full timeline)?

To enhance the quality and impact of your ministry, consider these action steps:

• Conduct a survey (see the “Ministry Participation Survey” on this resource CD) to get a sense of the congregation’s level of interest and availability for this ministry.
• If your ministry focus is a local community, do a survey (see the sample on this resource CD) to get feedback from residents on your proposed ministry.
• Identify potential obstacles to community ministry (see “Assessing Our Church’s Community Involvement” on this resource CD) and plan pathways to strengthen the church’s readiness and capacity for ministry (see “Next Steps of Faith in Action: Diagnostic Tool” on this resource CD).
• See “Qualities of Transformational Community Ministry” and “Biblical Principles for the Church’s Outreach” on this resource CD for a list of attributes and theological principles to consider incorporating into the DNA of your ministry.

As you contemplate and work toward ways to share God’s love in a broken world, be confident of this assurance from Scripture:

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)