(A cruise ship coincidentally passing through when my friends and I went to Milson's point 22Oct, 2017.)
Strategic planning:
In 1988, 80-85% of churches in North America had either
plateaued or were in decline. The number of unchurched people was as high as
70-80%.[1]
S-shaped (sigmoid) curves represents the natural development of one's personal
life and relationships. It depicts how life begins, grows, plateaus, and then
ultimately dies.[2] Every
institution wrestles with the question of what should change and what should
never change. The functions of the church are timeless truths that must never
change: eg. evangelism, worship, prayer and fellowship.[3]
The forms of the church are timely vehicles that are tied to the church’s
culture. Therefore, the church’s strategy, structures, systems, policies and
procedures are subject to regular reviews.[4] Most
leaders only act when they “see the tip of the iceberg”, where the church has
plateaued or is in decline. However, the danger in this is that by then the
congregation may already view the leaders as the very ones who led the
organisation into its state of decline. It is always safer to assume that you
are close to a plateau[5]
and conduct regular ministry reviews. An organisation needs new direction every
two to three years.[6]
Malphurs used the ship as a metaphor to describe strategic
planning for the church. He describes the mission as the direction of the ship
bound, the vision as a picture of the destination port,[7]
the core values as the navigators’ souls,[8]
and the strategy as how the ship will actually sail to the destination.[9] He
believes that the church is a “ship without a compass” when it doesn't have a
good visionary strategic planning.[10]
From the Scriptures we see that Joshua was very strategic (Joshua6:1-7; 8:3-23;
10:6-9),[11]
and Paul strategically selected the cities he visited, eg. Ephesus was selected
because it was the gateway to Asia Minor (Acts19:1-10).[12]
Nehemiah conducted a ministry analysis (Nehemiah2:11-17)[13]
and used the results of his findings to establish the need for the mission to
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He communicated this to the Jewish remnant
living in Jerusalem and challenged them to attempt that mission.[14] A
ministry analysis is used to identify icebergs. Those on the ship cannot see
the iceberg because there is a heavy fog, but the ministry analysis is like a
strong wind that blows the fog away, revealing the iceberg so that the ship can
change course to avoid a deadly collision.[15]
The internal audit looks at the organisational life cycle, performance,
direction, strategy, outreach, in-reach, culture, obstacles, age, energy,
emotions, and finance.[16]
The external audit looks at the community, threats, competitors, and
opportunities.[17]
Prayer:
Although planning is important, most of what has ultimate
effect on the church happens outside of it and outside of its control.[18]
The biblical approach to the future involves prayer and preparation, not
prediction and planning. God wants his people to pray and prepare for his
intervention.[19] Prayer
must be present at the beginning and throughout the process. Nehemiah (Nehemiah1:4-11)
prayed an envisioning prayer at the beginning of the process.[20]
In fact, prayer is the number one strategic priority for the Baptist
Association of NSW&ACT![21]
The rapidly changing world is similar to the winds and waves that threaten the
ship. Paradoxically, “waves” are often used as the metaphor for revival. Indeed,
historically, revivals tend to happen during times of great instability where
churches were persecuted! “If we are to capture the wind of the Spirit… what is
the shape of the sails that can catch this fresh breeze?”[22]
“Old, tattered sails need to be discarded because they will only tear under the
force of the new wind.”[23] Eagles
glide effortlessly in the air because they are able to capture the flow of the
wind.[24]
[1]
Aubrey Malphurs, Advanced Strategic
Planning: A 21st-Century Model for Church and Ministry Leaders (Grand
Rapids: BakerBooks, 2013), 8.
[2] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 10.
[3] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 70.
[4] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 71.
[5] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 13.
[6] Charles
Handy, The Age of Paradox (Boston:
Harvard Business School Press, 1994), 57.
[7] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 128.
[8] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 145.
[9] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 195.
[10] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 32.
[11] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 31.
[12] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 32.
[13] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 72.
[14] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 73.
[15] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 73.
[16] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 74-76.
[17] Malphurs,
Advanced Strategic Planning, 76-77.
[18] Reggie
McNeal, The Present Future: Six Tough
Questions for the Church (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003), 92.
[19]
McNeal, The Present Future, 93.
[20]
Malphurs, Advanced Strategic Planning,
138.
[21] “NSW
Baptist Strategic priorities,” Baptists of NSW&ACT, accessed Oct 15, 2017,
https://nswactbaptists.org.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/02/BA-Big-6-Strategic-Plan-2017-19-Final.pdf
[22] Greg
Ogden, Unfinished Business: Returning the
Ministry to the People of God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 94.
[23] Ogden,
Unfinished Business, 95.
[24] “Sermon:
wait… and be renewed. 15Oct 2017,” Chinese Australian Baptist Church in West
Ryde, accessed Oct 23, 2017,
http://www.cabc-wr.org/?sermons=20171015-%E6%9F%B3%E7%AD%B1%E7%A5%BA%E7%89%A7%E5%B8%88-%E7%AD%89%E5%80%99-%E5%BF%85%E4%BB%8E%E6%96%B0%E5%BE%97%E5%8A%9B&lang=zh-hans
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