Forming a Strategy for Church Renewal

One aim of church renewal is to help congregations regain a sense of purpose and calling. However, many churches struggle to form and implement a compelling vision for the future.

Why do so many churches get sidetracked on their way to becoming strategic? I believe it’s because the process of formulating and executing a strategy is multi-layered. If you do not do each of the steps, the process will fail.
One of the best ways of conceptualizing this process can be found in Susan Beaumont’s book, Inside the Large Congregation. Although geared toward larger churches, this book’s insights are valuable to churches of all sizes.

In this week’s newsletter, I’m going to share a step-by-step approach to strategy formation. If you follow each step, you will be well on your way toward regaining a sense of mission and vision within your congregation.

Six steps toward a robust mission and vision

Ask what makes your church unique

Every church that has ever existed has the same basic mission: to spread the good news, to make disciples, to love God, and to love people. However, each church also has a unique mission. The first step toward articulating an authentic mission statement tailor-made for your church is to understand what makes your church different than others nearby.
By surveying the congregation, looking over membership charts, assessing attendance levels, and evaluating giving trends, you can begin to generate ideas. A revealing question is: What strengths do we not want to lose in any renewal effort?

Discover the needs of your community

Every church exists in a particular context. God does not call churches to be everything to everyone. Instead, he asks us to faithfully serve the communities in which we exist.
What is the community like within a five-mile radius of your campus? Start by looking at demographic and psychographic data. Talk to the mayor and folks at the chamber of commerce. Ask your neighbors what their needs are.

Pray about what God is calling you to do or to become

With the first two data points now defined (who we are and whom we are called to serve), it is time to seek God’s guidance and wisdom for how they intersect.
Your council may want to call together a dedicated group of visionary people who can receive all the data from the renewal process and summarize it. These folks should also be open to the leading of the Spirit, as he guides us toward the difference he wants us to make.

Translate missional identity into a strategy

The first three steps combine to form what Beaumont calls a church’s “missional identity.” Now that a destination has been identified, it is time to start charting a course to get there.
A group of leaders should meet and identity a manageable number of strategic priorities that the congregation will focus on for the next three to five years. These initiatives should be concrete steps that take the church closer to its missional identity rather than random, unfocused “good ideas.”

Set goals and measures

Next, leaders within each ministry area should set measurable goals and timelines. They then should submit them to the lead pastor or the church council for approval or revision.
The first step is to gauge the distance between the current state and the desired future state of the ministry. Next, set intermediate goals along the way. This will help the church keep moving forward through steady progress and the occasional course correction.

Align structure and culture

As we like to say at the Center for Church Renewal, “Culture eats strategy for lunch.” We constantly remind leaders that the best strategy in the world will fail if it is incompatible with the church’s culture.
Also, if your church’s structure (committees, staff reporting structure, etc.) is not optimized to support your goals, you are setting your congregation up for failure. You have to put new wine into new wineskins, so to speak. These changes can be painful, but they are necessary, and many renewal efforts fail at this stage.