The following is another installment from my friends at MAG Bookkeeping. I just love everything about this wonderful organization. If your church needs bookkeeping or virtual admin assistance, there is no one I recommend more. You can contact MAG’s leaders Bryan and Shannon Miles or Randy Ongie by clicking HERE.
Now, onto 4 Signs Your Church Has A Bad Ministry Plan:
Summer has concluded and another ministry year is barreling down on you as you read this. As you look at the plans you have for the upcoming ministry year, what do they look like? Do they look pretty much like they did last year? And the year before?
Why is that?
Did you make those plans because…
- … that’s what we did last year.
- … that’s what we have the budget for.
- … that’s what our leaders/volunteers/committees said they wanted.
- … we couldn’t think of anything else.
None of those are good reasons to be engaging your people (and their financial and time resources) in ministry efforts.
What if, this ministry year, you set goals for your congregation and your staff that were just a little bit scary? That stretched you just beyond where you were comfortable? That forced you into a reliance on God and His provision that you haven’t had to exercise in a while?
What would that look like? What would it feel like?
There’s a worrisome trend we’ve seen over and over again as we talk with churches around the nation – a willingness to accept mediocrity. They look at the results they’re getting from their ministry efforts and think, “Well, I guess that’s good enough.”
If leaders in a for-profit company looked at their annual results and said, “Well, we guess that’s good enough…” that company isn’t going to be in business for long. Yet hundreds, if not thousands, of churches adopt this attitude each and every week.
We’ve got the greatest news in the world to share – and we’re the people God has entrusted and empowered to share that news with a world that desperately needs to hear it. Don’t plan for mediocrity and results from your attempts to share the news that are “good enough.”
Stretch yourself and your church. Plan for bigger things than you’ve seen before. Ask God where He wants you to go, and to give you the vision and resources to get there. Ask your congregation to pray and envision that future with you, and to help you finance it.
Don’t settle for another ministry year of mediocrity. The stakes are too high.
Today, go big – because someday we go Home. – Ann Voskamp
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