What is the #1 Goal for your church in 2025?

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, CO

That’s right!  Now is the time you should be planning for the coming year. But 2025 sounds so far off in the future!  Not really…Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and do you really want to tackle something as important as strategic planning during the Christmas season…the busiest time at the church?  Now is the time!

What is your #1 Goal?

For many churches, the #1 goal is growth.  They want to see an increase in Sunday attendance.  But growth isn’t everything.  What about the idea of the church body growing as a disciple of Jesus?  How about more people participating in a small group?  What about serving others and serving the church?  Kids ministry? Generosity?  Any churches out there want to see their congregation be more generous?

It's a tough question but, this is the foundation of all annual strategic planning.  What is God telling you is the most important thing for your church?  If this is not crystal clear, my suggestion is to get away with your leadership team and pray about it, seek the Scriptures, and talk about what the options might be. 

Why is it your #1 Goal?

One exercise that may be helpful for you and your team, is to conduct an honest deep-dive analysis of your current church status and health. Look at the trends.  What has happened over the last 12-18 months. Here are some key areas to examine:

-       Demographic profile and its changes…are you getting younger or older?

-       Attendance and giving…are you growing or getting smaller?

-       What impact has the church made in the local community?

-       What percentage of your church is in a small group?

-       Is your church maturing as disciples of Jesus?

-       What percentage of the church regularly participates in serving the church?

-       Is your church growing in its head knowledge but not sharing the gospel with others?

-       How many visitors did you have in the last 12 months?

Answering these questions will help give you an idea of where you stand now and what God is telling you to do next.

What’s the plan?

Can you imagine traveling today without the use of GPS?  Think of all the construction on Hwy 10 and the surrounding intersections…do you think you could navigate that without GPS? The same is true for your church annual strategic plan. You need a clearcut path for how you expect to achieve your goal.  You need GPS for your church. Those GPS (or CPS Church Planning System) strategies have clear directions, obvious steps toward achieving the goal where the steps are measurable and time bound.  It should be laid out in such a way that anyone in the congregation could read it and see the path.

Need help?

Strategic planning is not easy…in fact it’s hard work.  But its worth the effort.  You and your staff may not have the time nor the expertise to develop an annual strategic plan.  But it’s worth it.  Due North has a ton of experience of writing strategic plans.  The system works. It’s worth the effort.  If you’re interested in having a 30-minute conversation about strategic plans, please contact us at jim.duenorth8890@gmail.com or call me at 219.477.0088. Ask about our innovative pricing plan…you’ll be surprised!