I’m not easily satisfied. The status quo does not get me excited. Even when things are going well, I’m constantly looking for something to improve upon. If you’re a pastor, I bet you can relate. If you can’t you probably don’t need to be pastoring.
There are some negatives to being wired this way. I can easily be frustrated, stressed, and discontent. If I’m not careful, I can take this out on the people around me.
The better option is for me to use my frustration to build a strategy and plan on how we can improve. This is what I want to share with you today.
I believe you can improve any ministry in your church in four simple steps.
- Identify Where You Are
Most ministry areas never improve because leaders and pastors never take the time to honestly evaluate the ministry. They would rather stick their head in the sand before having to make the difficult decision of replacing a volunteer or making a needed change. Don’t be this type of leader. Constantly evaluate the ministries in your church and look for areas that can be improved.
- Identify Where You Want to Go
After you know where you are, you’re ready to plan where you want to go. Take the time to write down what you would want the ministry to look like. Be realistic with your expectations. If your church has an attendance of two hundred people, don’t expect your student ministry to run one hundred. Be as specific as possible. This will come in handy later on.
- Set a Timeline with Built in Benchmarks
When do you want this to be accomplished? Again, be realistic with your expectations. Most major changes are going to take anywhere from 12 to 24 months, maybe longer. In the meantime you can set healthy benchmarks along the way. Benchmarks give you healthy goals to work towards in the short-term while not losing sight of the long-term goal.
- Evaluate Every 90 Days
Benchmarks also give you the opportunity to evaluate. You should be evaluating every 90 days, if not more often. This makes sure you’re on track to accomplish your goal. If your goal is to be averaging 50 students by the fall, and you’re only averaging 30, you know there’s some work to be done and possible changes to be made. Without evaluation, you don’t know if you’re winning or losing, so evaluate often.
Some churches never grow because they’re not willing to take an honest look at themselves. Some churches don’t grow because they have no vision for the future. They’re perfectly happy where they are. Some churches struggle to grow because they make changes but never evaluate those changes to see if they’re working.
Don’t be some church. Be the church that is willing to put in the work to reach those far from God, no matter the cost. The steps are easy. You just have to be willing to take them.
What’s one area in your church that you know could be improved? What steps do you need to be taking? Let me know in the comments below, and if you haven’t already, make sure you subscribe to the blog to get tips on church growth, leadership, strategy, and more delivered right to your inbox.
