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.. North American Mission Board

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Alpharetta, GA 30022

Church Planter Network Resource

New Church Strategic

Planning Process
. . . . . . . . . .

George Thomasson
Gerald Colbert

Some sections of this paper are adapted from George Thomasson’s book, The Church Blueprint: Practical
Helps for Building the Body, available from Blueprint@bellsouth.net.

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 BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

VISION STATEMENT

CORE VALUES

FIELD CONTEXT

MISSIONS STATEMENT

STRATEGIC PLAN
(Objective & Priorities)

GOALS AND ACTION PLANS

B C
U A
D L
G E
E N
T D
A
R

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3
A GUIDE TO STRATEGIC PLANNING IN THE NEW CHURCH

The IMPORTANCE of Planning

Someone has so aptly said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Unfortunately,

however, many feel that planning in the church is “unspiritual.” They say that we should simply

be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading and follow Him. Certainly we should maintain an

intimate walk with the Spirit and follow His direction at every turn. This does not, however,

negate the need for planning.

The Bible teaches planning implicitly and explicitly. In studying creation, it is obvious

that Creator God worked with a master plan. Each element needed at one stage of creation was

provided in the previous stage. The Father understood from the beginning to the end. The Bible

tells us that He knew that creation would call for His Son’s death to deal with the issue of sin

(John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:18-20; Revelation 13:38b).

In Luke 14:25-35, Jesus strongly communicated the demands of discipleship and by His

example implicitly taught the value of planning. He said that a disciple’s love for his family

should be seen as “hate” when compared to his or her love for Him. He also stated that if a

person were not willing to bear his or her own cross (an instrument of death to self), and come

after Him, he or she could not be his disciple. Why did Jesus make the demands of discipleship

so tough? Look at His words, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit

down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the

foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This

fellow began to build and was not able to finish’” (Luke 14:28-30, NIV). Jesus, the architect of

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the church, has counted the cost and He knows what it will cost to complete the project—that is

why the demands are so tough. Jesus Christ then said, “Or suppose a king is about to go to war

against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand

men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send

a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace” (Luke 14:31-

32, NIV). King Jesus knows the enemy’s strength, tactics and battle plan. Jesus has sat down

and counted the cost—clearly a planning process—and understands what kind of soldiers it will

take to win the warfare. Therefore he demands total allegiance from his disciples. G. Campbell

Morgan wrote in The Parables and Metaphors of Our Lord

He never told men to count the cost. They were to come at all cost, at the cost of
earthly love, and the cost of renouncing everything.
What then did He mean? That He had to count the cost and that was why His
terms were severe, in the interest of what He was doing…They were to come at all cost.
Yet He showed the necessity of His counting the cost (p. 208).

The Bible teaches explicitly the principles of planning. Look at the appendix to this unit

from the Proverbs.

Why does the new church exist? What is its purpose as a congregation? One clear aspect

of every church’s purpose is to make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). If the church planter and his

leaders take seriously this biblical purpose, they will sit down first and count the cost or

consider how to build the tower (the new church) and how to attack the enemy (Satan). This

will involve a prayerful and careful planning process. It should be prayerful in that the leaders

should spend quality and quantity time with God so that He can reveal to them where He is

already at work. Once that is revealed, a planning process can be put in place to assist the church

in joining God on mission. It should also be careful taking into consideration all of the proper

components of good planning.

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 The FOUNDATIONS for Planning

Your church planting experience will be greatly enhanced through a prayerful

development of a strategic church planting plan. The chart above suggests a flow of the ideas

and process for a focused strategic plan. The plan begins in the Word of God. God’s Word

reveals His desire for His church that He has called you to plant. Begin with the biblical

foundation.

! What is Jesus saying in the gospels about the kingdom of God and the church?

! What does the great church planting book—the Book of Acts—say about the need for
church planting and how does it record the early church planting process?

! Many of the New Testament letters will take on new meaning if you see them from a
church planting perspective. 1 and 2 Thessalonians were written by a church planting
team to a very young church that was experiencing persecution and growing pains. 1 and
2 Timothy and Titus were written by the leader of a church planting team that had been
forcibly separated from team members and record some of his instructions to church
planting team members about the ongoing work of developing these fledgling
congregations. (Have you seen them as planting letters or pastoral letters?) Ephesians
was written by a church planter to a church (or group of churches) helping to deal with
important theological and practical matters. 1 and 2 Corinthians were written by a church
planter to deal with conflicts and misunderstandings in a new church’s life.

In Basic Training church planters are helped to deal with the strategic planning

components, which include:

1. The development of a vision statement that answers the question, “What has God
called this church to be?”
2. The identification of core values which defines the foundational values and resulting
behaviors that will be expected in the life and relationships of the new church.
3. The clarification of the field context that includes the ministry focus group and the
geographic area that the new church will target on reaching.
4. The development of a mission statement that answers the question, “What do we need
to do to help us move from where we are (current reality) toward what God wants us
to be (preferred future reality or vision)?

These four components form the foundation for the choices that need to be made as the church is

planted. Some of the choices will include,

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 Where and when will the church be planted?
What will be the style of worship in the new church?
What will be the plans for small groups?
What will be the strategy for evangelism and discipleship in the new church?
What ministries will be developed to address needs in the community?
How will missions be addressed in the church?
What kind of leaders will be needed in the new church in the short term and long term?
What type of facilities will be needed for the church in the short term and long term?
What resources are needed for the church in the short term and long term?

These questions cannot be answered in relation to this specific chuch until the four foundational

components are firmly in place. In Matthew 7, Jesus describes those who obey his teaching by

contrasting two builders.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a
wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the
winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on
the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into
practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the
streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash
(Matt 7:24-27, NIV).

Jesus describes the wise man as one who lays a solid foundation and the foolish person as one

who builds a house without laying the foundation. The same truth applies to the person who

seeks to plant a church without completing the foundational elements of a strategic plan.

Strategic planning is not something done in addition to regular tasks; it is a way of focusing work

to accomplish the necessary tasks.

The development of specific objectives, goals and action plans flow out of the four

foundational planning components. After the four foundational components are in place, the

next step is to identify objectives. An objective is described as a specific end which gives

direction for a long period of time and gives purpose to a program, ministry or activity that can

be translated into goals and action plans. The objective gives focus or a general target for future

changes needed to meet a need or challenge facing an organization. Objectives generally emerge

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from needs discovered in gathering information about the community or church. Objectives are

general statements of intent for a lengthy period of time. They are usually never completely

accomplished but provide direction for a number of years. The “Associational Strategy Planning

Guide” stated, “Objectives can be thought of as statements of ultimate idealized

intent…Objectives should seldom be more than five or six in number.”

Once the four to six objectives are in place, goals must be developed as a series of steps

that move the church toward reaching the objective. Goals grow out of objectives and provide

measurements or standards for evaluating progress toward the objective. A goal is defined as a

statement of dated intent to obtain a measurable result in keeping with the objective. SMART is

a common acrostic to identify goals.

S pecific: in terms of actions to be accomplished

M easurable: in number of activities or results desired
A ttainable: given the resources at hand
R elated: to the objective
T ime: there is some date attached for completion of the goal

Goals are generally written as verbal statements introduced by an infinitive such as to

train, to develop or to start. The infinitive is followed by a measurable statement, then a specific

subject and a by or through statement, then a date. The typical statement looks like this:

Infinitive + measurable statement + subject + by/through statement + date.

An example might be: To train (infinitive) 8 people (measurable statement) in personal

evangelism (subject) through the Net (by/through statement) by November 10, 200_ (date).

A single objective can be addressed by several goals that relate to a number of programs,

ministries, or task groups in a church. Goals assign specific parts of the objective to various

groups or programs in the church. The program, ministry or task group must own every goal that

it is responsible to attain. One way to gain goal ownership is when goals are developed and

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approved, the program, ministry team or task group to whom they are assigned should be the one

that develops the detailed action plans that they will accomplish to achieve their part of the goal.

An Action Plan is the selecting of various tasks, projects or actions to take to reach a

goal. Action plans identify the step-by-step projects, conferences, events, meetings and/or

actions necessary to move people toward reaching a goal. Action plans typically identify the

specific action, who will be responsible for the action, when it will be completed and the

projected cost. A church builds its budget and calendar off its action plans, not the objective or

goal statements. (See Action Planning Form)

A GUIDE TO ANNUAL PLANNING IN THE NEW CHURCH

The INTENTIONALITY of Planning

God Himself does planning on behalf of His people! Jeremiah quoted God when he said,

“‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm

you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jer. 29:11, NIV). The writer of Proverbs lifted this to

the next level by affirming, “We should make our plans—counting on God to direct us” (Prov.

16:9, LB).

The intentionality of good planning for a new church cannot be overstated. The

following is a series of specific suggestions for good planning to the church planter and his

leadership team.

Practical suggestions for annual planning retreat:

1. In preparation for the retreat, the church planter should get away with God to ask for His

focus in the coming year. First, he needs time to pray, study and meditate on four things.

During the preparation he should spend time in the Word, seeking to hear God’s agenda.

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 From this study a theme may emerge around which to build the annual planning. Second,

in addition to studying the Word, the planter needs to review the foundational planning

documents for the church.

! How well are the vision, core values and mission statement understood by the leaders and
members?

! How on target were these documents from the start?

! How have they been adjusted in the planting process?

! Have they been forgotten?

! What is the level of commitment to these foundational principles at this time?

A third area of study and review should be the community. The planter needs the latest

demographics update and projections of trends. What is happening in the community in

terms of population, economic, education, business and technology trends? Finally the

planter needs time to review what is happening in the church. How has it grown? What

changes have occurred? Who is God bringing into the church? Is God giving any clues

about future directions in those He is bringing into the fellowship? How effective is the

church carrying out its functions? Are some functions stronger, weaker or floundering?

Are there older ministries that need to be discarded? Are there new ministries that need

to be launched?

2. The church planter and his leadership team should take an annual planning retreat. The

team should be composed of the church planter, any staff whether volunteer, bivocational

or vocational and the church members who give leadership to the various ministries,

programs, teams or tasks groups, especially those who represent the functions of the

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church (worship, evangelism, discipleship, ministry, fellowship, and missions) and those

representing pastoral care and resource management.

a. The planting leadership team might be well served in reviewing the past year and

celebrating the blessings God has given, reviewing the victories achieved both

personally and corporately. This time of praise and thanksgiving is often helpful to

remind us of Whom we serve and Who causes the growth.

b. The retreat should center on discovering God’s plan for the coming year. The church

planter should share the insights gleaned from his personal time with God. This will

help set a spiritual tone and ensure the productivity of the experience together.

c. The full team should begin by reviewing the new church’s foundational statements

(vision, core values and mission statement). The church planter may choose to

present a PowerPoint updating the leaders on the community and the church—a State

of the Church Address. One of the important parts of this is often a clear challenge to

the church leaders concerning the next level of the church’s development. This next

level may be in terms of some numerical growth, some organizational development,

some leadership or ministry expansion, some specific actions to take—constitution or

partnering to plant a new church.

d. After clarifying the new church’s focus, the discipleship or prayer team leader should

guide the full team in an intense season of prayer. This time should be specifically

designed to keep the group on task in prayer. Both large and small groups should be

arranged.

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e. When the prayer time concludes, the church planter or someone he designates should

facilitate a brainstorming session. Team members should be given opportunity to

share what they personally sensed God saying to them during the season of prayer. A

designated member should write all input on a marker board or easel pad paper and it

should be entered into a lap top computer by the appointed “scribe.”

f. Care should be taken not to allow the group to become “sidetracked” on interesting

ideas but ideas that do not serve the church in achieving its vision, mission or those

that would conflict with core values or are not contextually compatible with the

ministry focus group. The focus must be trained on stimulating ideas that will

develop into the church’s ministry plan for the coming year. It will likely be in

outline form with rough images, but it can be refined after the retreat.

g. It is appropriate to remind the church leaders that the church must always give

attention to the six basic functions of worship, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship,

ministry, and missions. Sometimes because of opportunities or specific challenges,

one or two of these may be given special attention. Such as, it is not uncommon for a

church to experience a special pouring out of God’s blessing with a number of new

believers in a year and the need to focus on discipleship, fellowship and leadership

development for a period. The church does not cease evangelism—or even reduce

emphasis on it but gives some special attention to the assimilation of persons and

development of organization to deal with the growth. Or there may be a specific

aspect of a function that is given heightened visibility for a period. Worship is a basic

function. Prayer is an expression of worship and also relates to several other

functions. A church may give special emphasis to strengthening, expanding, prayer

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 ministry by establishing a prayer ministry, beginning prayer walking, intercession for

lost persons, special seasons of prayer and fasting at the church’s meeting place, and

extensive teaching on prayer.

h. The resulting annual planning ideas should address how the new church can best meet

the church and community needs in the coming year. Periodically a church should

expand its understanding of the community by an extensive and well organized

community needs assessment. This need may surface if the material shared by the

planter seems dated or there seems to be debate concerning conditions in the

community. “To update our understanding of community by a thorough Needs

Assessment Survey by May 31, 200_” is an appropriate goal for many churches.

i. Attention should be given to goal setting. The leadership and the church will not be

able to determine the effectiveness of the next year of ministry, unless they have set

some specific expectations. The goals should meet the SMART criteria. It is not

uncommon to have three to five goals for each objective. Commonly the goals will

relate to such things as:

1. Number of baptisms for the year

2. Increased small group attendance

3. Increased worship attendance

4. Number involved in discipleship studies, process

5. Number of new ministries begun or number of persons involved in ministry

6. Number of persons participating in volunteer mission projects

7. Increased giving and strengthened stewardship

8. Additional goals that are unique to the church’s context

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 j. Each member of the leadership team should be given ample time alone to reflect on

the areas of the annual planning that relate to his or her area of responsibility. The

church planter and staff members should “float” and be available to team members

requesting assistance.

k. A final session, facilitated by the church planter, should give each team member an

opportunity to share preliminary action plan ideas for accomplishing the goals. These

plans should be written out and given to the designated “scribe” for inclusion into the

retreat recommendations. End the retreat with “popcorn” prayer.

3. After the retreat, the various program, ministry and task group leaders should meet with

the various leaders and workers in their area of responsibility to develop the completed

action plans to address the church’s goals. The planter (and staff) and selected team

leaders should compose a “coordination team” that is available to meet with these various

groups, to clarify goals, share ideas, refine action plans, and solicit their help in refining

and promoting the plan. This process of action plan development may involve four to six

(4-6) weeks of work. Each group submits their action plans to the coordination team for

review, coordination and finalization.

4. After the coordination team approves the plan, it should be presented to the church. Once

adopted, implementation can begin without additional approvals.

The IMPLEMENTATION of Planning

Once the church has adopted the annual plan, the church planter and staff along with the

leadership team should begin the process of implementation. Appendix B, Action Planning

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Form is provided to assist in this effort. This will enable the team to translate the annual plan into

specific objectives, goals, and action plans (OGAPs).

The church planter along with the leader of the Resource Management Team will give

instruction on how to work through the process of laying out the OGAPs. Two to four (2-4)

weeks should be given to each team leader for this assignment. They will each call their teams

together, interpret the assignment, and guide them through the work. An estimated cost should

be tied to each action plan.

At an agreed upon date the Leadership Team will reconvene to report. The official

church calendar (there can only be ONE official church calendar!) will be built for the coming

year’s plan as dates are negotiated among the leaders. Their proposed action plans will be placed

on the calendar and agreed upon by the full team. According to Ken Westbrook, formerly of the

Florida Baptist Convention staff, “You are not planning a calendar, you are calendaring a plan.”

This process can be expedited if the church planter or his designee will do some work

with the calendar before the Leadership Team meeting. The following items can be listed with

appropriate dates, if available: denominational events; local dates (school, community

celebrations, sports activities, etc.); holidays; repetitive events (business conferences, baptism,

Lord’s Supper, anniversaries). Care should be given to “plan around” many of these so as not to

“compete” with them.

In attempting to decide the best time of the year to calendar events, the following

suggestions from Ken Westbrook, will be helpful:

1. Balance the calendar. Don’t overload one or two months and leave the rest empty.

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 2. Plan major ministry actions at the natural growth periods of your church. (Every new

church leadership will have to study this.)

3. Reserve the summer for planning and other administrative matters as well as youth

activities. Use the summer for getting ready for the next year.

4. This plan must be presented to the budget planning committee. It is essential that the

calendar and the budget be coordinated.

I am suggesting that the Resource Management Team leader be involved from the very

beginning of the planning process. He or she can gather the agreed upon action plans, add the

other fixed costs (personnel, insurances, facilities, maintenance, missions, etc.) and call his team

together. This team along with the church planter and staff will come to a consensus on the

budget for the next year based on the plan. The church will then be asked to approve the budget.

Once approved, the leadership teams will be responsible for administering the budget under the

guidance of the Resource Management Team.

Jim Chavis, director of Church Growth Department, Florida Baptist Convention, reduces

the process to the simplest form. He says that implementation is to “Do God’s will!” It is

“focusing resources to accomplish actions.” Three areas to process are: 1. People—Who will

do it? 2. Calendar—When will we do it? 3. Budget—How much will it cost?

The ongoing work of the Leadership Team should involve steps:

1. Meet monthly and commit the church’s ministries to the Lord.

2. Review the previous month’s activities and accomplishments.

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 3. Review the church’s goals and regularly report to the church.

4. Preview the next three months:

a. Ask for reports from all team leaders for coming events.

b. Offer help to those who need it. Some events and activities will be so massive
that all will need to pitch in.

c. Reschedule, modify or cancel plans, if absolutely necessary.

d. Review goals and accomplishments.

e. Celebrate victories and give God all the glory in corporate worship.

Chavis offers a final word on evaluation. He asks a question, “Did we do it?” 1. Did

we reach our goals? 2. What went right? 3. What went wrong? 4. What follow-up action is

required?

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 Appendix A
THE BIBLE SPEAKS ON PLANNING
The wisdom of the ages teaches us to plan. The wisdom literature of the Bible (Proverbs) teaches us to plan.

I. Make plans.

13:16 “A wise man thinks ahead; a fool doesn’t, and he even brags about it!”

13:19 “It is pleasant to see plans develop.”

16:9 “We should make plans--counting on God to direct us.”

22:3 “A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly
on and suffers the consequences.”

II. Make plans for joy and purpose.

13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but when dreams come true at last, there is life and joy.”

29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (KJV).

III. Make plans after knowing the facts.

18:13 “What a shame--yes, how stupid!--to decide before knowing the facts.”

18:15 “The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them.”

24:3-4 “Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits
wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts.”

27:23 “Watch your business interests closely. Know the state of your flocks and your herds.”

IV. Make plans after seeking counsel.

11:14 “With good counselors, there is safety.”

15:22 “Plans go wrong with too few counselors; many counselors bring success.”

20:18 “Don’t go ahead with your plans without the advice of others.”

24:6 “There is safety in many counselors.”

V. Make plans in dependency on God.

16:1 “We can make our plans, but the final outcome is in God’s hands.”

21:31 “Go ahead and prepare for the conflict, but victory comes from God.”
.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, passages are taken from The Living Bible, 1971. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.

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 Appendix B
ACTION PLANNING FORM
______________ Baptist Church

1. Objective:

(1) Goal:

ACTION PERSON RESPONSIBLE TARGET DATE COST

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 Appendix C
NEW CHURCH CASE STUDY ON PLANNING

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$,)0*$1$(.6)&'#+3'#&/3&76(0*)389&
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The church planter moved from a southern city to the Midwest at the invitation of a

partner church and the association. The planter had planted two churches in the south. Each had a

core group of 50+ persons and a public launch of 200+ and had 300 in attendance at the end of 3

years.

The target area was a growing suburban community. The growth represented roughly an

equal mix of persons relocating from within the county, the state, the region and across the

nation. International relocation represented 10 percent but persons moving from the south were

less than 10 percent. In studying church patterns in the community, the planter observed that due

to the high rate of migration and transfer, plateaued and growing churches had about a 20 percent

annual attrition rate. For growth to occur, the church had to add a number greater than 20 percent

of its membership.

Taking into account his previous experience and effectiveness and the differences of the

areas where he had served and the current setting, the planter’s initial goal was a core group of

40 and public launch of 160. In addition, he set a goal of a minimum of 15 percent annual

growth or a 35 percent annual addition rate. (See tables 1, 2, 3.) During the first year (not

reflected in the tables) the planter spent his time in three major blocks. The first four months

(September to December) were spent in getting acquainted with the community, developing the

planting strategy and enlisting a core group by evangelism and targeted personal enlistment. The

core group development phase extended from January through mid April. During that time he

expanded and solidified the core group, prepared for public launch and developed the

20
organization and leadership team. The time from the Palm Sunday launch through Labor Day

was focused on qualifying prospects, enlistment, evangelism and assimilation. The numbers

looked like this:

core group totaled 20 +/- with a commitment of “3” or higher prior to launch;

launch service attendance was 93, seven short of an adjusted goal,

congregation members at the end of August was right at 60.

The new church’s attendance patterns were different than older established churches in the

community. For all three years since launch, the small group attendance has equaled 90 percent

of active membership (but included active members and prospects) and the worship attendance

has equaled 110 percent of active membership (including members, prospects and guests).

Active membership growth has met the planter’s targeted percentage of growth for the three

years. But the core group and launch numbers were significantly less than the planter anticipated.

For the first year, the planter periodically struggled with feelings of failure. He has accepted the

difference in the challenge of his current ministry setting versus previous settings but

occasionally still feels some sense of frustration with the church’s level of growth.

Table 1: Attrition Numbers/Rate

Moved Transferred Dropped Death Total Rate
from Area Membership Out
Year 1 8 3 2 0 13 21.6%
Year 2 7 5 0 0 13 17%
Year 3 13 2 2 1 18 21.4

Table 2: Addition Numbers/Rate

Transferred Baptism Baptism Baptism Total Rate
Membership Transfer Biological Conversion
Year 1 7 3 2 11 23 38.3%
Year 2 6 5 2 13 26 37%
Year 3 9 3 1 16 29 34.5%

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 Table 3: Growth Numbers/Rate
Beginning Attrition Addition Net Growth End
Numbers Gain/Loss Rate Numbers
Year 1 60 13 23 10 16.6% 70
Year 2 70 12 26 14 20% 84
Year 3 84 18 29 11 13% 95

As the church begins its fourth year, it has four objectives with supporting goals:

Objective 1: Sustained Numerical Growth

Goal 1: To conduct four prospect identification events that results in a prospect list equal
to the number of persons currently enrolled in Bible study

Goal 2: To baptize 30 persons this year with 20 being conversion baptisms.

Goal 3: To have 20 percent of the membership complete a Net training cycle.

Goal 4: To have 25 percent of the membership involved in the evangelism/outreach

process of the church

Objective 2: Leadership Development

Goal 5: To enlist and train 8 new small group leaders by August 15, 20—

Goal 6: To conduct one membership development class quarterly with at least 10

participants per class.

Goal 7: Church staff expanded by enlisting two volunteer staff persons and one
bivocational staff.

Objective 3: Responsible Support System Expansion

Goal 8: Launch 6 new small groups as needed by growth of membership.

Goal 9: New ministry teams launched

Goal 10: Stewardship development

Objective 4: Expanded Community Impact

Goal 11: Short-term ministries conducted

Servant Evangelism projects

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 Community service groups penetrated

BYBC conducted

Goal 12: Long term community ministries

Organization: The church’s organization is rather fluid and currently includes:

1. Staff made up of the planter, two volunteer ministers and a volunteer secretary;

2. A leadership team; and

3. Four clustering of teams that share some commonality in focus.

The leadership team is made up of the staff and the four captains of the team clusters. The

leadership team meets on the fourth Sunday evening of each month for the purpose of

coordination. Each team cluster is made up of leaders from the various support teams. Teams and

team clusters will meet as needed to plan and carry out assignments.

Staff

Administrative Team Captain

Financial Team
Trustees
Membership Team
Pastoral Ministry Team (Deacons)
Discipleship Team

Small Group Team Captain

Membership Groups
Adult Cells
Youth Cells
Children’s Groups
Discovery Groups
Covenant Groups

Worship Team Captain

Leadership Team
Greeters
Counselors
Set up team

Evangelism/Ministry Team Captain

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 Evangelism/Outreach Team
Ongoing Ministry Team
Special Events Team

Glossary
Attrition: the number of persons lost from the church’s active membership through a variety of
factors including those who have moved out of the area, transferred membership to another
church in the area, dropped out or died.

Addition: represents the number of persons added to the church’s active membership through a
variety of sources including those who have transferred membership from another Baptist church
and those who have been baptized into the membership.

Baptism: represents three groups of persons. Baptism transfers are those who are coming from
another denomination and have submitted to scriptural baptism as a rite of membership. Children
of members who have come to their personal faith commitment and baptism are biological
baptisms. Older youth and adults from an unchurched background who express faith in Jesus and
are baptized are identified as conversion baptisms.

Growth: can be a positive or negative (gain or loss) and is gathered by doing the math on the
figures from the Attrition and Addition Tables.

Rate: represents the percentage of Attrition, Addition or Growth divided by the active
congregational figures.

24
 ACTION PLANNING FORM
New Baptist Church

Objective 3: Responsible support system expansion

Goal 8: Launch 6 new small groups as needed by growth of membership

ACTION PERSON RESPONSIBLE TARGET DATE COST

Identify members and prospects for each Membership Gp Ldr July 1 0
small group & Outreach Ldr

Enlist small group leaders Membership Gp Ldr Aug 1 0

Train small group leaders Membership Gp Ldr Aug 20 $125

Identify locations for small group meetings Membership Gp Ldr Aug 15 0

Order resources for small group Membership Gp Ldr July 15 $300

Launch new small groups Small group leaders Sept 0

Go after members and prospects Small group leaders Sept-Oct 0

25
 Appendix D
NEW CHURCH CASE STUDY ON PLANNING

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$,)0*$1$(.6)&'#+3'#&/3&76(0*)389

Vision
Our vision at Oak Hill Church is to be a people of God who live out
the great commands and the great commission in our metropolitan area.

!To do this we will be a people who live in connection with God our Father
through Jesus Christ. This will be manifest to those around us primarily by our creative
and inspiring corporate worship services and resources for personal and family worship.

!In addition we will be a people who live in connection with one another.
Each member will be part of a small group, ministry team or a task group.
These connection groups will provide personal support, pastoral care and fellowship.

!We will be a people who grow in grace and knowledge of the Son of God
and becoming mature and complete, able to distinguish good from evil and equipped
to serve God, fellow believers and the community according to the gifts and calling of God.

!Finally, we will be a people on mission, sharing God’s love in His world.

We will prepare those called into volunteer or vocational missions and undergird mission
efforts in our community and around the world with prayer, personal involvement and finances.

Core Values

We value creativity; therefore we do not think that the best way to do church has been invented
yet and we will encourage experimentation and flexibility within the limits of biblical principles.
We value relationships; therefore we will constantly keep focus on persons and will work to
enhance the building of solid relationship within the church family and establishing connection
points in the community to share the message of God’s love to the people.
We value integrity; therefore we will seek to be above reproach in all our dealings as the people
of God inside and outside the church.
We value service; therefore we will use the resources at our disposal to provide compassionate
service to those in need.
We value involvement; therefore we will encourage and provide opportunity for all members to
be involved in the church’s ministry based on giftedness, interest, and availability and in the
community as an expression of our Christian citizenship.
We value growth; therefore we will resource opportunities for all members to grow in faith,
knowledge and character.

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 Mission

As a new church in this metropolitan community our mission is to build a climate of love, grace,
peace and faith where people can connect with God, commit to growth, and contribute to the
work of Christ and His church.
Connecting
Committing
Contributing

Objectives

1. Worship: Because we believe worship is vital to the life of a church and believers, we are
committed to providing inspiring corporate worship experiences and resourcing individuals and
families for worship.
2. Relationships: Because we believe the Bible is a book about relationships, we are committed
to helping members live out the second part of the old command, to love and serve our neighbors
and the new command to love one another and all the other one another commands.
3. Equipping: Because we believe every believer is called and gifted to be a minister, we are
committed to creating an environment and providing resources to equip people for ministry in
our small groups, ministry teams and task groups.
4. Mission: Because we believe that the church is a people on mission we will provide regular
and numerous opportunities to be involved in evangelism, ministry and missions in our city,
state, nation and to the ends of the earth.

Goals
" 1.1 Our goal is to have 60 percent of our church families engaging in definite periods of
family worship by November, 20__
" 1.2 Our goal is to have 75 percent of our church members reporting personal prayer and
Bible study on five of seven days per week.
" 2.1 Our goal is to connect with 700 new families in the community during this calendar
year and identify 500 new prospects.
" 2.2 Our goal is to provide an expanding number of “one another groups” so that there is
always a ratio of one group per 20 adult members.
" 3.2 Our goal is to have every new member participate in New Member Orientation prior
to being presented for membership.
" 3.3 Our goal is to conduct 8 equipping conferences this year based on member’s ministry
assessments and training needs.
" 4.1 Our goal is to increase the number of our members involved in the regular outreach
and evangelism ministry to 20 percent of our church’s active membership.
" 4.2 Our goal is to gain annually new members equal to 35% of our membership and at
least 40% of those new members coming through conversion baptism.

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 ACTION PLANNING FORM

Oak Hill Baptist Church

2. Objective: Relationships: Because we believe the Bible is a book about relationships, we

are committed to helping members live out the second part of the old command, to love and
serve our neighbors and the new command to love one another and all the other one another
commands.

(1) Goal: 2.1 Our goal is to connect with 700 new families in the community during this
calendar year and identify 500 new prospects.

ACTION PERSON TARGET COST

RESPONSIBLE DATE
To identify primary targeted locations for Community 3/1/20__
community connection events Connection Task
Group Captain
To enlist 10 families to host block parties CCTG Cpt 4/15/20__
and 15 families to host BYBCs.
To train teams to conduct Block Parties and Associational Training 5/15/20 $400
BYBCs. Team
Secure resources for BP and BYBCs. Ministry Team 5/25/20__ $1200
Leaders
Publicize planned BP and BYBCs. Ministry Team PR $400
person
Conduct BP and BYBCs. Ministry Teams.
Conduct planned follow-up to rate Ministry Teams 2 weeks after
prospects. event
Enter rated prospects into CPMS data base CPMS manager Weekly after
for tracking. follow-up.
Evaluate BP and BYBCs. Ministry Teams and 10/10/20__
CCTG Cpt.

28