FROM VISION TO

STRATEGIC PLANNING

BASIC CONCEPTS

AN EDUCATIONAL NUGGET BASED ON

TOM BANDY’S WRITINGS

Rev. Dr. Pablo A. Jiménez

Introduction

In our previous videos we have

studied the meaning of concepts

such as vision & mission.

We also saw two models for Church

development and growth, namely the

Declining Church and the Thriving

Church.

Strategic planning

In this occasion we turn our sight to

strategic planning, a key topic for any

Church revitalization plan.

Our video has been developed in

dialogue with Thomas G. Bandy’s

“Moving Off the Map” (Nashville:

Abingdon Press, 1998).

A Book we Strongly

Recommend

Basic Concepts

Thesis

The real reason Churches are

dying in the midst of a

changing cultural environment

is that they are relying on the

wrong model of leadership.

Theological basis

Change must be anchored in the

experience of the congregation

with Jesus.

The real issue before the Church

is not merely theological. It is

christological.

Key question

The key question articulated in

Kicking Habits: Welcome Relief For

Addicted Churches (Nashville

Abingdon, 1997) remains the key

question for Church transformation:

What is it about our experience

with Jesus that this community

cannot live without?

Change & Stress

There are the stresses that lie behind the demand for systemic change.

There are the stresses that lie behind the demand for ownership by the congregation.

There are the stresses that lie behind the demand for change to be anchored in the experience of the congregation with Jesus.

Key Problem

The key problem is that they failed to

make intentional connections

between faith sharing and beneficial

action.

The Purpose of Church

Leadership

The whole purpose of Church

leadership in the twenty-first century

is to birth new leadership.

Definition of “Leadership”

Leadership is the process of including

more and more people, with an

infinite diversity of gifts and skills,

within a single leadership event.

Leadership leads to an enlarged

vision, shared emotion, motivated

action & a passion for justice.

Enlarged Vision

Reorient your leadership energies

from prioritizing Church insiders to

prioritizing the lost, who have no

experience of connection with God.

Discover in detail the real diversity of

individual needs and potentials.

Shared Emotion

Share the suffering, as well as the

celebration, of the world. Reveal the

spectrum of emotion within you to the

public, even if it leaves you

vulnerable for criticism.

Motivated Action

Anchor every activity in your unity

with God, gifts, and callings.

Simultaneously do good and share

the faith motivation for the deed.

Passion for Justice

Let the passion for justice and the

joy of relationship to Jesus

become a single, seamless flow

of energy.

Introduction to Systems

Analysis

The Congregational Mission

Assessment

In “Moving Off the Map”, Bandy

details his Congregation Mission

Assessment (CMA) program.

The CMA is intended to go beyond

the identification of strengths and

weaknesses to the identification of

hidden corporate addiction.

Identifying “Addictions”

One of the aims of the CMA is to help

the Church identify and abandon its

“addictions”.

The addictions are habitually self-

defeating behavior patterns that run

like threads among all seven

subsystems of Church life.

Systems and Sub-Systems

The CMA leads planners through

“The Thriving Church System” in

three mayor stages.

All together, there are eleven different

sub-systems of the Thriving Church

that need to be examined.

The Three Mayor Stages

The following stages are:

FOUNDATION

FUNCTION

& FORM

These stages are comprised of Eleven Sub-Systems, detailed in the following slides.

Foundation

Three Sub-Systems constitute the

Church’s foundation:

Congregational Identity

Congregational Mission

Congregational Organization

Explanation

The first three subsystems are

foundational.

This stage leads planners to assess

the basic umbrella of congregational

life (core values, bedrock beliefs,

motivating vision, and key mission)

that pervades all congregational life.

Function

Five Sub-Systems define the function

of your congregation.

Experiencing God

Growing in God

Listening to God

Serving God

Sharing God

FORM

And three sub-systems shape the

FORM of your Church Ministry:

Property

Funding

Communication

Who Should Participate?

For the CMA process, seek to include

people from the margins of

congregational life, as well as core

participants.

The goal, however, is to build as

truthful a profile of congregational life

and mission as possible.

THE END

Visit www.drpablojimenez.net