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The new year brings new opportunities for growth, vision, and mission-focus as a church, but it won’t happen without strategic preparation. A thriving church isn’t content with stagnation, instead, it’s intentional and strategic with the turning of the calendar year. As a church leader, you have a unique opportunity to use this season to prepare your church.
Here are a few strategies designed to help you cast vision, work through practical planning strategies, and intentionally engage your community in the new year.
Reflect on the Previous Year
First and foremost, it’s crucial to take time to assess and reflect on the previous year. Ask questions like:
- What were our greatest achievements as a church?
- What challenges did we face and overcome?
- What lessons did we learn?
- What worked well? What didn’t? What do we need to change as a result?
- How did we live out our mission?
Consider creating a report and working to gather feedback from your church community. This information will help you to view what you did with a critical eye so you can better know how to move forward.
Set a Vision for the New Year
Once you’ve looked back, it’s time to look ahead. Take some designated time to cast vision for the next year. This vision needs to align both with your church mission and the current needs of your community.
Here are a few steps to take as you work to define goals and mission objectives:
- Create a strategic planning team
- Assess information from the previous years
- Define your church mission: who do you serve and why?
- Get practical: how will you live this out in the coming year?
- Give ownership: who will take charge of executing what has been established as the goal?
Engage Church Leadership and Members
Preparing your church to thrive is not a one-person job. As you start thinking about vision casting and strategy planning, start by creating a leadership team. You don’t want to engage too many voices, but you do need multiple people at the table to offer wisdom and insight.
Consider hosting vision-setting meetings and forming action teams as a result of what is planned. When thinking about who should serve on these teams, don’t solely involve church staff. Instead, involve church members and community leaders who could come alongside you and offer different perspectives on the needs of your church.
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Financial Planning and Stewardship
Another significant piece in setting your church up for success in the new year is your finances. As you plan, prioritize wise financial planning including budgeting, fund allocation, and stewardship initiatives for sustainability.
As a church, you rely on the generosity of donors, and as such, need to be wise in your stewardship. Start by outlining recurring, existing costs, and then prioritize large needs that align with your mission. It’s a good idea to give different staff members ownership over different areas to be unified in your approach and allocation.
Embrace Technology and Outreach
Next, it’s more important than ever to adopt different technologies designed for outreach, online services, and social media engagement. This technology can help to broaden your reach and lighten your load at the same time when utilized well. Think through areas like:
- Live-streaming services
- Social media presence
- Mass communication (email, newsletter, text, etc.)
- Online giving
- Church websites
- Security (ex. Child check-ins, background checks, etc.)
While this list isn’t exhaustive, it can help you think through areas of need as you plan.
Build Community Connections
Since your church should constantly be working to serve your community, the new year is also a great time to strengthen ties. How can your church members get more involved in your community to foster connections and spread the Gospel? Some areas include:
- Create or get involved in volunteer programs
- Partner with local organizations
- Host or participate in local events
- Join your community in what they’re already doing to serve others (ex. Food banks, homeless shelters, clothing closets, etc.)
Foster Spiritual Growth
Lastly, in the new year work to establish strategies designed to deepen spiritual engagement among your members. No matter your church’s mission, the goal should be discipleship and pursuing Christlikeness. How can you live this out and help your members pursue Jesus daily?
These may include avenues like:
- Bible studies
- Spiritual retreats
- Mentorship or discipleship programs
- Service opportunities
- Events with a purpose
While there are many important things you'll plan for this time, make these things a priority in the new year.
Next Steps
When you take a proactive approach toward preparing and planning for the new year, you’re not only setting up your church to thrive, but you’re being a good steward of all that God has entrusted to you. Hopefully, the above strategies can help you plan, but it’s important to pair these strategies with concrete action steps.
One action step you can take now is to ensure your church management software is equipped to serve as your partner in ministry. Ministry Brands Amplify leverages industry-leading technology to integrate all the moving parts of your church operations into a streamlined solution. Try a free demo here!
