THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS

Eastern North Carolina Episcopal District of the AME Zion Church

The Summer InstituteTheme: “From Worship to Ministry”Focus: “Becoming a Healthy Church”

June 12, 2006Facilitator : Jan King Robinson

Vice President, Human Resources/Organizational Development Albemarle Hospital, Elizabeth City, North Carolina

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it

wherever he will.” -Proverbs 21:1 (ESV)

Why does the Church need a Strategic Plan?

• Identify critical reasons for developing and implementing a strategic plan.

– Put faith into action– Create a process that is grounded in scripture

and best church practices– Become informed, prepared, and accountable– Create process to assess performance relative to

mission

What is strategy?

• Strategy is Leadership’s Road Map to realize the mission and vision of the organization

– Disciplined planning– Disciplined governance– Disciplined allocation of resources– Disciplined thought– Disciplined action

The Value of Strategic Planning

• Clarify and validate the church’s mission, vision, and overall strategic direction.

• Formulate strategies that will guide and direct the church’s continued growth and development, ministry programming, strategic relationships, and other community, evangelical and operational initiatives over a defined planned horizon.

• Establish an implementation plan to support the realization of the identified strategic initiatives and a process by which to evaluate progress.

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord

that will stand.” –Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)

Critical Questions

• Who are the church stakeholders?• What is the church’s target community?• What are the community outreach

programs?• What are the internal and external

resources?• Who are potential community partners?• How does the church measure success?

Mission

• Purpose – Why the church exists.

• Business – Main method or activity through which the church fulfills its purpose.

• Values – The principles or beliefs that guide the church’s leadership and membership as they pursue the church’s goals.

“….Potential supporters [and members need to] believe not only in your mission, but in your capacity to deliver on that mission.”

--Jim Collins, Good To Great and the Social Sectors

Mission Statements

“We, the Holland Chapel AME Zion Church Family, are committed to loving God and being obedient to His Commandments. We actively encourage fervent prayer, church and family unity, and Community service. We actualize this mission through Evangelism, Christian Education, and Stewardship and Discipleship.”

--Holland Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church

“Our mission is to equip the membership for service through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word; to inspire the downhearted; to provide relief to the destitute, to assist with healing the mind, the soul and the body; to conduct an outreach ministry in the community; to provide leadership; to guide lost souls to Christ to establish and maintain a spiritual environment where all people feel welcomed and loved.”

--St. Julia A.M.E. Zion Church

Ministry Mission:

“To Galvanize, Mobilize, Equip, and Empower an exceeding great army of word trained, warring men that are full of faith and the Holy Ghost to possess the land.”

---The Potter’s House AMEN Ministry

(Adullam Men’s Empowerment Network)

Mission-Centered Church Ministries

• Prison Outreach

• Christian College Preparatory School

• Counseling/Relationship Restoration

• Women and Children Housed in Shelters

• Healthcare and Wellness

• Economic Development

• Food Bank

• Cub Scouts

• Summer Youth Academy

Thinking Strategically

• The Three Big Strategic Questions:1. Where are we now?

2. Where do we want to go?

3. How do we get there?

Where are we now?

• To answer where we are now we must gather information… (“Environmental Scan”)– Access the Political, Economic,

Social, and Technological Trends (P.E.S.T. Analysis)

– Access internal and external Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (S.W.O.T. Analysis)

S.W.O.T

• Strengths Any resources or abilities the Church can use to take advantage of opportunities or fight off threats

• Weaknesses Deficiencies in Church’s resources or processes that make it vulnerable

• Opportunities Situations in the external environment that allow the Church to fulfill its vision, mission, and goals

• Threats Anything, internal or external, that might hurt the Church’s ability to fulfill its vision, mission, and goals.

Where are are we now?

TheChurch

External Environment

Driving Forces

PoliticsEconomics

Technology

GeographicalEnvironment

Demographics (Characteristics:

age, gender, abilities,disabilities, needs,

family/parentalstatus, employment

status, etc.)

Vision

• Where do we want to go?

• What will “success” look like 5-10-20 years from now?

• What do we– aspire to become, – to achieve, – to create?

Vision Statements

“Our vision is to be debt-free, 100% tithing congregation, serving our community and worshipping in a state of the art facility that would exemplify the God we serve.”

--Clinton Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church

“It is the vision of God through the St. Paul Church community to build a brand new state of the art worship center that will sufficiently house the present ministries and others that are soon to follow in this new age. A search and planning committee is in place and we are moving forward to make God’s vision a living reality. This facility will consist of:

a brand new state of the art sanctuary, fellowship hall, office space, class rooms, conference rooms, a family life center which will house a day care center, tutorial program, computer center, exercise and weight room, gymnasium, playground, and a singles, couples, children, youth, men and women’ ministry and much more.”

--St. Paul A.M.E. Zion Church

Imagine 5-10-20 Years From Now

• How do you sustain the vision?

• What are the steps?

• What are the resources?

The Five Tasks of the Strategic Planning Process

TASK 1

DevelopStrategicVision &Mission

TASK 2

SetObjectives

TASK 3

CraftStrategy to

AchieveObjectives

(Written Plan)

TASK 4Implement& ExecuteStrategy

(Communica-tion and

Implementation

TASK 5

Evaluate &Make

Corrections(Monitoring

Progress)

Revise asNeeded

Revise asNeeded

Revise asNeeded

Revise asNeeded

Revise asNeeded

Example of a Project Timeline

Stage of Work

Stage One: Planning Preparation

Stage Two: Strategic Assessment

Stage Three: Mission, Vision, Goals

Stage Four: Strategy Development

Stage Five: Implementation Planning

S O N D J F M A M J J A

X

X X X

X X X

X X X X

X X X X X

Strategy Is Both Planned andReactive to Changing Circumstances

Planned

(or Intended Strategy)

Adaptive Strategy

Actual Strategy

Adaptive Organizational Culture

• Strong leadership concern for the well-being of stakeholders.

• Receptive to risk taking, experimentation, and innovation.

• Proactive approach to coping with challenges of changing conditions.

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

–Proverbs 16:3 (ESV)

Getting Ready

Groundwork Research AnalysisFeedback

Getting Started

• Establish why the strategic planning process is important.

• Identify who is responsible for managing the planning process.

• Identify what the plan should achieve .• Identify who will be involved in the process.• Identify who is responsible for implementation

and success of the plan.

What would the Church do, if it knew it could not fail?

“May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.”

--Psalm 20:4 (ESV)