Mission Action Planning Harlow Archdeaconry Sept 18 th 2010 Who is - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Mission Action Planning

Harlow Archdeaconry Sept 18th 2010

Who is Mike Chew?

• Self employed Church Growth Consultant, working with

several Dioceses

• Acting as MAP and Growth Strategy Facilitator for the

Blackburn diocese (6 years so far)

• Was Churchwarden of an Anglican church in Lancashire

which increased attendance from 50 to 300

• Co-author of the book “How to do Mission Action

Planning” together with Mark Ireland, for many years the Vicar of the above church

• Teaches on the “Mission Shaped Ministry” and “Leading

your Church into Growth” courses

• Until 2000, was Philips Electronics Director of Quality and

Business Excellence

Programme for Today

• Introducing Church Growth
• Introducing MAP and Stages

– Review – Choose

• Lunch

– Planning

• Leadership and Teamwork
• Q&A
• Next Steps
• Finish by 3pm

Church growth fundamentals

• The church in decline is faced with three
• ptions:
• 1. To manage decline
• 2. To ignore the downward trend
• 3. To work out a strategy for growth

Bob Jackson

“The world in which many Anglicans are still living – where the strains and stresses of diminishing attendance, deteriorating finances and a decreasing paid workforce puts us in the grip of a spiral of decline that we may have learned to manage but not to reverse”.

What do we mean by Growth?

• Growing up - Growing as Disciples
• Growing out - into Communities and

Networks

• Growing in Quality, and therefore …
• Growing in Numbers

Attendance or Membership numbers are usually a good measure of healthy growth

Are there any signs of Growth?

• One third of all dioceses are growing
• One third of all churches are growing
• In most cases, growth follows an emphasis on

Mission and Focussed Actions.

– Growing dioceses usually have a growth initiative – Growing churches in Blackburn diocese usually have a well produced Mission Action Plan. – Attending the “Leading your Church into Growth” course resulted in average growth.

Diocesan MAP/Growth Initiatives

• !"
• #"
• $

$ %& ' (" )*" )+ '

• '
• ("

' (,""

• ".%*"

/

• %

("1 2&2&# % 3 "#%

• /

3 %##

• 14

3 5 5 )& 6

• 7

6 5#72 5# %

• ##
• (&
• "
• %##",8)#

("" 2!&

• (

What seems to be working?

• Local Church Mission Work

– Education about Mission and Faith Journeys – Training – Desire – Listening to God and the People – Vision and Priorities – Plans – Actions – Learning

• Diocesan policies and processes to encourage

and support this work

• What is Mission?

What is Mission?

• The Five marks of Mission*
• Tell - To proclaim the good news of the kingdom
• Teach - To teach, baptize and nurture new

believers

• Tend - To respond to human need by loving

service

• Transform - To seek to transform unjust

structures of society

• Treasure - To strive to safeguard the integrity of

creation and sustain and renew the earth

* from the 1988 Lambeth Conference

So Mission is Not an Option!

A ship in harbour is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for.

(John A. Shedd, Thouhts from my attic” 1928)

God Stimulates Growth

• The growth principle

– Growth takes place spontaneously – There is order and process in this growth – We can remove the

• bstacles to growth

– We can work out how to

• ptimise growth potential

1 Corinthians 3:5-7

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow

Reflection

• Buzz with your neighbours in 2’s or 3’s:

– Does God want His church to grow? – Does God want our church to grow?

Gospel Teaching about Action Planning

• ‘For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does

not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?’

• ‘Or what king, going out to wage war against

another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?’

Luke 14.28,31

Steps to Plan

• 1. Want to
• 2. Vision
• 3. Plan
• 4. Action

The Mission Journey

START! Do we want to do more Mission work? Why are we here? Who do we SERVE? How are we doing? DESTINATION Church Vocation Shared Vision How? Prayer Priorities Plan Tools Personal Faith Journeys

The MAP Cycle

Prayer and Desire: What does God Expect from Us?

• A Sower went out to sow …. (Matthew 13:1)

– Response: “I can do the best I can and it is in God’s mystery and grace whether it is thirty-fold or sixty-fold or a hundred-fold or if it seems to be strangled by the weeds.”

• Fig Tree - Pruning or digging around …. (Luke 13:8)

– Response: “I will try and be better organised to do the best I can”

• Parable of the Talents …. (Matthew 25:14)

– Response: “I can make a conscious choice to find the best way to use resources and gifts.”

• Cast you net on the right side … (John 21:6)

– Response: “I can make strategic interventions to make transformations.”

Prayer and Desire: What does God Expect from Us?

• These alternatives highlight different approaches

to prayer.

• We can simply pray, “Lord, let me do the best I

can,”

• or we can pray, “Lord, help me be better
• rganised to do the best I can,”
• or we can pray, “Lord, teach me to discern how,

in the right mind, I can make the kind of strategic intervention that will allow You to transform the world and bring in the Kingdom.”

Desire is also fostered by an Study of the Values of a Missionary Church*

• Focused on God the Trinity.
• Worship lies at its heart
• Incarnational.
• Shaping itself to the local culture
• Transformational.
• Existing for the transformation of the local community
• Makes disciples.
• Calling people to faith; encouraging gifts; transforming

individuals

• Relational.
• Welcome and hospitality; Open to change

* “Mission Shaped Church” Report

The MAP Cycle

Review – Triple Listening

• How would God view
• ur church?
• Listen to God
• Listen to each other
• Listen to our community and networks

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

An honest assessment of how we are doing

Choose: Vision

• Vision

– Where does God want our church to be in the future (3 to 5 years)? – What is God calling our church to do and become?

• Priorities

– What are the priorities that you need to work on in

• rder to reach your God-given Vision? (Max 4)

– For each, articulate a goal – Formulate annual plans for each of your priorities

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

Vision

Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3

• Vision drives Priorities and Plans

PLAN

• Plan

– What actions need to be taken inn order to reach your priority goals? – Plan: Who. What, When – Ensure that all actions are resourced

• Communicate

– Vision, Priorities and Plan

• Themes chosen for teaching or for home groups
• Verbal notices in services
• The church magazine
• References in sermons
• The weekly notice sheet
• Helpful books on a church bookstall

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

Act

• Action

– Empower owners – Share the workload

• Check

– PCC Meetings

• Celebrate

– Thank God for progress – Recognise efforts

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

The MAP Cycle

The MAP Cycle: Review Phase

Review – Triple Listening

• Listening to God

– Personal prayer – Corporate prayer events

• Listening to ourselves

– A Study of the Five Marks of Mission and Mission Values – SWOT – “Growing Healthy Churches” – “Natural Church Development”

• Listening to our community and/or networks

– Community map – Community audit

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

Listening to God

• Pray and Study over several weeks to

discern how God would assess your church.

• Allow God to nurture

your desire for Mission and Growth.

Review – Triple Listening

• Listening to God

– Personal prayer – Corporate prayer events

• Listening to ourselves

– A Study of the Five Marks of Mission and Mission Values – SWOT – “Growing Healthy Churches” – “Natural Church Development”

• Listening to our community and/or networks

– Community map – Community audit

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

Are we doing enough Mission?

• The Five marks of Mission*
• Tell - To proclaim the good news of the kingdom
• Teach - To teach, baptize and nurture new

believers

• Tend - To respond to human need by loving

service

• Transform - To seek to transform unjust

structures of society

• Treasure - To strive to safeguard the integrity of

creation and sustain and renew the earth

* from the 1988 Lambeth Conference

Listen to Each Other - SWOT

• Looking at your church ….
• Consider your greatest-
• Strengths - “isn’t it good that ….”
• Weaknesses - “Isn’t it a shame that …”
• Opportunities - “Wouldn’t it be good if …”

Listen to Each Other – Healthy Churches Survey

A method of assessing church health under the headings of “Seven Marks of a Healthy Church”

(Robert Warren)

Facilitators are available to help your church to do this.

• 1. Energised by Faith
• 2. Outward looking focus
• 3. Seeks to find out what

God wants

• 4. Faces the cost of

change and growth

• 5. Operates as a

community

• 6. Makes room for all
• 7. Does a few things and

does them well

Our Self-Assessment

3: Seeks God's will 5: Operates as a community 4: Faces cost of change 2: Outward- looking 1: Energised by faith 6: Makes room for all 7: Does a few things well 1 2 3 4 5 6

Review: Community Review: Community

• How does the church impact

How does the church impact

• n the life of the community
• n the life of the community
• What image of God do we

What image of God do we portray portray

• How do we identify needs

How do we identify needs and react to them? and react to them?

Review: Learn

• Visit other places which are similar to yours, to

share ideas and discuss

• Attend a briefing about “Fresh Expressions of

Church”

• Read about others’ ideas and experiences.
• Study the diocesan Mission and Vision

statements.

Group Work 1: Assess your Church using the forms provided

Tell Teach Tend Transform Treasure Lots Some Rare

X X X X X

The MAP Cycle

Where is God leading this church? What are we to do?

God wants every church to Grow in Faith and Mission. God has a calling for every church

Prayer

• “Lord, teach me to discern how, in the right

mind, I can make the kind of strategic intervention that will allow You to transform the world and bring in the Kingdom.”

Given what you learned in the Review phase, describe your Future Vision for your church. Lift your eyes up, but keep your feet on the ground!

Choose: Vision

• Vision

– Where does God want your church to be in the future? – A Vision serves three purposes:

• It clarifies the direction (Compass)
• It draws people in, and motivates them to take

action in the right direction (Magnet)

• It coordinates the actions of many people

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

Vision

• “Where there is no vision, the people perish“

(Proverbs 29 v18)

– When the current problems are bigger then the future – People flourish where there is a vision – a sense of direction

• “Be thou my Vision…”

– Vision is about God looking at us – Jeremiah

– and a realism of our situation - Nehemiah

• God has a vision and a desire for his church to

grow, and a longing for his people to find a home in him

• Vision = God ideas (not just good ideas)

Hit the Ground Kneeling

(Bishop Stephen Cottrell)

• “One of the primary roles of leadership is

to articulate the vision of the organisation.”

• “Vision is the mountain top; the destination

we long to reach”

• “It is the vision of how things can be at the

end that motivates and inspires everything else”

• “The leader is the guardian and the herald
• f the vision”
• “The leader not only articulates the vision

but also embodies it”

Vision: Willow Creek

(Bill Hybels)

Vision

• Nehemiah – from Despair
• Philips Semiconductors: #1 Rank
• Hospitals
• Schools
• Diocese and Churches
• Spartacus

Jeremiah 1:6-10 Vision is about God looking at us

Then I said "Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for l am only a boy;" But the Lord said to me: "Do not say I am only a boy; for you shall go to all whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever l command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me; "Now I have put my words in your

• mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and

kingdoms, to pluck up and pull down, to destroy and to

• verthrow, to build and to plant."

Nehemiah 1:2-4 … and a realism about our situation

Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.“ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

1 – Vision and Your Church

Shared Vision Stimulates desire and helps us to focus on God Shared Vision gives the whole church a sense of Direction Shared Vision draws people to work together

Vision

• Five Year Vision

– The Church Vocation – It is good practise to formulate a Vision Statement that can be memorised

• Note: A Mission statement describes your

purpose in the present; A Vision statement describes the future.

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

Jesus is calling us to become a church known in the community for open doors, acts of grace, Spirit-led worship and growing leaders Christ Church Wellington Five-year Vision Statement

Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3

• Vision drives Priorities and Plans

Vision

• Each Priority is

translated into a Goal

Next Step: Priorities

• Work out the main priorities to achieve your
• Vision. (2 or 3, but a maximum of 4)
• Set a long term SMART Goal for each priority

– Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Resourced, Timed

• Develop an annual action plan for each priority

goal.

SMART Goals for each Priority

• Specific: be clear about the specific goal and who the plan

is for.

• Measurable: agree how you will measure progress.
• Achievable: people need to believe that it is possible.
• Resourced: ensure that there is sufficient human and

financial resources

• Timed: be clear about the timing for starting, reviewing

progress and completing. Example: To increase membership of young adults (aged 18- 30) from 25 to 50 within two years

Group work 2:

• As an exercise, try formulating a Vision

Statement for your church

– (this is just an exercise – you would not normally do this without going prayerfully through the Review phase)

• Choose one associated priority
• Translate this into a goal statement

MAP: Planning Phase

PLAN

• Plan

– What actions need to be taken inn order to reach your priority goals? – Plan: Who. What, When – Ensure that all actions are resourced

• Communicate

– Vision, Priorities and Plan

• Themes chosen for teaching or for home groups
• Verbal notices in services
• The church magazine
• References in sermons
• The weekly notice sheet
• Helpful books on a church bookstall

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

PLAN

• Actions

– Identify main actions for each Priority Goal, using ‘What’, ‘How’, ‘Date’ Date WHO WHAT

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

You can structure the actions – perhaps using the “WHEN” method: E.g. for the priority: “Young Families” ….

We will attract more Young Families to Church WHEN

• We start a toddler group
• We find a leader
• We decorate the hall
• We recruit helpers
• We write policy and procedures
• We advertise
• We talk to baptism families
• We have monthly family services
• We have more modern worship songs
• We have a kid’s worship leader
• We find the liturgy
• We have more lay leaders
• We improve our welcome
• We train sides-persons
• We create a welcome pack
• We decorate the porch
• We improve the entrance lighting
• We get advice from others
• We invite the children’s advisor to

speak to the PCC

• We visit All Saints and St Annes

We will attract more Young Families to Church WHEN

• We start a toddler group
• We find a leader
• We decorate the hall
• We recruit helpers
• We write policy and procedures
• We advertise
• We talk to baptism families
• We have monthly family services
• We have more modern worship songs
• We have a kid’s worship leader
• We find the liturgy
• We have more lay leaders
• We improve our welcome
• We train sides-persons
• We create a welcome pack
• We decorate the porch
• We improve the entrance lighting
• We get advice from others
• We invite the children’s advisor to

speak to the PCC

• We visit All Saints and St Annes

Act

• Action

– Empower owners – Share the workload

• Check

– PCC Meetings

• Celebrate

– Thank God for progress – Recognise efforts

Review Choose: Plan Act:

Prayer And Passion

The MAP Journey is a Cycle

• It is important to repeat the MAP journey,

because:-

– The Mission Action Plan should be regarded as a ‘Living Document’ – responsive to changing circumstances – Learning: The MAP process enables people to learn how to work together effectively

• The more you use it, the better it gets!

The MAP Cycle

Does it work?

Usual Sunday Attendance Trend

• 800
• 700
• 600
• 500
• 400
• 300
• 200
• 100

100 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Change in Numbers in Year Adults Children All

Blackburn Diocese

York MAP Study - Conclusions

• In all cases where the MAP principles are firmly

established, churches report overall growth

– Often in difficult key areas such as children and young people,

• r increased male membership.
• MAPs have helped hundreds of churches to look more

closely at how they are serving God, and what it means to be the Body of Christ in their local situation.

• The MAP process draws on the power of the Holy Spirit,

encouraging wider use of the gifts of discernment, wisdom, insight, understanding, faith, and knowledge.

Paul Wordsworth, Diocesan Missioner, Sept 2007

What do Parishes Think?

Blackburn diocese – 100 parishes surveyed

• Comments:

– 85% had positive storied about Mission as a result of MAP

• Suggestions

– Flexibility on cycle period – Acknowledge that some actions/priorities take years to complete – More sharing of stories – More proactive help and feedback from diocese

Stories about MAP to Share

• OUTREACH

– More community involvement – Making building available to community – Church in the PUB and the Little Acorn Shop – Outreach to industrial estate – PCC members prayer visiting – Focussed us on outreach – Outreach to men – Little Acorn Shop – Church now open on Sat morning for refreshments etc – Established young MU – Community food service – Furniture store – New pub congregation – Developed lay responsibility and community liaison – Weekend mission resulted in new members

Stories about MAP to Share

• Many more in the areas of:

– Worship – Prayer – Young People – Nurture – Building improvements – Growth in numbers – Innovative use of the MAP process

Leadership and Teamwork

• The PCC has overall responsibility for MAP work.
• The parish priest must be the leader.
• He/she needs the support of a team of leaders –

including those who are appointed to lead the work on each priority.

• These people should report progress to the PCC – at

least every two months, (This can be done on a rota basis)

• They should also lead their own team of people who are

the main action owners.

• Keep a check on workload – share it out.
• Communicate frequently to the wider congregations.
• The PCC should hold an annual away-day to review the

MAP work, and make changes to the MAP where necessary.

MAP Support

Published in paperback by SPCK £9.99 (Amazon £6.99) ISBN 978 0 281 06122 8 Published in paperback by SPCK £9.99 (Amazon £6.99) ISBN 978 0 281 06122 8