This is the third of five articles on how to plan ahead. In fact, if you follow what I’m lining out, you should be able to plan out a year in advance. Not many churches can get ahead like that and stay ahead. I know you can do it, though, by taking some key, strategic steps.

I had the opportunity earlier in the year to join a few pastors for a leadership intensive with Perry Noble. No matter what you think of Perry, you cannot deny the impact that he and NewSpring Church has had on the kingdom. One of the questions that was asked was how does he and his teaching team know what to address. In other words, how do they know what topic to preach about Sunday after Sunday. I loved Perry’s response…

“We’re simply answering the questions the people in our church are asking.”

Pastor: Let’s be honest. How many times have you preached a message simply because you heard someone else preach a similar message and you thought it was cool? How many times have you planned out a message series because you saw another church do something similar? How many times did that strategy flop?

So, here’s what I did. I came back home and began to research those questions. I believe what I came up with is a list of critical questions that will guide you as to what topics to talk about, what kind of message series you should be doing, and what kind of events and seminars you should be planning. The first time I used these questions with my staff, IT WAS AMAZING to see what came out of it. Are you ready? Here we go…

What are our people’s biggest source of pain?
What keeps them awake at night?
What scares our people?
What is the biggest danger they might not even see yet?
What are their greatest opportunities?
Do they have opportunities they might not know about yet?
What are their hopes and dreams?
Who or what do they aspire to be?
How can our church positively impact the people in our church?
How can their lives look differently because of our church?
What will it cost our people should they not accept the transformation we know they need?
What kind of pain and/or frustration will our people experience should they not accept the transformation we know they need?
What could our people miss out on?
Who can our people become as a result of our church?
What have we learned about our people by asking the previous questions?

Okay, so I know that a few of those are very similar. In fact, I’m guessing that many of your answers from question to question may be the same. AND THAT’S THE KEY! That’s what you’re looking for. The first time my staff worked through those 15 questions, the direction we needed to take our church became clear as day.

Here’s what I want you to do. Print out that list of questions. Gather your key pastors/staff. Get some of those giant, sticky Post-It Notes, and begin answering those questions. Later this week, I’ll tell you how to begin putting everything together.

Be Blessed!

Scott

PS. If you missed the first two articles on Strategy & Planning, check them out here…

Article 1: General overview of the strategy planning process. Click HERE.

Article 2: 4 steps to critiquing this year of ministry. Click HERE.

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