Feel like your church or ministry is stuck? You are trying to take your ministry to the next level but it’s been in a plateau for a while. If that’s your church, then these five questions are for you. Pastor Rick Warren shared these at the Purpose Driven Conference (PDC) in June 2016. These are questions to help you and your ministry get unstuck and go to the next level.
-
How can we improve people’s lives? This question asks how your church can meet the needs of your people. It’s going back to the basics of knowing your audience and adding value to their lives. This applies to both in the church and community. Take an inventory of your key leaders, members and neighbors. See where you can serve and help people in your church and community.
-
What do we want most desperately and why do we want it? The “why” is more important than the “what” and “how.” God looks at your heart and the motivations behind it. Why do you want your church to grow? Why do you want more programs/ events or people? What’s the reason behind it and will God be pleased?
-
Where can you take a bold risk that will need faith? Complacency develops when you have the mindset that “I’ve made it.” Complacency will kill your ministry’s health and growth. Ministry at every level requires bold risk and bold faith. It not does matter the size and location of the church. You’ll need to take courageous steps and have radical faith in God. Some ways to have bold faith is by finding where you can be the first to something (technology, strategy, location). Another way is seeing where you ministry can be the best at something or how you can be unique and different. These require faith and bold action.
-
What barriers do we need to remove? There are two types of barriers. The first is your personal and mental barriers. Where are you finding yourself making excuses or justifications to not do something? The second is structural barriers. What organizational structures or processes have you placed that you can remove? They may be hurting more than helping.
-
What could you stop doing to start something new? If you are going to start something new then you need to stop doing something. You can’t just keep adding more programs or events, and expect to be good at everything. That’s a recipe for burnout. What good thing do you need to stop so that you can start the best thing? This can be difficult and will require courage and faith, but the fruit may be exponential.
Leave a Reply