Goals - Yes or No?

Dear Pastors

In sales they call them ‘targets’. In sport it is called ‘winning’. In senior years it is called a ‘bucket list’. Oh and in church they are called……….unnecessary or too hard or inconvenient………by some.

I have observed that churches are reasonably good at clarifying Mission and Vision Statements but goals for this year or next year or in three years, not so good.

To re-cap. A Vision Statement is about a dream, a desire, it is about what we want to become and what we want to achieve together. It is a picture of a preferred future. By definition then it is usually quite general in nature.

Goals on the other hand are very specific results or outcomes that you must achieve to help you achieve your vision. What I think typically happens at leadership and/or staff retreats is great brain storming sessions (plenty of fantastic ideas in the room), fervent prayer and the consuming of a fair amount of snack food but sadly it doesn’t always translate to clarifying a set of goals using the SMART¹ Goal outline. And if it is done it very rarely becomes a measure that is pulled out monthly to see ‘how we are tracking and what modifications should we be making?’.

What is the alternative? ‘Just do your best and leave the rest’. Doing your best is a good start but my understanding of scripture is that we are called to advance the Kingdom of God and simply doing your best may not achieve that. In fact let me put it a bit stronger. An absence of goals usually means we default to maintenance mode resulting in mediocrity. We all need clarity as to what it is we need to achieve. Goals are the mechanism for this.

When goals are agreed on, conversations change. Resources, time and energy are coalesced towards a common kingdom outcome. In my experience this is a very satisfying experience. Great goals do not have to be related to attendance and revenue only. But they should be measurable in some way and should be clearly connected to the vision and mission of the church or ministry.²

Let me wrap up with a couple of samplers that are not around the usual numbers based goals:-

Goal 1. To connect every at risk teenager in our youth group with a Godly mentor in our church.

Goal 2. To facilitate a fortnightly leadership development class with U40 year olds.

Goal 3. To partner with two community organisations that are helping people in great need.

Goal 4. To ensure that every marriage and family in our church will flourish.³

Wishing you all the best as you advance the kingdom of God in 2019, one goal at a time.

Blessings

Alan

¹ SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time lined.

² It is critical that there is alignment between Mission, vision and goals. If there isn’t alignment then effort is lost and confusion will reign.

³ Decide as a leadership group what ‘flourish’ might mean in your context.

Dr Crystal and Mark Kirgiss - Faith and Adolescence

The Church in NZ has struggled to ‘keep our Teens connected to Faith’ for a long time now. This tour will speak into this challenge with hope and encouragement for parents, pastors, youth workers, and to teenagers themselves. The keynote speaker will be Dr Crystal Kirgiss who is a published author and respected speaker on this subject.

Tickets now available.

Read more here

Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.