Growth planning timeline

ACTIVITY

Invite the whole church to pray for God to speak during this process.

Start a regular prayer meeting; hand out prayer cards; devote the next stewards’ meeting entirely to prayer; have a church prayer day, etc.

CARDS

Use cards 1, 2 or 3 at the start of any meeting throughout your planning process, or as part of a prayer meeting. Alternatively, use all three cards as part of a prayer day.

ACTIVITY

Have a series of one-to-one conversations with unaffiliated people (people who don’t have a religious faith and aren’t part of a faith community).

CARDS

Use card 4 to help you prepare for your one-to-ones. Use cards 11 and 12 to help you reflect on who you are hearing from and whose voices are not being heard.

ACTIVITY

Offer a series of opportunities to listen to church members, to review existing church activities and to consider your resources, such as buildings and finances.

Do not talk about your property at this stage.

If it comes up, gently explain that you will be thinking about your property together in a few weeks’ time.

CARDS

Use cards 6-10. If you have an hour, choose just one card and take time over the activity. You could repeat the activity at different times, to hear from a range of people

ACTIVITY

Offer a series of opportunities to gather church members together and consider:

• What is God saying to us through our property?
• Does its location offer opportunities to reach a particular people group?
• Does its condition present creative possibilities?
• Could it be easily refurbished to open up new missional uses?
• Is God saying that it is time to let go of a building that may be too expensive to repair, or in the wrong place?

Try to stay open to as many possibilities as possible, accepting and recording everyone’s views, including quieter voices.

ACTIVITY

Offer a series of opportunities for people in the wider community to come and share their views on your building. Offer meetings at different times of the day so as to include as many people as possible, and publicise them well in advance.

Ask:

• What do you appreciate about this building and the way it is used?
• What would you love to see us doing with this building?
• How would you change this building or the way it is used?
• What impact would it have on you if this building were sold?

ACTIVITY

Review together the things you are hearing, perhaps at a ‘growth day’.

Be clear that you are not making any decisions about your property yet.

CARDS

To show the thoughts and ideas that have been captured so far, put up flipchart paper on the walls, or spread them out on tables.

If you’ve not yet used it, card 6 will work well when there are lots of people gathered.

ACTIVITY

Offer a series of opportunities to dream together about your areas of growth focus for the next ten years.

At this stage, no idea is too impractical and nothing is ‘off the table’.

Encourage people to suggest possibilities both with and without your building. Explain that you are temporarily setting aside practical considerations, such as the financial cost of refurbishment, or the emotional cost of selling a building.

CARDS

Use cards 13-15.

If you have an hour, choose just one card and take time over the activity.

You could repeat the activity at different times, to hear from a range of people.

ACTIVITY

Ask the congregation to vote on the dreams and ideas that have been suggested.

Make it clear that they are NOT voting on what to do with the building, just on the ideas for your areas of growth focus for the next ten years.

You might choose two different areas of focus every year for ten years, but it’s possible you’ll need more time to develop each one. Alternatively, you might choose four or five areas of focus and give yourselves 2-3 years to develop each one.

Encourage people to keep in mind the things you have heard during the listening process: your community context, your church’s strengths and the resources you have available.

Notice which Methodist Way of Life stations relate most closely to the ideas with popular support.

CARDS

Use card 17 for ideas on creative ways to vote.

ACTIVITY

Gather together the church stewards, lay employees and the minister to prayerfully consider the results of the vote. It may not be immediately clear which priorities to choose, requiring further conversation and prayer.

Choose your areas of growth focus for the next ten years. Fill in the growth plan template, being sure to include specific actions for each of the next ten years.

Over ten years, it is highly likely that your plans will change and develop - that’s fine. You can carry on reviewing your plan regularly at your stewards’ meetings, Church Council meetings and General Church Meetings.

CARDS

Use cards 12 and 16 to help you evaluate your growth ideas.

Use card 18 to consider whether you could adapt existing activities.

Use card 22 to help you fill in your growth plan.

ACTIVITY

Share the ten-year plan widely with church members: during Sunday services, in newsletters, at special gatherings to talk about the future, on your website.

ACTIVITY

Gather together the church stewards, lay workers and the minister regularly over the next eight weeks. Now you know the growth plan for the next ten years, ask:

What does long-term sustainability look like for this Local Church with this building?

Long-term sustainability might mean one of these options:

• Carrying out the growth plan with the building you have, perhaps making repairs as needed.
• working with partners who rent part of the building, enabling you to carry on with your growth plan in the other part.
• developing a financial engine, such as a charity shop, to raise revenue.
• redeveloping your building to enable you to carry out your ten-year growth plan
• letting your building go and buying a new building
• carrying out your growth plan in a hired building or without a building.

Be careful: church buildings in communities where many people experience poverty are often the first to be sold. Your deep listening may have shown you that part of your growth plan must include finding a way to keep your building.

Explore what, if any, redevelopment may be needed

For example, reconfiguring rooms; installing a commercial kitchen or disabled access; creating housing.

Explore the partnerships you will need to carry out your growth plan and to ensure long-term sustainability

For example, working with a NPNP/CaM team, other churches, nonprofits that share Methodist Church values, a property developer.

ACTIVITY

Share your initial thoughts about long-term sustainability widely with church members: during Sunday services, in newsletters, at special gatherings to talk about the future and so on. Invite people’s feedback and record it carefully.

ACTIVITY

Gather together the church stewards, lay workers and the minister again. Now you’ve heard people’s feedback, ask:

• What does long-term sustainability look like for this local church with this building? Have we heard God right?

ACTIVITY

Share your decision about long-term sustainability widely with church members: during Sunday services, in newsletters, at special gatherings to talk about the future and so on. Acknowledge people’s feedback and respond to their concerns. Explain what will happen next.

ACTIVITY

Begin the process of making changes to your property that are needed – change of use, redevelopment if needed, sale, purchase of a new building

ACTIVITY

Review your growth plan, noting how much progress you have made with each action. Take the opportunity to troubleshoot any problems with putting the plan into action

ACTIVITY

Review your ten-year plan, noting how much progress you have made with this year’s actions.

Ask:

• How have you grown spiritually, missionally and numerically? Is there further work to do to develop this year’s growth focus? If your focus is working well and you have capacity, are you ready to move on to the next year’s growth focus?