Write a great mission plan

Book your free tickets for our next mission planning conference

Having a mission plan is essential to the health of every Methodist church. On these pages, you will find everything your church, circuit or district needs to get started with mission planning. A good mission plan puts into words your hopes and dreams and shows how you will start making them a reality.

Your mission plan will be the result of a process of discerning together as a community, rather than something written by one person or by a small group. It’s not about adding lots more things to everyone’s to-do list: it’s about deciding what few things you will do well. Sometimes that will mean stopping a valuable activity so that a more important activity can happen. A good mission plan will ensure that you understand exactly why you are doing the things you are doing and what you hope God will achieve through them.

A simple eight-step process has been devised to guide churches and circuits in writing a great mission plan. A new edition of Our Church's Future Story, based on the eight-step process, is available from Methodist Publishing. You can also download a digital version here. The new edition guides your church or circuit through the process of discerning and writing a really useful mission plan from start to finish. The mission planning toolkit (below) offers additional resources which complement Our Church's Future Story. You can also check out some great examples of mission plans below, to give you inspiration, and get help with mission planning by booking a mission planning surgery.