While planning is extremely important, there is danger in spending years talking and ultimately never starting anything. So get started!
Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes failure is the best tool for re-focusing and finding a better way forward. It’s an opportunity to learn and start again.
Here are some ideas to help you stick at it:
Get your team together regularly to talk, eat together, plan and pray. If you generally meet together for other business anyway (eg. a church council) try and set aside time in your regular meetings, or every few meetings, to ensure you're progressing
Create short videos to share with your congregation or take lots of photos and share them, asking people to pray with you and for you, and to support the plan wherever they can.
Share these on your Facebook page or website and with the Presbytery to encourage others.
Share the good things that are happening in your Sunday services!
Be honest about the challenges and what opportunities the challenges may open. Use these opportunities to refine your project and planning.
If resources are hindering you from implementing your plan, speak to Thrive or the Presbytery Minister Mission about how we or the Mission Resourcing Committee can assist you.
From time to time, honestly and fairly review the Mission Plan and its effectiveness against the timeline and budget. This would typically be annually, with a more substantial review where you revisit some of the previous process every 3 years. We suggest putting this in your church council calendar.
Ask open questions like: How could we have improved this? Do we still have a sense that God is calling us in this direction? What have we learned together? Who is willing to ask others to explore future options?
Look to the future: Who is willing to explore future options? What and who do we need to continue sharing in mission?