“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu
When you sit with pastors or seminary professors, strategy rarely comes up in conversation. It’s often seen as a marketplace term or something consultants handle. But the truth is, strategy is at the heart of church leadership—and it’s exactly what I help churches create.
In my work with churches, I help leaders assess current ministry success and design pathways for growth—whether it’s through preaching, service design, small groups, giving, or digital channels. But it all comes down to strategy. Simply put, strategy is your church’s plan to accomplish its mission.
My Daughter’s Spinal Fusion Surgery
A few weeks ago, my 16-year-old daughter had spinal fusion revision surgery. As a parent, I was filled with anxiety, relying on both prayer and the expertise of her doctors. The surgeon, much like a church leader, had a clear mission: fix my daughter’s spine to relieve her pain.
Here’s what he did:
- Assess the current pain and problem
- Order diagnostic tests (CT scans, X-rays)
- Diagnose the cause
- Offer solutions
- Schedule the procedure
- Prepare us for the operation
- And on and on
Each step had a clear purpose connected to the mission. The goal was to relieve her pain by adding stability to her spine. Nothing was done “because we’ve always done it” or “because we can.” The Doctor designed a pathway that led to the desired outcome.
As a pastor or church leader, you also have a mission—but how strategic are you about accomplishing it?
How Strategic Is Your Church?
To assess your church’s health and plan for growth, I’ve compiled 29 strategic questions I use when facilitating planning workshops for churches. These questions will help you evaluate where your church stands and how to move forward.
Mission and Vision Questions
You can’t assess without a clear benchmark for success:
- What is our mission?
- Can we reduce our mission statement to eight words or less?
- What is our vision for our church and community?
- In three years, what must be true of our church?
Assessment Questions
Evaluate everything you do against your stated mission and vision:
- What are we doing well as a church?
- Where are our challenges or gaps?
- What external opportunities can we take advantage of?
- What external threats could hinder our progress?
- How are we measuring against our mission? How do we track spiritual growth (e.g., prayer, serving, generosity, discipleship)?
- Are our current metrics measuring our mission?
- Where do we see the most spiritual growth in our congregation (e.g., small groups, sermons, worship, outreach)?
- Where do we see stagnation or a lack of engagement?
- How effectively are our ministries discipling people at different stages of faith?
- Are our leadership and staff modeling the spiritual health we desire for the congregation?
- What do we hear from non-members about our church’s reputation and effectiveness?
Action Planning
Now that we know where we are, let’s plan where to go:
- What long-term (3-5 years) outcomes do we want for our church, and how do these align with our mission and vision?
- What short-term (1-3 years) goals will help us move toward our long-term objectives?
- What actionable steps (quarterly, annually) can we take to implement these goals?
- How will we measure success? What key performance indicators (KPIs) will we track?
- Who will own each goal? How will accountability be maintained?
Ministry Planning
Every ministry must align with the church’s larger goals:
- How can each ministry contribute to overall church goals?
- What ministry-specific goals should we set?
- Are there ministries that need to shift focus to better align with our mission and vision?
- How will we evaluate the effectiveness of each ministry?
Resource Planning
Finally, let’s ensure we have the resources we need:
- What resources (financial, human, facility) do we have, and how can we allocate them effectively?
- What additional resources do we need?
- How can we leverage our staff and volunteers to meet these goals?
- Are there ministries or initiatives where we need to reallocate resources?
- What’s our financial plan for growth and sustainability?
Next Steps
After assessing and planning, you’ll need to move into implementation, which is often the hardest part of the process. Too many churches create binders and PDFs that collect dust, never turning into actionable steps.
Strategy is science; implementation is art.
You’ll need to restructure your church to achieve your plan, create accountability through SMART goals, redesign systems, and track KPIs. Or, if you want help, hire someone like me to guide you through the process.
Here’s What We All Know…
If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting the same results. And in most cases, those results will eventually decline. No strategy lasts forever, and no ministry model should remain unchanged.
Take time before the end of 2024 to assess your church and plan for the growth you want to see in 2025.
Something To Consider…
My new book, The Ministry MBA: 10 Practical Courses to Lead a Thriving Church, comes out on November 1. I dedicate an entire chapter to Strategy. The book also covers topics like leadership, management, HR, economics, and finance. This book will help any church leader in any area of ministry of any size understand and lead better. I’d love for you to buy a few copies on Friday. I’m offering plenty of great free resources and bonus materials, too. You can register for them here.
One More Thing…
You’re probably aware of our Church Accelerator Community. All our Partners have unlimited access to our resource section, full of courses, frameworks, supporting documents, and our new Custom AI tools (Sermon Outline Creator, Sermon Evaluator, Small Group Question Writer, and more).
Partnership BEGINS AT $149, which gets you about $5,000 in resources. Don’t wait. Become a partner today.
Check out the Strategic Partner and Community Partner options if you’d like personalized coaching for you, a staff member, or your church. I limit the number of these options to maximize my investment in each church and pastor. Let me know if you are interested.
Leading With You,
Dr. Gavin Adams