Guidelines Family Ministries by Board Of Discipleship;

Author:Board Of Discipleship;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2016-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

From Desired Result to Strategy

After you have identified the results you hope to see, take time to brainstorm strategies you will use to get families involved. For example:

•Desired Result: “Families in our church will grow in faith through the seasons of Advent and Lent.”

•Strategy: Team will create and distribute Advent and Lent devotional guides, encouraging families to use them during each season.

•Evaluate: Take the time to gather information on the number of families that did receive and use the guides. Use online survey tools such as SurveyMonkey to poll your families and to ask how often they used the resources and how they used this process to grow in their faith. Ask families to share their stories: “How did you experience God during this time?” Keep these records and spread the word about the number of families whose lives have been affected by this action.

The “Family Ministries Planning Grid” (Family02-Planning Grid.pdf at www.UMOfficialResources.com/Guidelines) includes important information about goal setting. We will take another look at setting and reviewing goals later in “Evaluate Family Ministries” on page 21.

Recruit the team. For each event or activity planned, you will probably want leadership teams beyond your initial team. Achieving the results you seek may depend on who is recruited for leadership. Think first, not of people, but of skills, gifts, and experience. What is needed for this event? Who in your congregation or your community possesses these qualities?

If you serve a large congregation, you may be thinking: “This is easy enough for a small congregation, but we have 1,200 members!” Leaders in small congregations may ask: “Just where are the people we need going to come from?” In smaller congregations, think about people already engaged in similar ministry. Can you ask them to expand what they’re doing to encompass something new? In larger congregations, identify staff or key leaders who can help you know who might have the skills you seek. Sometimes a simple invitation—in worship or through the newsletter—for people to prayerfully consider if God is calling them to be in ministry with families will bring forth volunteers you might not have considered. Make sure to include a list of the spiritual gifts, skills, and experience you seek.

Approach those you are asking with a clear plan of action and how you see them contributing to the team to achieve the goals.

Put plans into action. Moving from plans to action is the sticking point for many congregations. One helpful way to begin to see what your plans might look like is to set deadlines for when certain things are to be accomplished. Use the suggested annual planning calendar on page 26 of this Guideline. As you move your plans into action, be specific about who will be responsible for each step of the plan; outside leadership; budget; materials for each step; and sites or rooms for specific programs, courses, or events. As you plan for your unique context, keep these resources and categories of ministry in mind.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.