Barnabas File

Time to face reality—strategic planning is dead. It has been for a long time, but few have been willing to acknowledge its demise. Things change too fast to develop a three, four, or five year plan of action. The environment, the markets, personal interests, and technology make it impossible to set specific goals for an unknown and unknowable future. I work with a consulting group that provides planning services for churches and not-for-profit organizations. When I first became part of the group, I was reluctant to call what I offered “strategic planning” because I realized the futility of promising anyone that you could help them come up with a hard and fast route to their desired future. We do a visioning process with our clients. You may say, “That’s still planning,” but it is more of a way of thinking that takes into account the realities of a changing world.  We need to be open to respond to opportunities that come our way unexpectedly.  We also must be ready t...

After the gift of the Holy Spirit, the primary resource that God has provided for the development of the church are the women and men who make up the people of God.   Each believer is a unique individual who has been called and gifted by God.   The challenge is to help each person discover how God has “wired them up” to serve. The writer of First Timothy provides this challenge: "Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” (1 Timothy 4:14-15 , NIV) The role of ordained and lay leaders is to call out, encourage, and empower all believers to be part of the mission Dei (the mission of God).  This is disciple development and it can be done in many ways.  The church has used various processes for growing disciples through its long history, but I suggest three that are particula...