Strategic Planning and Tactical Planning: What’s the Difference?

I knew I was off to a bad start when I told the church group, “I don’t really believe in strategic planning anymore,” and a member of the group said, “But the pastor said we need a strategic plan for the future.”

Let me explain. In the past, many organizations (including churches) priding themselves on developing five-to-ten-year strategic plans. These plans were carefully printed and placed in handsome binders for future reference. The church invested time and energy in formulating these plans, but they often languished or were forgotten. Why?

Leadership, usually pastoral leadership, changed and the plan was forgotten.
The binder was placed on the shelf and never referenced.
Life happened (COVID-19, for example) and the plan was irrelevant.

I suggest that we think about strategy in a different way. The definition of strategy is “a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.” This is the big picture. In World War II, the strategy of the Allies in Europe was to mobilize military forces to defeat the German army and achieve total surrender by the German government. This is the big picture.

Tactics, on the other hand, is defined as “an action carefully planned to achieve a specific end” and “the art of disposing and maneuvering forces in combat.” In World War II, tactics involved gets troops on the beach, supporting their actions logistically, and defeating enemy units. This is the work in the trenches and hedgerows.

Generals do strategy. Captains, lieutenants, sergeants, and privates do tactics.

How does this apply to the church? I would argue that strategy in the church is embodied in the mission, vision, and values of the congregation. These are stable and change little, if at all, over time.

Mission answers the question, “Why are we here?’’ We may identify this as fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) or joining God in the missio Dei (the mission of God).

Vision is a picture of what we hope to become. For example, “Our church intends to be the presence of Christ in our community” or “To help people become more Christlike by Loving God, Serving Others, and Growing Disciples.”

Values define what is important to us. Some of these are clearly articulated, while others may not be defined or even recognized. These might be core disciplines or practices—God-honoring worship, relevant Bible study, effective community service, etc. Values tend to be stable over time, especially those that are rarely articulated.

If these define our strategy, what is left for us to do? Our primary work, I believe, is to come up with the tactics to pursue our mission, achieve our vision, and live out our values. The time frame for doing tactical planning is not five or ten years, but six months to a year. Given the volatile nature of our world, we must be agile and responsive to our context as it is rather than what it ought to be.

How do we exercise tactical planning? Let’s leave that to another post.

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