Planning for Sustainment Within an Organization
Yesterday I started a conversation about ministry evaluation. I was making the point that because of the rapid growth we have experienced at Grace Community Church the last 4 and half years, we may not know it if there were problems within our structure. (You can read and discuss the content of that post HERE. You probably need to read that post to understand this one.)
I think where I have landed, at least for now, is that bigger than the issue of evaluation, is the issue of continuance. The fact is that I really do believe growth is occurring in individual lives, not just in the total numbers of people. We are accomplishing our objective to “make growing disciples of Jesus Christ”. I still want to consider ways to validate that belief, and I have some ideas I’m working on there, but the key word for me now is sustainability. I want us to be able to continue doing what we’ve been doing.
This week I emailed the staff this question:
If you were to disappear, how would your ministry continue to thrive at the level it is thriving today, and even improve? What is your plan for sustainment?
My first thoughts are that as the church continues to grow we may need to learn to:
- Delegate faster – To spread the workload
- Broaden our information base – Get more ideas on the table…more thinkers.
- Take even greater risks – in people and resources…
- Prepare more leaders – Through leadership development in the church, not just among the staff.
These are just initial thoughts. It takes me weeks to work through thoughts most times. I will encourage us to discuss these thoughts as a staff in the weeks to come. Thankfully, we have an amazing team of leaders and they are better thinkers than me most days. My personal goal is to see that the energy, vision, and momentum they have brought to our church continues.
What do you think? Do you see the issues here for us as a relatively new, fast-growing organization? I would love your input. What thoughts does yesterday’s and today’s posts trigger about your organization?
How does your church or organization plan for sustainment? Or does it?
