How Sticky is Your Ministry Plan?

My family and I recently returned from a week away, and I’ve got to say, there’s a big difference between weekend getaways and summer vacations.

It’s fun to grab a weekend and go on an excursion as a family. Spontaneously stepping outside the normal routine to reconnect can do wonders for relationships. No plan needed. No significant prep required. Get in the car and go; just be back before work or school starts on Monday morning!

On the flip side, summer vacations take much more forethought. It’s wise to get additional input before landing on a location. There are decisions and details to map out. Money needs to be saved and reservations made. Even if you’re goal is to relax when you arrive, a lot of work happens on the front end for the plan to thrive.

As much as I enjoyed experiencing the benefits of our family vacation plan, I noticed something else that I believe applies to a ministry plan as well:

Successful plans are sticky – they’re achievable, memorable, and shareable.

• Achievable: We knew where, when, how, and why we were going on our trip. And, different from a weekend getaway, we thought about and talked up our summer vacation for months.

• Memorable: Each of us was emotionally invested in being away from home to be together somewhere else. We all committed to engaging in the fun even if we weren’t 100% sold on everything we did together.

• Shareable: As our departure date got closer, we shared our hopes with each other more and more. Our family’s anticipation was palpable and it was hard for to keep our excitement to ourselves.

At Awana, we are committed to equipping leaders to reach kids and engage them in lifelong discipleship. We have a strategic ministry plan in place so this will happen in increasing ways year upon year. If what we strive for today isn’t on target and sustainable, getting off course can happen in a heartbeat.

In your church, children’s ministry, or Awana club, what plan do you have on paper today so that you will effectively equip leaders to reach kids and families this year? How will you describe and pass along your plan to the people who help it becoming a reality in the future?

Here are three questions with practical tips to ensure your ministry plan is strategic, sustainable, and most of all…sticky.

How achievable is our ministry plan this year?

Keep your plan simple and set it in motion early. How is God leading you to reach more kids, families, leaders or all three? Will you build on or redirect from last year’s strategy? Get focused so you know what you will prayerfully and actionably accomplish in the next 12 months. Come up with a goal that you can work toward and measure. Stretch yourself and your team, but don’t spread yourself so thin that you lose heart and give up. Here are some examples to get you thinking:

• Equip kids with new resources to invite 20% more friends to outreach events.
• Provide three classes each quarter to encourage parents as spiritual leaders.
• Train ten key leaders at church to disciple kids and youth relationally.
• Serve twenty kids with special needs so they can fully experience Awana.

How memorable is our ministry plan this year?

Make sure the plan draws people in on multiple levels. Capturing the mind without seizing the heart rarely changes lives. Make sure your ministry plan resonates intellectually and emotionally so it’s inviting at a deeper level. Whatever you decide to pursue in working with children and youth, make sure it’s clear enough to remember. People need to be able to articulate where you’re going together. Imagine parents and leaders in your ministry finishing statements like these:

• I love our Awana club. This year we’re recruiting twenty leaders to help kids know, love, and serve Christ for life!
• Our children’s ministry is finding fresh ways to partner with parents so they don’t feel alone as spiritual examples at home.
• We believe every kid is on a discipleship journey, so we’re inviting two children to share their testimony every time we meet.

How shareable is our ministry plan this year?

Create ways to pass the plan on to others naturally. What we care about is what gets shouted from the rooftops. If it’s complicated, we’re more prone to silence. If it’s clear and captivating, we’ll likely tell the world. Find ways to put the message in front of people in ways they can spread the word easily. Leverage posters, postcards, t-shirts, water bottles, whatever it takes, as batons to communicate your strategic plan. If your budget is tight, create great catch phrases and use them often to raise the value you’re promoting this year. Check out these shareable slogans:

• Reaching Kids: Anytime, Anywhere
• Leader of Leaders // 2 Timothy 2:2
• Bringing Hope Home – Serving Families

While children’s and youth ministry isn’t all fun and games, a ministry year that’s more like a family vacation is way better than just surviving week to week. When plans are sticky, they are achievable, memorable, and shareable. There’s no perfect solution to making sure ministry is successful. But, you can take strategic steps in order to be as effective as possible. Communicating your ministry plan is a critical component of this process so that the coming year will see more lives impacted for Christ.

So, what is your ministry plan this year and how sticky is it?