Thursday, March 3, 2011

For Now - No New Ministries


1.) If a ministry does not fit into our current strategic plan (which is the weekend services, children, teens, outreach, the seminar system, and groups) we have to say no to the launching of any new ministries. We have identified these six areas as the most essential ministries to the health of Pace Community Church and will dedicate ourselves to them rather than diffuse our energy on a multiplicity of others.

2.) If a ministry does not fit into our current economic reality we have to say no. Money is tight and our emphasis is to cut expenses and cut the budget, not add to the expenses. Ministries cost money and using the building costs money, so we will say no to the addtion of any new ministires that require either. The only areas we will spend money on or incur expenses for are the six identified areas in our strategic plan. We have to be very frugal as wise stewards.

Look. We can’t do everything. We can’t implement every idea. We can’t authorize every kind of ministry that everyone is passionate about. It’s just that simple. To do so diffuses energy, siphons limited resources, and gets the church running off in too many directions at once. To combat this trend we will keep ourselves decidedly simple at PCC, limiting our ministries to about five or six areas only.

I have written about this at length before. Follow these links if you’d like to read more.

We Do Six Things at PCC

Does PCC Offer a (BLANK) Ministry?

Behind Every No is a More Important Yes

A Bloated Calendar Diffuses Energy

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

An Honest Evaluation

Additionally, we are repairing and trying to upgrade the six identified areas in our current strategic plan. We are being ruthless in this process. We want to ensure maximum effectiveness and optimal church health, so if we discover that a program is terminally we will put it out of its misery.

You can read about it here: Let Dying Programs Die.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's worth also mentioning that the items you identified are all that the current shortage of staff can handle.
There will be stronger economic times ahead when new initiatives can launch ... when every person who calls PCC their home faithfully supports their church with their whole tithe. Then we can add staff and launch new initiatives (that fit within the mission of our church).
Til then, we just tighten our belts like so many families are having to do to weather lean economic times.