I developed Discovering Your Church's Next Step (DYCNS) after talking with lots of church members about what would be helpful as they try to lead their church forward. Especially during times of transition, for instance, when a pastor leaves or retires, or when a significant change has occurred in the church, clarity and direction are vital.
"Strategic Planning" seems to be the default process for churches in times of change. What's funny is, talk to anyone who has done strategic planning in their church, paid for it, dragged their congregation through it, and many of them will roll their eyes. Too often it ends up being a handful of staff and or leaders, away on a weekend retreat who develop a plan, a mission statement and a need to sell the congregation on it. Too often the results go into a big notebook, given to an administrative assistant to keep handy when we need to refer back to it.
Enough of my rant. What DYCNS has going for it is:
Everyone in the church is invited to participate and have a voice.
The event takes half a day!
The congregation owns the outcome because they are the ones who developed it.
An environment of growth and grace is created that will be remembered for years.
Interested? Follow the link above for more information.