Before You Start Something New

An article by Matt    2 Comments

We live in an obsessive world.  You may have noticed that every forty three seconds there is a new gadget, toy, or amusement available for us to acquire.  Whether it is a cell phone, media player, or e-reader there will be a new one by the time I am finished writing this post.  A while back Scordit created a helpful tool for all of us to use when deciding whether to get that hot new device:

As summer is winding to a close (sorry) the ministry year is about to begin again in earnest.  As we head into this season of business, we also find ourselves neck deep in church conferences.  In the 13 weeks between Labor Day and Thanksgiving there are twenty one regional and national conferences that I know of, and I am certain that there are many more that I haven’t received spam or junk mail about.  At each of these conferences there will be some discussion of the thing that will revolutionize your ministry at one point or another.  If I may be so bold, you may want to take this flow chart with you to those conferences.

I am not suggesting that you should not be open to innovation and change, I think that we as church leaders must be constantly asking how can we better serve our people, and better reach out to the world around us.  I believe that the gospel is important enough for us to be willing to forsake the things that make us comfortable in order to expand the Kingdom of God.  At the same time, I would encourage you to pray and soak on any changes that you are preparing to make.  I would suggest that you spend more time than you would like ensuring that any new program is adapted to fit your unique context, and that it aligns well with your vision.  Lastly, I would suggest that for any new program started, you end one that is no longer effective.  When you finally do start the new ministry, go BIG!  Celebrate it, cast a huge vision for it, and do it with excellence!

How do YOU decide what new things to do, or not to do in YOUR church?