Individuals set resolutions as they cross into a New Year.
We can also refer to these resolutions as goals and it isn’t just individuals that should set them, churches aren’t left out. Setting new goals for your church in the New Year helps to bring positive change.
It is one thing to set goals, it is another to set them efficiently. In this post, we will show you how you can set goals for your church for the New Year. Let’s get started.
Setting Goals for your Church for the New Year
It is natural for ministry leaders to be goal-driven. Will there be blind spots? Of course, but working with a team to set your goals helps you to be more effective and efficient. Below are five ways to set practical and achieve goals for your church for the New Year.
Be honest
The first step to setting new goals is “being honest.” When we talk about honesty here, we mean being honest with yourself and your congregation. What are the problems your congregation is facing? Which issues held you back over the last year? What do you think that you can improve on?
These are just a few questions that you must provide honest answers to. With these honest answers, you can tell what you need to fix and devise objective strategies. You probably set goals when entering the current year and didn’t meet them. Being honest tells you what you should do in the New Year not to make the same mistakes.
Be SMART with your goals
Now that you know what your challenges are and have a few strategies, you should set SMART goals. By SMART we mean “Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.”
By “specific,” we mean that you should know what exactly you want to fix and set goals in this regard. There’s no need to beat about the bush with your goals. For example, if you need to increase your church’s income, you must teach more about giving.
Your goals need to be measurable so that you can track progress. As such, you should have benchmark numbers for each goal. The goals must be realistic. For example, you shouldn’t set a target of 100 new members if you are a small church of just 25 members currently. That goal is not achievable except by a miracle.
Finally, have a specific timeframe for each goal. Such markers help you to track progress as well so that you know whether you are meeting your targets or not.
Set your initiatives
The goals that you set for the New Year are likely going to be large projects. One way to achieve such goals is to set initiatives that will help you achieve them. Setting initiatives means splitting your goals into smaller modules and figuring out strategies that will make them achievable.
Here’s a small example to drive home this point. Let’s say you want to increase your attendance by 50 members in the New Year. What do you need to do to achieve this goal? Here are some initiatives you can adopt:
- Encourage congregants to invite new people to church during each service.
- Become more prolific in publicizing your services.
- Use social media to advertise your services.
- Connect with first-timers at most 48 hours after services.
- Delegate a follow-up team to reach out to first-timers.
All these small steps will lead you towards achieving your goal of 50 members at the end of the New Year.
Communicate your goals
When you set goals for your church, they aren’t just for you as the ministry leader. Proper church administration requires you to communicate the goals to your church leaders and congregants. You can do this using several means including your ChMS, social media platforms, text messages, etc.
Be as transparent as you can with your goals. When you do this, the recipients of your message see themselves as stakeholders in the project. With this, it will become a team effort, and achieving your goals should be easier.
Conclusion
That’s it for how to set goals for your church for the New Year. What other strategies do you know? Share them with us in the comments section. Also, check out ChurchPad for features to improve your church communication and planning in the New Year.