Ministry Action Plans (MAPs)

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

Equipper Team: Part of a pastor’s job description is to put together an annual Ministry Action Plan (MAP) for the congregation. A leader of a healthy church will ask the Avenue Champions to also put together MAPs for their area of responsibility. Not every MAP will look the same. While many of our pastors will follow the template we offer on our GCI resource page, which focuses on all three Avenues. An Avenue Champion may develop his or her MAP on a different format.

Following is a MAP Ceeja Malmkar, Love Avenue Champion for GC Surrey Hills, put together based on the Provision, Plan, Promise tool. We felt it worth sharing with you.

2022 Ministry Action Plan for GC Surrey Hills Love Avenue

Prepared By: Ceeja Malmkar, Love Avenue Champion Surrey Hills, Oklahoma, USA 

Ministry

The GC Surrey Hills Love Avenue is in the ministry of loving others. We are compelled by the love of Christ, and our heart is to join our neighbors in making an everlasting impact in our neighborhood. We do this the way Jesus did: through authentic and intentional relationship, inclusivity of church and community members, and displaying Jesus’ love by meeting our neighbors where they are within the rhythms of the community.

Action

The GC Surrey Hills Love Avenue will put our love into action through a series of neighborhood events, outreaches, and service projects. Each planned outreach will be put through the filter of the following questions:

• Does this outreach provide opportunities for church members to volunteer and serve?
• Does this outreach provide the opportunity for neighbors, community organizations, and others outside the church walls to join and serve?
• Does this outreach meet our target community where they are? Does it fall into the existing rhythms of the neighborhood/community?
• Is this outreach inclusive for children? Are we loving them well?
• How can we tie this outreach back to the life of the church?
• How can we inspire our neighbors and church members to participate?
• What kind of budget does this outreach need, and how do we invite others into financially participating?

Plan

This year I am going to try something new. I’m going to follow the Provision, Plan, Promise tool while planning our 2022 calendar. The idea is that we create a system and schedule of planning so that we don’t get overwhelmed and run short on time. The premise is to look ahead on our calendars and use the “provisional, plan, and promise” in preparing for important events on our calendar, all 4-5 months in advance.

Example: “Christmas in July” is an awesome kick-off to thinking about our Christmas events. It seems that every year after the fall festivals and trunk or treats, the holiday season begins, and many of us run out of time in our planning. Following the three P’s, Christmas planning would look like this:

• July—Provisional Meeting: This is a time for the team to dream out loud, come up with ideas, and brainstorm. This gives 30 days to get different opinions and filter your ideas to come up with a plan.
• August—Provision becomes Plan: This is the time for the team to put their plan on paper. They begin to discuss details and find the “gotchas” that could come up. This is a time to solidify dates and details, and to talk about advertising and promotion, etc. The team will have 30 days to tweak the plan and all the details.
• September—Plan becomes a Promise: This is the time where you set your plan in motion: work out all details, determine volunteer needs, assign projects and teams, create sign ups, etc. You should prepare all your graphics and promotions during these 30 days.

By following this type of calendar, we will be able to have an organized, well-thought-out plan for the year. This plan will give us 8-12 weeks before Christmas to prepare, create, and execute all the details laid out in the plan.

2022 GC Surrey Hills Love Avenue Meeting Calendar