In last month’s Equipper, Michelle Hartman wrote an article about the value of strategic planning retreats. See “Strategic Planning Best Practices” here. To get you started, here is an example outline of what an annual strategic planning retreat could look like.
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Retreat Goals:
- Identify two provisional ministry goals for the upcoming year.
- Create a provisional ministry activity calendar that supports these goals.
Participants Invited: total = 10
- Avenue champions (3).
- One member from each Avenue team – invited by the champion (3).
- Three “people of peace” neighbors/neighborhood partners (3).
- Pastor (1).
Preparation:
- All participants will review congregational vision, mission, core values before retreat.
- All participants will be provided with retreat goals & schedule before retreat.
Sample Schedule
Friday 12pm to Saturday 5pm
| FRIDAY: “Where are we?” & “Where are we going?” | |
| 12 pm – 1 pm | Lunch |
| 1 – 1:30 pm | Devotional |
| 1:30 – 2 pm | Retreat Welcome:
· Review purpose of retreat · Establish group norms of engagement |
| 2 – 3 pm | Group Reflection: where are we? |
| Spend this time reflecting on the congregation’s current ministry rhythms. You may consider using a tool like SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), team examen, 5 Ds, or another process familiar to your team.
Consider questions such as: · Where do we see God at work? What are our strengths? · What ministry rhythms have been fruitful this year? · What gaps in ministry are most in conflict with our vision, mission, and core values? |
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| 3 – 3:30 pm | BREAK |
| 3:30 – 5 pm | Group Discernment: where are we going? |
| Spend this time discerning where God is working in your midst and where he may be leading the local congregation to participate. You may choose to continue using the tool/process you used for the “where are we” session (SWOT, team examen, 5Ds, etc.).
Note: Where we are going may be informed by where we are, but it is not defined or restricted by where we are. Consider questions such as: · What would it look like to boldly live our vision, mission, and core values in our neighborhood? What opportunities may God be presenting us to do this? · Where do our assets/strengths connect with neighborhood desires/needs? Session objective: Identify two provisional team/congregational goals that describe “where we are going.” |
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| 5 pm | Group Fun Activity & Dinner |
| SATURDAY: “How do we get there?” | |
| 9 – 9:30 am | Devotional & Worship |
| 9:30 – 10 am | Review Day 1 – What are the 2 provisional goals that describe where we are going in the coming year? |
| 10 – 12 am | Group Brainstorm & Idea Generation |
| Use this time to brainstorm ways we might move from where we are to where we are going. What ministry activities will help us go where God is leading us? How might we faithfully participate in God’s ministry in our neighborhood this coming year?
Define this as a brainstorming space: è Allow for creativity. è Approach with a posture of possibility vs. impossibility. è New ideas are okay. è Incomplete ideas are okay at this stage, too. Consider questions such as: · What connections do we see between our strengths & ministry opportunities? · What types of activities connect well with our neighbors? · What rhythms are already established in our neighborhood that we can join? · What’s something we’ve always said we wanted to do but have always been too scared? |
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| 12 – 1:30 pm | Lunch |
| 1:30 – 3 pm | Bringing Focus to Ministry Activities |
| Use this time to bring focus to the ideas generated.
Consider questions such as: · What ministry activities are most aligned with our vision, mission, core values, and annual goals? · What ministry activities do we have the capacity and appropriate resources for? · What ministry activities are most relevant to our neighbors? |
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| 3 – 4 pm | Create Provisional Ministry Calendar |
| Use this time to outline a provisional ministry calendar for the upcoming year.
Consider questions such as: · How do the identified ministry activities flow with the worship calendar? · Where do the identified ministry activities best fit within the neighborhood rhythms? · How can the ministry activities be scheduled in a way that builds synergy between the Avenues? |
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| 4 – 4:30 pm | Debrief |
| Use this time to debrief the strategic planning retreat:
· What remaining questions do we have? · What was most life-giving? · What should we do differently next time? |
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| 4:30 – 5 pm | Next Steps |
| Bring clarity to next steps.
· The goals & calendar outline during planning retreats are provisional. Pastor and Avenue champions will have follow-up meetings to review and confirm goals & calendar. The TMAP will then be detailed and submitted to supervisors. · Once the TMAP is finalized, Avenue champions will begin to work with Avenue teams to plan ministry activities for the year. Build Avenue action plans and IMAPs as appropriate. |
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