Video Transcript: Stewardship, Part 2

Well, hello, my name is Ben Ingebretson. And this is the second in a three part  series on raising funds and developing stewards for a new church start. We're  working in this session, beginning with the question and the issue of developing  a strategic plan. How do you develop a strategic plan? Let me just take a step  back and review the first session. So we understand the foundation from which  we're working. In our first session, we underscored the fact that what the Bible  says about stewardship becomes a foundation that if we keep it in our thinking,  clearly, it provides the motivation and the clarity to grow people as givers and as  stewards. See, Scripture reminds us that when we when we ask another person  to make a gift to our ministry, we aren't asking them to part with their money. We aren't asking them to give up something that belongs to them. We're asking  them to acknowledge that God's the rightful ruler and the owner of all things.  And that, that by giving, they are acknowledging that it doesn't belong to them,  but that they are temporary owners temporary, excuse me, managers of that  which God has placed into their hands. Did you notice I already slipped, and I  used the word owner, that comes so easily to all of our thinking. And so the last  point that we underscored in the first session was that the stewardship is a  learned behavior, that growing people as givers and and as stewards requires a  consistent, a fairly consistent effort on the part of you, the church planter, it  requires a fairly consistent effort to stimulate their thinking about God's rightful  ownership of all things, a fairly consistent effort on your part, to stimulate them to think of themselves as managers, not owners. And then, to give them the  opportunity to give to your ministry is a result of that clarity of biblical thinking.  So, on that foundation, we're going to think for a few moments now in this  lecture on how to develop a strategic plan. And let me tell you why this is  important. Strategic planning is important for your ministry. Because first of all,  very few people are eager to give to the past. The past is a way of referring  perhaps to an old debt, that your ministry may have. The past is a way of  thinking about responsibilities, financial responsibilities that you may have, from  the past. And very few people are eager to give to those things. I a number of  years ago had to work with a congregation that had a lot of debt. And they had a very difficult time raising the money to pay off that old debt. People just are not  excited about that at all, you've probably experienced the same. At the same  time, some will be interested in and responsive to the needs of the present. And  by that I mean the operational expenses of a day to day ministry. Some will be  responsive to the needs for the various expenses that are part of your ministry  day in and day out. But most people will be engaged by the dream of a future.  Here's where the excitement will come to give. Here's where the the opportunity  will come to grow people significantly as givers to say that God has a vision for  us. And we have a sense of direction from the Lord. And this is the pathway that  we would like to take and would you Join us, and would you become a partner  with us in giving. So strategic planning is important for that primary reason of 

drawing on people's excitement and enthusiasm for the future, and what God  might be doing in the future and their capacity to be a part of that through their  giving. So we're going to talk about mission and vision and values. But strategy  is really the key piece that this particular training session is focused on. So let's  talk about strategic planning. Strategic planning, is really a recognition that  where are we now? is easy to answer. I can fairly easily describe where I am  right now, in the ministry, God has granted me to serve. But where do I want to  be? Now that's a little bit a little bit more challenging of a question. Where does  God want my ministry to be in 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 years from now? What is that vision  for the ministry that I'm leading? Or that I'm serving? And then the real question  is, how are we going to get there? The first question is easy. Where are we  now? The second question may be a bit more difficult. Where do we want to be? But it's an exciting question. The third question is a tougher question. How are  we going to get there? How are we going to move from where we are today to  where we want to be in the future? I would encourage you, if you have the  capability to pause this training at this point. And just take some time and fill in  the answers to those first two questions. And then let me help you walk through  the process for that third question, how are we going to get there? So here are  the key strategic planning ingredients, the right ingredients, every strategic plan, needs to have a clarity around the mission. Every strategic plan needs to have  clarity around the mission. And the mission of your organization has been given  to you. You don't need to come up with that one. You don't need to to spend a lot of time wondering about that. Jesus said in Matthew 20:18 20:28, he says,  There's 18 to 20. He says, Go though, go now and make disciples of all nations.  So the mission has been given to you. The vision, however, is unique to your  situation. The vision is unique to your opportunity. What's the vision that God  has given to your ministry? I worked with a congregation a while back. And they  came to recognize that their vision would be to plant a new church, in a new  community a few miles away. And with that clarity, of vision, that clarity that their  congregation would be a church planting church, that was their vision, that they  would be a church planting church. With that clarity of vision, they were able to  move forward. I worked at another church a number of years ago, quite a few  churches that are similar to this one. And they simply were recognizing that their vision was to reach the young families of a community with the gospel of Christ.  And that the young families of that community were a certain kind of family. They had certain qualities and certain characteristics that made that made them up.  And so that was their vision to reach those people. What is your vision? What's  the uniqueness of your situation and the challenge that God has placed before  you One way of thinking about that, that word vision is, what would your  preferred future look like in 3, 4 or 5 years from now. And for many of the  churches I work with, it's that they would have successfully planted a new  church, amongst a particular target group, amongst a particular group of people.

So when you have clarity on your vision, you can then begin to go forward.  When you have clarity on the vision that God has, before you the mission field,  God has before you the unique target that God has placed before you, and what that will look like in 3 to 5 years, perhaps plant a church, perhaps, launch a  much stronger sense of ministry presence in the community. I worked with a  congregation a number of years ago, and their vision as they were an older  church, most of the attenders had grown much older, and they recognized that,  that their ministry needed to change. And so they even had a vision, that they  were going to be a church, that the young people in their community loved to  attend. That was their vision. As a result of that clarity of vision, they developed  some core values, they began to value some practices in their ministry, they  began to VAC values and things that were new and fresh, they began to value  younger folks stepping up into leadership roles. They valued a variety of things  in a new way, as they sought to accomplish their vision. They identified some  key result areas. And they recognized that they needed to, to have a fresh look  in their, in their music. And in their worship. They recognized that they, they  needed to see some leadership development amongst young people that hadn't  been happening in the past. And so and so from that clarity around their vision  that they were going to be a church that young people in their community love to attend. From that clarity of their vision, they were going to reach the young  people, they were going to reach the young people in their community, that that  granted, then help them with their core values and help them with some key  result areas. It helped them think about some strategies and some tactics and  some methods. That is to say that they began to understand that they needed to hold certain kinds of events. They they needed to, to spend their money in  certain kinds of efforts. They recognized that they needed to give priority to  certain kinds of activities. In this particular town, a lot of lot of single parents with children. And so they recognized that they needed to develop a ministry for  those children. So that as those children grew, they would first of all, the church  would be a blessing to those single parents. And as a result of that become a  blessing to the children and the children would then become involved in a life  following Christ, along with, hopefully their parents. So that then led to some  clarity on time frames, that, that there would be some goals and some dates by  which they would initiate some programs and by which they would make some  efforts. They would develop a budget, they would get some clarity on what it was going to cost them to do some of the ministries that they were hoping to do, to  reach young people, and then that they would evaluate their progress, that their  goal was a 3 year goal, that their church would be a church that young people in their community loved to attend. That was their vision, but they were going to  evaluate that every year to see how they were doing and to see what they could  do to improve. Now, I have to tell you, that with that clarity of a strategic plan,  this congregation was able to challenge people to give to the future to give to 

what God was going to do to reach their community. In the future. See a vision is outwardly focused. A strategic plan is outwardly focused. It directs the resources and the energy And the time and the talent and the treasure of the congregation  out into the harvest. And so that strategic plan was very effective in stimulating  

people to give. See, many of us have lots of lots of activities we need to do, and  to launch our new ministry, and so I've placed up before you a timeline exercise. Here's one way of thinking about strategic planning. I've listed a bunch of  activities that many new church starts need to perform. And that could include  purchasing equipment or blessing the community or recruiting volunteers or  finding a worship leader, training small group leaders, sharing our vision with  100. People evangelizing preparing our teaching discipling, forming a prayer  team, meeting local leaders, forming a leadership team signs and invitations,  there's so many things are involved in launching a new church. And perhaps  that's where you're at as you listen to this. Strategic planning is about organizing all of that on a timeline. And saying this is today. And tomorrow is the launch,  what is your strategic plan for you to launch your ministry to launch a new  church start? Or maybe this timeline exercise isn't exactly right for you. Maybe  your list of to dos is a different list of to dos than the list I've posted. But you still  have a list of to does. What would that list of to dos look like if it were laid out on  a timeline. And that list of to dos led you towards the vision that God has given  you. Strategic planning is about that. It's about getting clarity about that. It's  about designing that. And whenever that design is clear, and you can share it,  that will be a prompt, and encouragement to people to give, because they see  that you are leading the ministry. It's not just enough to show up, you have to  have a business plan. That's a cartoon, I don't oftentimes use cartoons in these  training sessions, but that one I had to include for today. So for you, perhaps  you're in this phase of launching a new church start your strategic plan could  simply include the broad strokes of gathering people. And then and then having  preview services as you begin to have public worship, and then launching your  new church start. And I've given lots of details in that prior slide and what that  could look like. Strategic planning really requires the right process. And it says,  you know, what are the negotiable points? I mentioned earlier, that the mission  that God has for you is not negotiable. Go make disciples. But the vision is what  exactly does going look like for you and your ministry? If you go successfully, if  you go faithfully, if you go as Christ would have you go? What's that going to  look like in 3 to 5 years? God being your helper, God, granting us his blessing.  What will that going look like for you and your ministry? So then the question is,  how will you communicate that plan to your stakeholders, or your your  committed people? And how will you communicate that plan to people that are  not yet committed committed to your ministry? See, once you have a strategic  plan, you have to communicate it to two groups. You have to communicate to  the people that are committed to you. And you have to communicate with people

that aren't yet committed to you. And then who should join you in the process of  developing your Strategic Plan. There are elements of that process that you will  do alone. There are also elements that you will do with others. And as a result,  it'll be a better strategic plan. The more your church plant grows, the more you  need to grow, buy in to your planting, strategic plan. The more your ministry  grows, the more you have to develop others as close partners in the future  vision of your plan, and your ministry. So that means that as you do strategic  planning, first of all, you don't just do it once you do it time and time again, over  the lifespan of a ministry. I oftentimes recommend that if a ministry has not done  a strategic plan, in 2 or 3 years, after 2 or 3 years of work, it's probably time for a new strategic plan. Because strategic plans, go out of date, things change. By  God's grace, you accomplish the vision. And now he gives you a new vision for  the ministry. You don't want to do a strategic plan several times a year, that  would not be wise, it would suggest that you're not clear and focused in your  ministry. But you nor do you want to do a strategic plan so infrequently that  people wonder if you have a plan at all. So it's important to do a strategic plan  from time to time, usually every 2 or 3 years, is about 2 to 5 years, perhaps at  the most is the frequency for a strategic plan. Strategic planning is best done in  the beginning, before you've made any commitments at all, get a few few of the  closest partners that you have together and take time to work on your plan. It  can be done annually as part of your budget process, as you step back and say,  This is our strategic plan, do we need to make any small changes to it, and  thereby understand the resources that we're going to need in order to carry it  out. And then certainly, after any major change, a positive or negative change,  after any major shift in the ministry after certainly after you've accomplished your goal. The story I was sharing earlier about a congregation that wants to be a  place where young people in their community love to attend that church.  Whenever the day comes when they're flooded, and they've got a a new wave  of young people involved in the ministry and leading the ministry, and, and  involved in the ministry and new followers of Christ, young adult followers of  Christ, they're going to need a new strategic plan, because they will have  accomplished the vision that God has given them for their community. So what  do what to do with your strategic plan to live it weekly, to let it guide your  schedule to use it weekly, as a measurement of progress to use it weekly to  align resources and to help you set priorities and then to use it to share your  vision. Because remember, very few people want to give to the past. A few  people will give to the present. But most people will be enthusiastic about giving  to your vision to your strategic plan that God has given you strategic planning is  important because and here it is that people want to give to your vision. Now,  let's move on to the second part of this two part lecture, which is what I'm calling building block number two leading change. How to move people from here to  there. When you have a clear strategic plan and when you begin to cast a vision

for your ministry, there's going to be some change, that's going to happen. But  there's also going to be change that occurs when people begin to hear you,  asking them to make a contribution to your ministry. And so I like to think about  change on those two levels. Change is hard. Very few people like to change.  They don't like to change in most areas of life. We talked about this scale in our  last lecture. It's the change process. In one sense of the term as people are  moving, as we talked about earlier, from an egocentric understanding of their, of  their relationship to their finances, that it's all about them. And to a sociocentric  understanding of their finances, that it's all about them, to a Godcentric, that it's  all about God, that belongs to God, that one day, we'll be holding accountable  for our resources before God. Now, that is a big change. That's an enormous  change. In thinking, and in living, I've included excuse me, I've included some  additional ideas about that process of change in the diagram there that I hope  you can see that the relationship that people oftentimes have towards giving is  initially one of to begin with of fear, the fear that that what will I lose, if I actually  begin to give some of my resources for the sake of Christ? Will my life become  vulnerable, because I have given away that which I was counting on, to help me  pay for the expenses I have. So fear is a very common emotion. And the second emotion that people begin to experience is experience of guilt. Well, I, I feel  rather guilty about the way I've been treating the finances that God's entrusted  to me, I now understand that it belongs to him. But I, I've not been living that  way. And so I'm embarrassed about it, I feel guilty about it. That's, that's  oftentimes the second way that people begin to think about their relationship  towards towards their money. The third step is what I call social obligation. That  when people begin to give, initially, they give out of a sense of duty, it's my  responsibility. I'm a part of this church, and I now really ought to give something  because other people are giving also. That's social obligation. When people give because they're out of a sense of fear, or guilt, or social obligation. They're really paying in their minds. They're paying for the experience of spiritual formation of  church that they're having. It's not much different than paying to go to see a  movie, or paying to, for some other entertainment, or some other experience.  People feel like they're getting something in exchange for what they're paid. As  they begin to mature, they move into an understanding that there is a sense of  social satisfaction, a sense of blessedness to give, and, and then a sense of  obedience, that they're being obedient to Christ and then a sense of worship.  That in giving the actually and I trust all had to express the joy of giving as an  expression of our worship of Christ and of God. That process that process is a  difficult one, it involves a lot of change. It doesn't occur quickly. It occurs over  time. Change is emotional. And I'd like to think of you about change emotions  because there's no change at an emotional level without discomfort. Every one  of those steps is an uncomfortable step forward. For most people, it's an  awkward step forward. For most people. They're uncomfortable in a very private 

part of their self, in their heart, for most people, and apart from that  uncomfortable experience, just like you and I, when we step up a stair, there's  the strain of the muscles. Apart from that discomfort, there would be no growth,  there would be no change, there'd be no maturity. At the same time, there is no  change without comfort. That is to say that unless I have some clarity, as to  where this change is leading me, unless I have a relationship with the one who  is leading me in the change, I will probably not change. The comfort comes from the relationship with you, as the asker the confidence they have in you, as the  one who is asking the relationship, the trust that they have with you, as the one  who's leading the ministry, when there is that combination of discomfort, that  challenge to grow as a giver, and that relational comfort with you as the one  who's asking, then people are able to change. There's some fancy words that  are used to describe that homophyly and hetrophyly, homophily is about the  sameness how there's no change without some things that need to remain the  same. And that is that comfort with you. And hetrophyly is all about  differentness. It's all about that stretch, that that new place that God wants to  grow people to. So each new stewardship step is a mix of emotions, of comfort  and discomfort, of trust, and anxiety. I trust you and I trust that God is in this  ministry that you're leading. But I'm nervous about this next stretch for me to  give a bit more generously, for me to release a little bit more of the resources  that God has entrusted to me, that's a normal thing. It's a normal experience it's  normal, not only in the experience of the person who is giving. It's also normal in the experience of the one who's asking, when you and I ask someone else, to  consider making a gift to the ministry that God has placed before us, it's pretty  common for us to feel that discomfort as well. Because we're stepping into that  process of growth right along with the person who is in the process of growth.  We shouldn't be afraid of that feeling. When we do it from a foundation of trust  and relationship, when we've formed a relationship that is comfort, that is strong, that is trust filled. That becomes the basis from which we can then challenge  people to give and to be generous. So think with me about change,  communication. Planting, excuse me, planting. Advance. And change is always  the result of effective communication. Effective communication. Words are are  your most basic tool. And you have to use those words very, very wisely.  Whenever you are growing someone in the grace of giving and growing them  through the process of change. In fact, only your relationship and gracious  communication and the work of the Holy Spirit will will overcome the  fundamental resistance in most people. You and I, when we grow others as  givers, we acknowledge a fundamental resistance. And we must be wise and  dependent on God, but also wise in our own use of words, communication and  process. I don't know, have you ever seen a picture quite as crazy as that one.  But that's the way a lot of folks treat communication when we talk in an area like  this, they just aren't listening. They've got carrots in their ears. When you and I 

speak, and communicate to someone else about something so sensitive as  giving to our ministry, we function as the sender and they as the receiver. And  there's lots of things that get in between us and them so that they can't hear  what we're saying. Sometimes the language we use is foreign to them, and they  don't understand it. Perhaps they've had an experience, that was a negative  experience, and they're having a hard time listening to us. Sometimes people  have had a bad experience with another Christian leader. And they have a hard  time listening to another Christian leader, ask them to take a step of growth in  their giving. Until they have formed some comfort, some trust with you.  Sometimes the environment is one that people just can't hear us well. Or if there are presuppositions that they're just not convinced that God wants to see  another church planted. There's a lot of things that can get in between the  sender, the communicator, that's you, and the receiver, the person that you want to ask to grow as a giver, to your ministry. And, and so as we communicate, we  communicate through our own understanding of words, and they hear through  their own understanding of words. And so it's so important that you practice your communication, when you begin to talk, and ask other people to participate in  your ministry. It's so and I'm going to teach you how you can practice that.  Here's one way of practicing it, I think it's a good way I commend it to you, is  what I call a conversation guide. And the conversation guide answers 7  questions, or asks 7 questions. First of all, who are we? What's our mission?  What's our vision? We've talked about that. Secondly, why is this mission and  vision necessary? I'll again tell the story of the church I was mentioning a few  moments ago, a church in a community that wasn't reaching the young people in that community. And they first of all said that their vision was to be a church that  young people love to attend. And the reason that's necessary was because  there is not a church in this community that is reaching our young people.  There's not a church in this community. That's effectively reaching young people were several older churches, churches that were aging and declining, but no  church that was vibrant, reaching young people. That the third, what's our track  record that we have a leader now in our church, who's been effective working  with young people? And, and the opportunity is before us now because  leadership have recognized that now is the time while we still have some  strength as a congregation, to make a new effort to reach the young people in  our community. And here's the plan, they had laid out a plan over a 2 year  period of time, and that they had clarified the cost. And so they then based on  those first 6 realities, were confidently asking people to give there's a nice  conversation guide. It's a good way of communicating to a potential giver about  your ministry. So what we call making the case for support is is so critical when  you are seeking to grow other people as givers fact one person put it this way,  they said the failure to make the case for a stewardship decision could be the  first failure of a new church plant. Think about that. If you can't make a 

compelling case, a strategic plan that a compelling case, for a stewardship  decision for someone to give to the ministry that God has placed before you. If  you can't make that case in a compelling way, then that's a serious sign of the  inability of leadership to actually take us to that preferred future. A case  statement involves hopefully, what I call an elevator version. An elevator version  is a short and succinct. One minute or two minute version of sharing your  ministry, you have just a few moments with someone that you can share your  ministry with. A case statement should also have a longer version, what's called  a lunch version, where you have an hour to share it with someone. But in either  case, it should be clear and concise, and passionate. And enthusiastic. A case  statement should be memorized. And being and also should be in an attractive  document format. And I believe I have an example of that. I'm just going to come in the next slide. I think a case statement should be a blend of heart and head  pictures, color. And I think here's the example that I brought along for today. This is a Carlos Devetac, a church planter, a friend of mine who is planting a church in Detroit, Michigan, in the US. Carlos is Hispanic. His ministry El Reino de Dios, the reign of God, is an effective ministry in Detroit. But you'll see those questions laid out. And Carlos's answer to each of those questions in the document that I  brought along from Carlos. Why is this church plant needed in Detroit? And  what's your track record as a leader? And what is the opportunity? And what is  the plan? And what is the cost? And then the final question, will you join us? The ask, Will you join us so important that that ask is included. Now you may not  have the ability to design a document like Carlos has designed, do what you  can. You may not have the ability to put something on paper. But you have the  ability to share from your heart, build trust, build relationship. There is no change without comfort, without people getting comfortable with you. Comfortable with  your leadership, comfortable with the with the capacity you have to lead this  ministry. And then there's no change without discomfort without you making the  ask there. In the close of your conversation. Will you join us? Would you take  some time to think about joining us? Would you consider making a gift and then  to pray with them and then to follow up with them after you have shared the  vision that God has for you. This next slide is an effective communication  methods slide. I'll not spend a lot of time with it. But it's important to remember  that the effectiveness of communication goes up. The more personal that  communication becomes. Some of us may have the I have the available to us  the potential to send out a letter to mail or to communicate impersonally with  people. There's lots of different ways to communicate impersonally some of us  may have the capability of sending email. Some of us may have the ability to  print and distribute flyers. Those are all generally impersonal communications.  They are done through a printed page, or through technology. And they are  effective, somewhat, but generally ineffective when compared with a face to face conversation. If you really want to have an effective conversation with a potential

donor, a potential giver, to your ministry, you sit down with them. And you share  not only face to face, but you give them something like my friend Carlos has  designed. And you then leave that with them and follow up with them personally. Follow up with them face to face and ask them in light of our conversation, in  light of that lunch conversation we had when I shared with you about my  ministry, in light of that, that conversation we had what have you decided? Are  you willing to be a prayer supporter? And what have you decided? Would you be willing to make a gift when you really want to grow people, as givers as  stewards. Remember, stewardship development is not a means to an end.  Stewardship development is ministry. So when you really want to take this part  of ministry seriously, you will sit down face to face with people, and you will look  them in the eye graciously. And you will ask them, if they would consider making a gift. Now, you will also be gracious in accepting the fact that they've chosen  not to, and that's okay. The important thing is that you've made an effort to grow  them in the grace of giving. The important thing is that you've made an effort to  help them understand clearly that the resources that they've been entrusted with don't belong to them. They ultimately belong to God, and one day they'll be held  accountable for it. It's more important that you are faithful in growing them as a  steward. Than it is important that you get a gift for your ministry. Because your  role is to be a stewardship developer and to be faithful to Christ in every  dimension of that process.