1. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Part II: Establishing Priorities David Mays

2. I. CONTENT B. Secondary Inputs for Setting Priorities

3. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Strategy Content A. Primary Inputs Scripture - Goal Missions - Scope Church - Purpose The World - Challenges B. Secondary Inputs Audience Balance Focus History ‘Our Own’ Our Roles Participation Partnership Task

4. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Audience Are some groups especially critical or strategic?  World regions? Continents? Countries?  World religions? (Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Other?)  People with least access to the Gospel? No church?  Nominal Christians?  Persecuted church? Developing church?  Needy people? Suffering people?  Children and/or youth?  Local Internationals? Are we focused on a particular audience now?

5. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Audience In our strategy the choice of people to whom we minister should be  A central, strategic factor  An important factor  Just one of many factors This is a  Big change  Small change  No change

6. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Balance: Local – Global Is local ministry included in missions or separate? Our community? City? State? U.S.? Cross Culture? Same culture? Evangelistic ministries? Social ministries? How does our church structure for reaching People like us nearby? People unlike us nearby? People unlike us far away?

7. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Balance: Local – Global Local ministry should be  Highest portion  About equal  Small proportion  Not at all? It’s a separate ministry of the church. This is a  Big change  Small change  No change

8. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Focus: 1000 Points of Light or a Beacon? How broadly should we invest our resources or how narrowly should we focus? What factors help us decide? Our style of church Our breadth of interests Our current involvements Our opportunities to communicate Our resources A “purpose-driven” vs. “relationship” mentality Do we have any “focus areas” now?

9. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Focus We should focus on  Just 1 or 2 major thrusts  A few major emphases and several smaller ones  Several large efforts and many smaller ones  A broad variety of missionaries, projects and partnerships This is a  Big change  Small change  No change

10. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church History How has God led us in the past? What missions efforts have been important to us? What missionaries have we been involved with? What factors have determined our decisions? Which of these factors are still important to us? What do we strongly want to continue?

11. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church History Is it important to maintain the ministries and values of our past or do we need to change? How much? How can we best minimize trauma in transition? Critical ministries High level of congregational investment High level of missionary/ministry dependence on us Is there a compelling reason to break with the past? To become more effective and purposeful To gain leadership and congregational support

12. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church History Our new strategy should  Be a lot like now  Make minor changes slowly  Make major changes slowly  Make major changes quickly The biggest change should be ___________________ This is a  Big change  Small change  No change

13. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church ‘Our Own’ What priority do we give to personnel from our church? Our fellowship or denomination? What value do we place on a prior relationship with the ministry, missionary, or organization? How important have relationships been in the past? Is this too important to us or not important enough? Will we partner with missionaries, organizations or projects with which we do not have a history of relationships?

14. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church ‘Our Own’ In our new strategy partnering with ‘our own’ should be  Central to our strategy  One of a few important factors  Just one of many factors This is a  Big change  Small change  No change

15. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church 5. Our Roles What priority should we give to getting involved in ministries that ‘fit’ our congregation? This could involve our particular social situation; our spiritual gifts, vocations, skills, & expertise; or other special circumstances involving our church. It could relate to our values, philosophy of ministry, or the special connections and bridges God has place in our path. See Building Global Vision, David Mays, pp. 49-55

16. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church

19. Our Church Roles – References Building Global Vision, David Mays “Our Church” Worksheet, Stuff II, p. 18 “Our Values,” Stuff IV, p. 25

20. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Partnership How important is it for our church to partner with other organizations in missions ministry? How important is it for those we support to work In teams? With churches or organizations on the field? With other churches, organizations or movements based in the U.S or in our area? With our denomination or a particular agency? What partnerships are we involved in now?

21. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Partnership In our new strategy partnership arrangements should be  Central to what we do  One of a few important factors  Just one of many factors This is a  Big change  Small change  No change

22. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Participation Is it important for our people to be able to participate directly in the ministry? Is it important that it occurs where we can go? Is it important that there is work we can do? Does it have to be nearby? Is it important that our people benefit from it?

23. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Participation In our new strategy the participation of people in our congregation should be  Central to what we do  One consideration  Not very important This is a  Big change  Small change  No change

24. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Task Is it important for us to focus on ministry that we understand is critical, essential, or strategic?  Pre-evangelism? Friendship? Translation?  Evangelism? Church planting? Discipleship?  Leadership development?  Service? Support?  Compassion? Relief? Development?  Social justice? Poverty?  Improving quality of life? Are we strong on a particular task now?

25. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Task In our strategy the choice of strategic tasks should be  A central, strategic factor  An important factor  Just one of many factors This is a  Big change  Small change  No change

26. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Discussion B. Secondary Inputs Audience Balance Focus History ‘Our Own’ Our Roles Participation Partnerships Task Which have been most important in our past? Which are most important for the Kingdom? What needs to change? Who needs to change? Where do we need education?

27. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Discussion B. Secondary Inputs Audience Balance Focus History ‘Our Own’ Our Roles Participation Partnership Task Which do you think are most important to key others? Who has vested interests? Where do you anticipate disagreement? Prayer Items?

28. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Secondary Inputs for Establishing Priorities Input A Priority B Priority Notes Audience Balance Focus History ‘Our Own’ Our Roles Participation Partnership Task

29. The Key Question: What does God want to accomplish in the world through our church? How do you draw people away from their personal preferences and bring the focus back to the Key Question?

30. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church Strategy Content B. Secondary Inputs Audiences Ministry Tasks Balance Focus History Relationships Our Roles Partnership Participation Steps for our group: Items for Prayer

31. Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church End of Section Two