• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Alex Chediak

Helping young adults thrive at college and beyond

Header Right

  • About
  • Books
    • Beating the College Debt Trap
      • Why Write Beating the College Debt Trap?
      • Table of Contents
      • Endorsements
      • Preface and Introduction
      • Pre-order Freebie: A Parent-Child Discussion Guide
      • Fox News Article
      • Desiring God Article
      • Promo Video
      • Press Kit/Media Info
      • Reviews & Sample Audio
      • Low Res – Front & Back Cover Art
      • High Res – Front & Back Cover Art
    • Thriving at College
      • Table of Contents
      • Endorsements
      • Read the Foreword
      • Read the Preface
      • Read an Excerpt
      • Reviews/Interviews
      • Leader’s Guide (Tyndale)
      • July 2011 CBA Best-Seller (Young Adult)
      • YouthWorker Journal “Best of Best in 2011”
      • NEW!! – Parent-Child Discussion Guide
      • Testimonials From Schools
      • Educational and Church Discounts
      • Buy on Amazon
      • Buy on WTS
      • Purchase Thriving at College in Chinese!
    • Preparing Your Teens for College
      • Why Write Preparing Your Teens for College?
      • Table of Contents
      • Endorsements
      • Foreword
      • Read an Excerpt (PDF)
      • Video
      • Educational and Church Discounts
      • Front and Back Cover Art
      • Interviews/Reviews/Notable Tweets
      • Order on Amazon
    • With One Voice
      • Endorsements
      • Reviews
      • Buy on Amazon
      • Read a Chapter
    • 5 Paths to the Love of Your Life
      • Endorsements
      • Reviews
      • Buy on Amazon
  • Resources
    • Articles
    • Audio/Video
  • Blog
  • Speaking
  • Contact

Mike Tilley – Strategic Planning – GCA Conf

February 1, 2008 by Alex Chediak

INTRODUCTION
This is an Essentials Track workshop. Tilley spoke yesterday about leadership, describing that leadership had four roles: Coach/Motivator, Change Agent, Spokesperson and Direction-Setter. Leadership comes with four responsibilities: Vision-Casting, Strategy Formulation, Aligning and Motivating. Today, he will talk about setting direction. Strategic planning in church planting can feel like “building a plane while trying to fly it.”
OBJECTIONS TO PLANNING
1. It is not spiritual to plan. False dichotomy.
2. Plans tie people down. We become enslaved to a plan. [What Tilley is talking about, by contrast, is a strategic planning process, not something set in concrete.]
3. Successful businessmen are often frustrated when it comes to church planning, because it is a volunteer organization, and it can feel inefficient.
4. Over-emphasis (or, at the other extreme, lack of recognition) on God’s sovereignty.
PERSPECTIVES ON STRATEGIC PLANNING
1. Strategic planning is a tool to create, shape and claim the future….not simply manage the present.
2. As Paul was a “skilled master builder” (I Cor. 3:10), we also must consider how we build. We are architects.
3. Seek counsel via prayer and wise friends (Prov. 20:18; Isa. 30:1).
4. Understand the times (I Chron. 12:32).
5. Be able to articulate a clear call, or people will not be able to rally around you (I Cor. 14:8).
6. This process needs to be simple.
Tilley recently read Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect. One of the themes in this book is the danger of having an intricate “master plan” imposed by a main leader upon others in a top-down fashion, and ownership is not shared. That is not helpful, and Tilley cautions against it.
7. This process is not the only way to plan, but it is a team process. (Eccl. 4:9-12)
It extracts the value from other members. It is self-aligning. Leader can write the first draft in pencil.
8. It is a process and therefore adaptable.
We are ready to capture “such a time as this” moments. It defines our work….agenda for meetings. It “speaks to us” about our decisions. A leader should think about his plan 3 times/day.
SIX QUESTIONS YOU MUST BE ABLE TO ANSWER ABOUT YOUR PLAN
1. What is your vision?
2. What is your current reality?
3. What resources do you have to get there?
4. What practical steps will you take to get there?
5. How will you allocate resources? (leaders, money, systems)
6. What am I learning along the way? (evaluation)
VISION – A MENTAL PICTURE OF A DESIRABLE FUTURE
ABCs of a good vision: Appropriate, Bold, Clear, Desirable, Energizing, Feasible, Godly (consistent with God’s heart & His word)
How to work with your people on articulating a vision? Ask your leadership team to write out their hopes and dreams for the church. What has God put on their hearts? At Tilley’s church, they put all of their dreams in a DNA paper.
Identify milestones and millstones.
Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT analysis)
Identify “mid-course corrections” related to the four roles of a leader.
RESOURCES (CAPACITY)
1. Leaders (the right kind of leaders in sufficient numbers) [Exod. 18; Acts 6]
2. Money
3. Tools
4. Infrastructure (technology, communication, etc.)
Leadership Community: Staff and lay leaders
Tilley does not want to have a staff-driven church. However, it is important to have lots of volunteers so that you can periodically relieve them to avoid burnout. And there are some positions which need to be filled by staff.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
What happens if we give insufficient attention to capacity?
It puts extraordinary pressure on you as the leader to be “superman.”
Who is responsible for developing the critical mass (capacity) of the organization?
This goes on the leader’s to do list, and it behooves the leader to involve the team to get help.
CRITICAL PATH (STRATEGIES)
How does the plan “speak to us” about how to identify our next steps (strategies)?
We identify next steps by listening to our current reality, our vision, and our resources. For example, if your reality is that your church as a gap in discipleship, this might become one of your steps, or priorities, for the coming year.
What are some marks of a good strategy?
A good strategy fits the current reality, moves you toward your future vision, and generates new resources.
Where does tactical planning fit in?
Each path step warrants its own tactical plan. For example, if “improving children’s ministry” is a priority step for the coming year, what is the tactical plan? This involves roles (who will lead it), goals (where are we headed), tools (what is needed), and time (what’s the timeline).
How do you choose path steps with your team?
This works best if you brainstorm path steps in light of your vision and current reality. But, of course, not every idea is created equal! But get it all out there, then go back through and choose 3-5 top priority steps.
RESOURCE ALLOCATION
Each “path step” needs a point person (primary person responsible) or a team.
Resources (money, time, people) are drawn from the critical mass and distributed according to priorities.
GROWING WISER
1. Cultivate a culture with your team that learning is on-going.
2. Maintain an environment in which “grace and truth” are balanced. Share honestly, but in love.
3. Remain open to feedback.

0
0
0
0
0

Filed Under: Practical Ministry, Theology

Primary Sidebar

DISCOUNT PRICING!

Thriving at College book cover368 pages. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. For orders to Canada, please contact us. (See also CASE DISCOUNTS below.) No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.)

$10.99


DISCOUNT PRICING!

Beating the College Debt Trap book cover224 pages. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. For orders to Canada, please contact us. (See also CASE DISCOUNTS below.) No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.)

$4.99


DISCOUNT PRICING!

Preparing Your Teens for College book cover 448 pages. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery. Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. For orders to Canada, please contact us. (See also CASE DISCOUNTS below.) No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.)

$9.99


CASE DISCOUNT PRICING!

Thriving at College book cover1 CASE = 28 COPIES
Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.) For orders to Canada, please contact us.

$269.99


CASE DISCOUNT PRICING!

Beating the College Debt Trap book cover1 CASE = 44 COPIES
Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.) For orders to Canada, please contact us.

$189.99


Order Thriving at College!

Amazon Book Bomb for Thriving at College"There is no better guide to college."
--Alex and Brett Harris

"Insightful and useful."
--Randy Alcorn

"Written by an ‘insider’—an excellent gift for high school seniors."--Jerry Bridges

 

COMPARE STORES!

Westminster Bookstore
Christian Book Distributors booksamillion.com : books, music, movies & more
Westminster Bookstore booksamillion.com : books, music, movies & more
Westminster Bookstore

Order Preparing Your Teens for College!

Amazon Book Bomb for Thriving at College

"A sharp tool." Tedd Tripp

"Outstanding book on preparing teens for adulthood." Jerry Bridges

"Highly recommended.” Josh McDowell

 

RESOURCES

 

Also by Alex

With One Voice book cover

With One Voice

Read More Endorsements
Reviews
Read a Chapter
Buy on Amazon

 

Praise for With One Voice

This relatively short book packs a powerful bang for the buck, providing much biblical and practical advice for young men and women seeking to glorify God in relationships.

Alex and Brett Harris
Best-selling authors of Do Hard Things

Alex and Marni Chediak offer sound biblical advice and a clear Christian framework for working through the maze of confusions surrounding modern marriage.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Publishers have been cranking out books with all sorts of directions to help Christians navigate the treacherous waters between the buoys of singleness and marriage, and I know of none that is more clear, concise and helpful than With One Voice.

J. Ligon Duncan, III Ph.D.
Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church

With One Voice is clearly written and God-centered. Our eighteen year-old daughter just read it and restrained herself from underlining nearly the whole thing!

Dr. Bruce A. Ware
Professor of Christian Theology
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Categories

  • Thriving at College
  • With One Voice
  • Culture
  • Personal
  • Theology
  • Practical Ministry

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in