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GOALS,
PRIORITIES & OBJECTIVES FOR WM
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by Robyne Beaubien
Whether you are beginning a WM or restructuring one, it is a good
idea to set priorities for your ministry. Planning is one of the
most important steps of production. Sit down with your ministry team
and brainstorm what the needs of your church and community are. Create
a survey for the women of your church to fill out and see what they
feel their needs are, or hold small focus groups and talk with them
about what they feel they need and want from a WM. Take all these
ideas and group like items together. Then determine where the priorities
are and what steps you need to take to achieve them. These are your
goals and objectives.
Let me simplify it:
1. A PRIORITY is WHAT you want to accomplish.
2. A GOAL is HOW you will accomplish the priority.
3. OBJECTIVES are the steps within a goal.
Example:
Your priority may be to create two new Bible studies.
The first goal under this priority may be to have a new study for
new believers in the next Spring semester.
The objectives to complete the goal may be to recruit and train a
leader; recruit and train a study hostess; create a logo and name for
the study; choose/write curriculum, etc..
Okay, some of you are making faces at the screen and rolling your
eyes, but the voice of experience is speaking here! Whether you are
a very small or very large church, having a plan in writing will eliminate
a lot of bumps along the way. Colleges write a strategic plan and set
priorities, goals and objectives to keep them on track and to ensure
that they are meeting the needs of the students. We can learn from
their process. In order to meet needs in an organized way, you will
need a plan. Alright, I am now going to climb down off of my soapbox
and share with you the goals of a mid-sized church in the north-west.
(This particular church
had grown to where there was not room for everyone in one service
so there were two Sunday morning services and
the women felt that they did not know other women well. The WM leadership
team realized that it would be important to focus on fellowship and "uniting" the
women in the church.)
Short Range [years 1-2]:
1. Identify the needs and desires of our women. We will do this by
creating a survey that we will ask the women of our church to fill
out and return. We will evaluate the results and create events and
ministries that will meet their felt needs.
2. Build relationships through fellowship/learning activities. We
will hold Ladies Night Out events every other month and focus on fellowship
and character growth with curriculum by the Women of Faith organization.
3. Enrich each woman's relationship with the Lord through Bible Study
and prayer. We will have one morning and one evening Bible study each
week. We will also have a weekly prayer chain that is either e-mailed
or phone delivered.
4. Create opportunities for outreach in our community. We will hold
two major events a year that will focus on reaching into our community
and sharing Jesus with them in a meaningful way. We will also work
with the Music department to assist them in their Christmas musical
outreach event.
Long Range [by the 5th year]:
1. Establish a mentoring/discipleship ministry. We will have three
women on our leadership attend specialized training to create and lead
this ministry.
2. Establish or network a counseling ministry. We will work with a
local Christian counselor to train 5-10 women in our church to counsel/encourage
women.
3. Offer 3-4 different Bible Studies. We will use the same process
that we used to establish our Bible study ministry to create several
options for our morning and evening studies, building a childcare program
that ministers to the children as well.
4. Mother of Preschoolers [MOPS] program. We will explore the possibility
of adding this ministry by sending for their introductory package and
having 2 members of our team attend a conference.
We feel that women and relationships are the priorities. Their relationships
with God, their family, and church body. Our goal is to use the programs
in our WM to meet these needs.
You may see an obvious area of need in the lives of your women, make
a plan to meet these needs. Again, I encourage you to spend time in
prayer and with the Lord laying your plans at His feet. Doing this
will ensure that you are moving in a direction that will benefit your
church and the women you serve.
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