Mission Action Planning

A Guide for Parishes

Introduction

God has a plan

The Bible’s message starts with God bringing all things into being and finishes with His renewing all things

so that the whole of His creation can join with Him in his eternal life. Throughout this metanarrative is the

thread of God’s plan for that creation and for its redemption and salvation. You only have to read the first

15 verses of the book of Ephesians to appreciate how good God’s plan is – and we, as individuals and as

churches, are both within God’s plan, and called to progress His plan: to preach the gospel; to love our

neighbours; and to build the Kingdom.

As part of the diocese Fit for Mission programme,

Mission Action Planning is intended to provide a

process for parishes and deaneries to discern and

agree their vision to play their part in delivering a

local expression of the Diocesan vision.

It is expected that parish and deanery Mission Action Plans will

reflect the diocese’s agreed mission goals of:

Growing new disciples in missionary church communities which are

younger, more diverse, active, and spiritually engaged;

Nurturing increasing vocations, nurturing new and existing disciples,

increasing financial giving;

Serving present for all, speaking and acting prophetically for justice,

supporting pastorally; especially the vulnerable, deprived,

and excluded.

It is also expected that parish Mission Action Plans will demonstrate a tangible contribution to supporting

and enhancing the mission of the deanery (and mission unit if applicable) as expressed in the current

deanery plan, and will refer to them where appropriate.

The vision of the

Diocese of Manchester

A worshipping, growing,

and transforming

Christian presence at

the heart of every

community”.

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What is Mission Action Planning?

Mission action planning (MAP) is a process to help Church at all levels – parish,

team/mission partnership/mission unit, deanery, and diocese – discern what God is calling

us to be, at this time and in our particular local setting.

It involves understanding your church and your community and then reflecting on that understanding in

order to plan how you will respond to God’s call. It involves looking, listening, reflection, and prayer;

seeking the Spirit’s guidance in discerning vision and then in prioritising and planning action. It should also

include times to celebrate (God’s plan for our living includes the Sabbath for rest, and festivals for

celebration and marking key moments).

In simple terms, Mission Action Planning can be summed up in

three Questions:

“Where are we starting from?” Who are we as a church and

what is our context within the wider church and within the wider

community? What are we currently doing (well or less well)? Taking

into account the health of our building(s), congregation(s), and

finances, is this sustainable?

“Where do we want to get to?” What is our dream or vision?

What would we love to be and to be doing? Be bold - don’t worry

about practicalities at this stage.

“What’s the best way to get there?” Make a plan - agree a

plan - and act on the plan!

To enable us to have a shared understanding of our direction

under God and a shared missionary commitment, it is vital that

plans, at all levels, reflect and support each other. So the Mission

Action Planning process in our diocese involves both local

expressions of church, deaneries, and the diocese. There is,

therefore, high expectation that all expressions of church will

engage in MAP, and we are making available guidance, tools,

templates, case studies, and officer support to help you.

A Mission Action Plan is an organic document expressing your

church’s DNA, and its hopes and intentions. As a working tool, it

will also change and develop as your work for the Kingdom in your

area develops.

Mission Action Plans will vary widely from parish to parish,

depending on the size of the church, its context and church

tradition, as well as on whether you are developing your first

Mission Action Plan or reviewing and renewing an existing plan.

Importantly, your MAP should take account of existing church

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partnerships (e.g. Teams and Mission Partnerships). There may be distinctive elements for each local

expression of church but it should, wherever possible, include joint planning that is sensitive to your local

context.

Starting on a Mission Action Plan does not mean everything up to now was wrong or bad, it is about saying

we need to be more intentional and ordered in what we do. When resources are scarcer, time is precious,

or changes are happening, planning becomes more important. Research shows that churches that want to

grow and have a clear plan, are more likely to do so. It is important as a church to have a clear sense of

who you are and where you’re going, along with clear plans for getting there.

To guide you on the journey

This guide provides a route map for a parish /

team / mission unit, and its leadership in

developing a Mission Action Plan; and more

importantly, seeing it implemented successfully. In many cases, parishes are already doing this in some

way and we all have much to learn from each other. We

will also have much to rejoice about together as we see

God at work in our local context.

Please do send in any tips, feedback, and stories so that

we can share and rejoice over them with others.

To accompany this Guide for Parishes, there is also a

toolkit with resources to help you at each stage of your

Mission Action Planning journey. This includes how to find

practical information; biblical reflections; practical

exercises you can use with your congregation; links to

other resources; and other useful tips and advice. You will

find references to the toolkit inserted into the text

throughout this guide.

‘MAPing’ your journey

We have broken the MAP journey into seven

stages which take you from an introduction

through the four main phases to a further review

stage.

In very simple terms, including time to introduce MAP to

your PCC and congregation, the first two phases – working

together to review the context, discerning vision and

values, and identifying priorities – are likely to take about

Steps on the journey

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four months (or longer for some parishes – and it’s worth taking time to do it well). You should normally,

then think in terms of two or more years for the planning and doing phase – implementing what was

agreed – though some tasks will be completed sooner and new tasks will need adding as your action in

implementing the plan develops.

Inevitably things do change so it is also important to review and be flexible when needed. If this is what

God wants us to be doing, this will be an exciting project and a good project for church(es) to engage with

and work on.

It is important not to settle for the status quo when setting priorities but to stretch yourselves

appropriatly. If everything you plan works then you probably haven’t been ambitious enough.

Involve as many of your congregation as possible

It is crucial that your Mission Action Plan is developed with the involvement and support of

the whole congregation. While a small group may develop the plan, there needs to be wide consultation and involvement in

shaping the vision and developing the priorities. Without such broad support, people are unlikely to be

involved in the action that follows.

There are many ways you can do this and we have given some ideas in the toolkit (TOOL 1A) to help you.

Small group

Whilst it is important to involve as many people

as possible in the process, it would not be

practical for everyone to write the plan and to

drive the process of Mission Action Planning.

So you will need to form a small group to do some of the

‘back room’ work and to keep the process moving

forward. TOOL 1D gives some helpful advice on this

group

Whilst it’s important to have a member of the clergy and

someone from the PCC on this group, it is a good idea to

involve one or two people who don’t currently have

these roles. It may also be a good opportunity to include

someone who you feel has gifting in this area as a way to

draw them further in to active participation in church

life.

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This group will need to make sure the time frame is worked out (see TOOL 1E); the away day/event date is

set, the event is arranged, advertised and ‘talked up’ (see TOOL 1F); and they will need to gather data and

statistics on your parish and community (see TOOL 2A and 2D). Statistics on your wider parish/community

are available from the diocesan office (Contact Alison Peacock). Once the launch workshop is over, they

will collate and distil the output of that day into your plan and then present it to the PCC. They will also

work with the PCC on refining the plan until the PCC is happy with it/approve it.

Some extra advice

Language You will need to adapt the language of this booklet to reflect the particular context of your parish, whether

several distinct congregations or several places of worship: Mission Partnerships; informal clusters; Teams,

etc. Each, in its different way, needs to think what is best done together and what is better done

individually.

Resources Alongside this Guide for Parishes is a Toolkit, with numbered tools for each stage, and more general

resources about change (in section 7). TOOL 1B is a framework template for you to summarise your plan as

it is developed. This has some brief comments to help you think about the content and a blank WORD

version for you to fill in is available on the diocesan web site. This template is accompanied by an

assessment tool for current church health (TOOL 1C) to help you assess your current situation.

Dealing with Change Some people like change and some people don’t. The cost of change differs depending on how much each

person likes or dislikes it and so, in order to ensure everyone is on board, it may be worth thinking about

how you and your church feel about change. If it is helpful, make space to talk about change using the

“Change Curve” and other resources in TOOL 7A.

Quick checklist

In order for Mission Action Planning to succeed you will need: To have a realistic assessment of where you are now and where you are starting from (Sometimes what

we like to think and what is ‘actual’ can be quite different).

People who are able to devote time to the project;

Realism not to bite off more than you can chew, but enough ambition to be radical and think outside

the norm;

Hope and faith that God can and will do greater things;

Honesty as a team to support and speak truthfully, but positively;

Openness to grasp the reality of your situation and consider the radical changes that might be

necessary to ensure sustainability and the mission of the wider church.

Recognition that your plan doesn’t stand on its own and so you are able to show how your plan

connects and contributes towards achieving the mission goals of the deanery and the diocese and how

you will involve and support other churches and the wider community.

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Commitment to see it through.

Remember – if everything you plan succeeds, you probably haven’t been ambitious enough.

Building trust is not necessarily easy, but it can grow as people are found to be

trustworthy and are seen to be committed: Be rooted in the actual context – know the area, its hopes, strengths, and needs;

Know the hopes and concerns of the church; what it celebrates and affirms and what it is (as yet)

unable to do;

Build a team to share this work and seek a collaborative spirit that draws others in;

Give time to this, not least in preparation, prayer and

review;

The plan has to be owned by the wider PCC and

church.

Celebrate some early ‘wins’.

Choose the priorities to focus on, which may mean

letting other things go. Will that be OK?

Keep focused on those priorities and do not get side-

tracked by more good ideas (But be ready to discern if

God shows you an opportunity to participate in what

he is doing).

Review and adapt since plans rarely go the way you

originally intended. As Eisenhower said: “Plans are

nothing, planning is everything”.

Ensure there is time for fun and time for rest. This is

not a forced march.

Be ready to be surprised. You will probably learn

many new things and have much to share with others.

Do ask if you need help. If you have any questions or

need further advice and help then please do contact

Revd Canon Andy Salmon 07436 532408 or Mike Chesterton, 07701 097062 or

email map@manchester.anglican.org.

Ultimately, Mission Action Planning becomes an attitude and a culture not a process or an imposition.

All of this begins, continues and ends with prayer and in prayer.

For prayer and liturgy resources see TOOLS 8A-I

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Look at the suggested seven steps and consider where the parish or parishes are on the journey already. You may have recently completed a review on the needs and hopes of the local community, or done an evaluation of the church and its resources.

Starting on a Mission Action Plan does not mean everything up to now was wrong or bad, it is about saying we need to be more intentional and ordered in what we do. When resources are scarcer, time is precious, or changes are happening, planning becomes more important.Research shows that churches that want to grow and have a clear plan, are more likely to do so. It is important as a church to have a clear sense of who you are and where you’re going, along with clear plans for getting there.

Get the leadership in the parish to talk through MAP - this needs to be a journey taken together. Read through this booklet and note the suggested timescale in Tool 1b.

The outline process is as simple as:“Where are we starting from?”Who are we as a church and what is our context? What are we currently doing (well or less well)?

“Where do we want to get to?”What is our dream or vision? What would we love to be and to be doing? Be bold - don’t worry about practicalities at this stage.

“What’s the best way to get there?”Make a plan - agree a plan, and act on the plan!For each stage there are Toolkit

resources: tools to help you should you need them.

TOOL 1A - is a simple MAP template for recording your Mission Action Plan.

TOOL 1B - gives a possible timeframe for developing your MAP.

TOOL 1C - offers some resources around early communication, some starter questions, and stories that can inspire.

TOOL 1D - provides prayer resources and ideas for celebration through the process.

TOOLS 7A and 7B - show how along with practical resources for the journey we also need to understand how people can respond to change and why.

It is good also to have spiritual resources for the journey.

Any questions please do get in touch with Andy Salmon 07436 532408 or Mike Chesterton, 07701 097062 or email map@manchester.anglican.org.; map@manchester.anglican.org

Stage 1 – Introduction: Getting Going

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In order to plan well you need to know where you are and what your context is, as a church and as a parish. This is not just about taking a snap-shot but making sense of why and how: how has it got like this? What is happening and how are people feeling? If you have not done either or both of these exercises recently it will be important to do them. They also help draw people in through interactive engagement and involvement.

Exploring the church’s story and how it is changingWhat is the character and nature of your church?

What has happened over the last several years?

Looking at statistics, like attendance and finances and number of baptisms is one aspect, and some churches draw up a time-line to show what has changed.

You can use the Parish Data View to get an up-to-date picture of the financial and mission statistics for your church. Contact one of the MAP officers to request your Parish Data View report and see TOOL 2A for an example. The current church health assessment TOOL 1C is also likely to be helpful.

The national church has identified eight factors that contribute towards church growth. This is an excellent way to begin to look at your own church and gauge where you are and maybe what you need to address for the future of Growing Church. See TOOL 2B for this resource.

A SWOT Analysis is a tool that many parishes find useful as a way of evaluating what they do well and where there may be weaknesses. This takes the ideas from the envisioning exercise and

considers the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for each one.

This will help you to think realistically about what might be possible. Remember to include financial and buildings considerations in the process. This is explained in TOOL 2C. Exploring the community’s story and how it is changing

How do you describe and understand your community?

How is it changing and what do people remember?

Where do people gather?

What happens where and when?

Parish statistics on population, age and deprivation are really important. Contact Alison Peacock, Mission Planning Officer, for help with accessing this sort of information by emailing apeacock@manchester.anglican.org

But also ask people, and walk the area. Find out what is happening and who is doing what. The more people who help with this the more likely you will have a fuller and more representative picture. TOOL 2D is a Community Audit tool and TOOL 2E offers a way to explore the makeup of the area as a shared exercise - this works particularly well when there are two or more churches together.

Stage 2 – Review, Listen and Learn

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The third stage in the process is for the church to agree its vision and its core values. In some cases the vision will come easily, in others defining the values will help a vision to emerge. It is tempting to rush or ignore this stage but it is vital for a potent plan.

The vision statement should encapsulate what the church wishes to be, its “dream”, where it wants to get to.

Values

Values are often hidden, unnoticed, yet they have the most profound influence upon what we choose and are able to achieve.

Do we know what our values are - personally and as a church?

Can we agree and state our values as a church?

You will find a copy of Manchester Diocese’s shared vision and values in Stage 4 of this Guide.

How to test a church’s values…

One way is to see what we spend money on, what we give time to on our PCC agendas, and what we don’t.

One approach is to see what causes internal conflicts!

Espoused values are what we claim and say, but our real values are what actually drive us.TOOL 3A offers resources for developing vision and defining key values.

Vision

‘Leadership is about vision …a compelling picture for tomorrow that captures the imagination of the followers and energises their attitudes and actions in the present.’

Relational Leadership Walter Wright

Stage 3 – Establish Vision and Values

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Only when we have agreed who we are, why we are here and what we want to be can we really start to choose our priorities.

If we are going to prioritise key things we will probably need to stop doing some other things. So often we hope we can just take on more - we are reluctant to let go. We become like a hiker burdened with too much clobber! TOOL 4A will help you evaluate what you might continue, stop or start.

This is one way to start prioritising, and it values what is already happening. Some churches go back to a blank sheet of paper, gather together and ask ‘what do we really want to be doing?’ This can then be worked on into agreed priorities; it is democratic and participative, but most churches want a bit more structure for the process, and there may be necessary priorities; for example finances or a building issue may need to be addressed. The SWOT analysis from Stage 2 may well provide important data on what should be prioritised, whether there are weaknesses to strengthen, strengths to develop, or opportunities to work on.

The diocesan priorities provide a good framework for parishes. Rather than a blank sheet of paper, look at the three main diocesan priorities – growing, nurturing, serving – and consider what might be a priority for you from within each.

The MAP template in TOOL 1A uses this structure. Ask the questions:

What are we going to do to grow the church?

What are we going to do to serve the community?

What are we going to do to increase our giving, resources and vocations?

What other task or issue is also a major priority?

If you have too many priorities you are in danger of not being able to fulfil any of them. This can lead to discouragement with everything suggested. Equally, if the priorities are too easily attained you may not have set yourself sufficient goals. Some would suggest a healthy church does not fully meet its challenges, because in not doing some, it shows that it has set itself genuine tasks!

It is always advisable to have someone external to the church to help check the good sense of any list of priorities, to ask the honest questions and hopefully to affirm much of the work done so far. A wise person from outside can be invaluable.

Stage 4 – Choose Priorities

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If you are in the team that is developing a healthy plan for your church or churches, it is important to know what lies ahead.

The two short parables from Luke 14 below have in common the humiliating results of poor planning. In the one case a half-built folly visible to all as a failed project; in the other potentially an ill-judged evaluation of the problem leading to catastrophe!

Agree with a group from your church what you goals and priorities are for the next 12, 24 and 36 months. Break the goals down into key tasks and ask for volunteers to own each goal and task. Many people have found the GROW tool (5A) helpful at this stage.

TOOL 5B, explains the IMPLEMENTATION ACTION PLAN, which is a key part of your Mission Action Plan. It helps manage the implementation of your priorities, ways in which you can break down the priorities, estimating the time and resources required – and the key resource is people. This is why the time is so important because a key priority will involve people not just for a few meetings, but for several months. If they are doing tasks A and B, they won’t have the time to do priorities C and D. But maybe others will step up to some of the gaps.

Ideally, for each priority, you want a few people whose gifts draw them to that particular priority to work together on the detail of the plan. This will simply lay out the actions that are going to be taken to achieve the objective along a time-scale. The key word here is ‘simple’. This simply lays out the steps along the way that need to be taken.

So, for each priority, make it clear who the

key lead-players are for that section and make it possible for anyone to contact them to join in with that priority. Emphasise the principle that “everyone is involved” and that each church member needs to find where their gifts best fit so that they can play their part in the MAP. It is important to involve as many people as you can in the discussing and agreeing the plan: if they are not involved in the planning they may well not be enthused about the doing!

Identifying goals and being specific about • what needs to be done, • by whom • by when is a good way of making the realisation of your vision more likely to happen.

Communication will be an important activity so that everyone understands the plan and what you are try to achieve. Launch: celebrate your vision with your community; both churchgoers and those groups and people who have links with your church.

Luke 14 : 28 – 33Jesus said:

28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.”

31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 

32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.

Stage 5 – Plan and Resource

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How do people make a long journey? What do they need?

MomentumHow do we keep momentum and enthusiasm? The leading group needs to be alert to potential difficulties and ideally tackle them in advance. Appoint a lead co-ordinator to ensure that you continue to move forward.

Morale

Leaders need to be attentive to the morale of the church. Sometimes people need encouragement to keep going, but sometimes they need permission to have a break. Most of the “team” will be volunteers, and will also have other commitments. Over a couple of years, which will be the initial life of your Plan, some will have changed circumstances. Make space for new people to join in, enabling those who were hesitant to get involved later, recognising that some will leave early.

Review

Keep checking the focus and relevance of the Plan as you progress. If your priorities had checkpoints (which is helpful), keep an eye on these. How are you doing? Celebrate the progress. Give praise and thanks.

Adjust the plan if necessary in light of performance, changing circumstances, and new information, but remain on track and within the original goals. Identify, agree and delegate new actions as

appropriate. Inform team members and those in authority about developments.

Share your journey with others. It is a journey not a sprint so prepare, and make sure you have support and support each other.

Identify reliable advisors and experts in the team and use them. Keep talking to people, and make yourself available to all.

Plan team review meetings and learn from mistakes positively.

You may wish to do all or some of the above at PCC or Deanery meetings.

Encourage

Reflect on successes and communicate these as you go along.

You may want to appoint a “chaplain” to the team to offer support

Build in times for thanksgiving and shared worship and celebration of steps achieved.

TOOL 6A The Wagon offers a light-hearted but helpful exercise that may draw out how people feel when energy may be low or things feel difficult.

Humour and laughter are really important if we are to keep refreshed and positive, and many a time deep truths emerge from apparently light-touch exercises.

Stage 6 – Do and Keep Going

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While you will need to review the progress of the work on the priorities over their life-span – and inevitably some work will progress more easily than others – there is also a point when you should do a more thorough review.

Church buildings have a quinquennial inspection every five years, a more thorough review and check. In the same sort of way, though probably after about two to three years, you will need to do a more thorough review of your priorities, assessing where the church is now, and how the context may have changed.

Some of the work will be flourishing and needs to continue, some projects will have been completed and maybe some have not worked and need reviewing.At the same time you should review the context to see how the parish or area has changed. It is helpful for the congregation to engage in a review of their strengths and weaknesses, especially if the church has changed in the previous two years (which hopefully it has).

This will not be as demanding a process as the first time and can be a time for celebration, for bringing new people on board and thanking those who have done so much. TOOL 7A Suggested PCC Awayday timetable provides a possible format for a way of undertaking some of this vital work of reviewing and re-prioritising.

Resetting priorities also reminds us all that we do not have to do the same things for ever and that it is good to review and

re-examine what we do and check whether it is still what we believe we should be doing.

This allows us to refresh our priorities or even reset them and then continue, encouraged and even more sure that we are still doing what we should be doing. Hopefully there will be some new shoots growing alongside the longer-term work and ministry of the church.

Make sure you celebrate the good things along the way, as they grow, and as you complete them. Eucharist is about giving thanks to God.

We can bring particular things from our journey to thank God for, as well as the great gifts of salvation, love, hope and his daily presence “to cheer and to guide”.

This should become a culture of “review, plan and do” which, as Archbishop Rowan Williams said, is about constantly “finding out what God is doing and joining in.”

Stage 7 – Review and Re-prioritise

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Find out moreFor further information, visit www.manchester.anglican.org/MAP or contact Andy Salmon 07436 532408 or Mike Chesterton07701 097062your MAP officers or email map@manchester.anglican.org

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