Impress Your Boss by Planning

You do a lot of planning in children’s ministry – likely more than any other ministry leader, except perhaps the senior or executive pastor. Perhaps you have lamented, “No one knows all that goes into kids ministry.”

Part of the problem may be that you don’t communicate it. Not in a complaining, poor me way – but in strategically making known what your goals, objectives, and current and upcoming projects are.

Hand underlining Set Goals with red marker isolated on white.

You have goals. Does your boss know?

As a children’s pastor, I always made sure my boss knew clearly what I was working on, what was completed, and what was next. Many times I was told by a senior pastor or executive pastor that I provided more helpful info than any other staff member. Some even said, “I really have no idea what (another staff member) is up to.” I made sure that was never me. I’d rather over-communicate than allow my ministry to be a mystery.

I was prompted to write this post today while helping a friend who is becoming a new children’s director and starting his first ministry. I offered to share one of my planning documents with him and thought you may enjoy seeing it too.

NOTE: The PDF linked below is UN-EDITED from 2003. I decided to go back in time a bit to show you what I presented to my leadership every year. I chose this one because it was in the middle of my tenure at that church.

It shows the goals and priorities I established at the beginning, what was already done, and what I was still planning to do in the future. It provides accomplishments but also shows that I was as committed five years later to advancing the ministry as I was when I was new.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you create something like this for your ministry. Kidology Online Training can help with the planning process, or Kidology Coaching would be even better. The key to this document is getting it to ONE PAGE. (No one reads more than that.) There is much more documentation behind it, but this executive summary won major points with whatever boss I served.

By the way – it doesn’t matter if your boss is asking for advance planning or not. It is something you initiate. You may just find that elevates the strategic planning of the entire ministry.

Here is an excerpt from a quote he gave me for my resume after my ministry there was concluded.

Karl did some incredible ministry at the Village Church. Karl’s ministry here was marked by innovation and creativity. He is a gifted communicator and trainer. He worked well with the rest of the staff and always had clear objectives and plans. He led our children’s ministry in some great evangelistic events as well as raised the standard for the ministry in general. We were fortunate to have his ministry here for many years.
– Rev. David Barber 2008

I deleted some of the really nice stuff – because my point isn’t personal praise, but that my senior pastor noticed and appreciated the advance planning and that it raised the bar for the entire church.

Visit Kidology to download my 2003 Ministry Plan!

I hope you find this helpful! I’d love to see your ministry plan!

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