HEALTHY CHURCH: Seasons of Life and Ministry
God has given us the seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter. There are also seasons of life that have been addressed in books such as Halftime by Bob Buford, where he said, “Your midlife doesn’t have to be a crisis. In fact, the second half of your life can be better than the first.” Some have even divided spans of time into quarters such as birth to 20 (growth) being the first quarter, 20s and 30s is the second quarter (achievement), 40s and 50s is the third quarter (become) and the 60s and 70s is the fourth quarter (harvest). When you reach 80 years old and above, it is referred to as overtime. Remember, redeem the time.
We are reminded of the brevity of life in Psalm 90:10: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Allen Hunt and Matthew Kelly said this: “Intentionality is the key to successful fourth quarter living. People don’t accidentally age gracefully. People don’t accidentally die peacefully. And people don’t accidentally leave behind legacies of hope, love and encouragement. These all require intentionality.” Intentionally pursue Christ in every season.
This ministry journey takes us through different “seasons.” Sometimes it is hot and sunny, sometimes it can be rainy, cold and even quite stormy. There are seasons of harvest, but there can also be dry and difficult seasons as well. Ministry has a linear aspect that involves your calendar, a timeline and stages where one event follows another. Ministry also functions in cycles of reoccurring loops while you are moving forward. Ministry stages are linear while ministry seasons are cyclical. Everyone has mentioned, at one time or another along the way, that they are in a difficult “season.”
In your individual life and in the life of your church, there can be seasons of health and growth, but there can also be seasons of challenge and discouragement. Both seasons come following certain stages of ministry that you walk through of vision, intentional planning and implementation, and then the trials can begin. The first stage — vision — is one of great excitement and some apprehension, as God’s vision for your church begins to take shape in your heart and mind. The magnitude of the eternal impact your church could make captures your heart and energizes your mind. You desire to move from your present reality to God’s preferred future.
The stage of vision is where you seek to find and discover God’s agenda for your ministry and join Him there. Your mission (the Great Commission) is why you exist, and your vision is where you are going. It is how you will fulfill the Great Commission in your unique context, with your unique congregation, following God’s unique agenda for you. Vision is God’s preferred future for your congregation (Eph. 3:20-21). Intentionally seeking Him enables you to discover His unique picture of a brighter tomorrow for your church that does not yet exist. Vision is painting the dreams God has laid on your heart for all to see.
The next stage of ministry, whichever season you or your church is in, is prayerful planning. What steps will you be leading them to take in order to accomplish the vision God has placed upon your heart? You are able to see the challenges and the difficulties, but more importantly, you can see the potential and possibilities because of the God you serve. This process enlightens your vision and gives detail to what the vision will become. This is the time when you really begin to work, where you pray, plan and begin the important steps necessary to move toward God’s design for your church.
Do not overlook this prayerful planning process. This is where you work “on” the ministry instead of only working “in” the ministry. You must fight the tyranny of the urgent and provide space for prayer, dreaming and collaboration. In developing strategies and next steps, remember how important it is to keep following a healthy process and pathway of prayer, assessment/evaluation and alignment with core values, mission and vision. Then form your strategy with every step bathed in prayer. This pathway can start fresh with an individual person, ministry of the church or the entire church. Quite frankly, without this stage, there will be no realization of God’s vision.
While working through this process, there are some important questions to always be asking your team:
• What needs to be accomplished?
• Who is responsible?
• When does it need to be done by?
If everyone is responsible, then nobody is responsible. Accountability is key, but make sure you also provide training, support and encouragement. Strategies can look nice on paper, but without the right leader in place, it probably will never become a reality and will continue to only be a dream. Prayerful planning and implementation are as much deciding what you will not do as it is deciding what you must do.
The third stage is challenges and trials, they will come and you can count on it. How you navigate them can be greatly improved if you are mission-directed (what), values-driven (why), vision-directed (what) and strategy-accomplished (how). Here are four vision dynamics that will help guide you through vision, prayerful planning and the challenges that will come — make sure it is God’s unique vision, through your unique church, in your unique community, at this unique time. You can maximize the vitality of the Great Commission through spiritual renewal and strategic initiative.
Can you recognize which season you are in as an individual and as a church? Here are a couple of things to do to help you assess and determine your next steps:
• Reflect on the season you have just come out of whether it is spring, summer, fall or winter. The Scriptures challenge God’s people to remember where they came from.
• Recognize the season you are in right now. Moses prayed to recognize the days they were living and to have wisdom to know how to live each day intentionally.
• Identify the season you are moving toward and plan for that season. Ask for God’s grace to live today in order to seize the next season for Him.
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Larry Barker
Director of Church Planting and Church Health Larry Barker submits a weekly column titled, Healthy Church Solutions, designed to strengthen and encourage the local church.
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