Strategic Plan 2006 ver4.indd
Transcription
Strategic Plan 2006 ver4.indd
Strategic Plan year 2006-2011 Training on the Corner to Reach the Community for Christ I M M A N U E L B I B L E C H U R C H Immanuel Bible Church exists to build believers to the glory of God. We accomplish this by building mature followers of Jesus Christ who • Seek Him Constantly • Serve Him Faithfully • Share Him Boldly To achieve our mission as stated above, the Elder Council has developed a Strategic Plan, with measurable objectives, which will guide IBC’s activities from 2006– 2011. The purpose of this document is to: • Describe where we are as a church. • Define our planning assumptions. • Describe our vision. • Present new programmatic initiatives. • Identify our ministry audience. • Set a measurable goal for success by the end of 2011. The Elder Council recognizes that a plan of this magnitude that is not powered by the Spirit of God is only a document. Therefore, it’s our responsibility to identify, as we are led by the Spirit, what God would have us do, and then try to explain it in a strategic plan that can serve as a guide in assessing ministries and in allocating resources. Immanuel is effective at attracting families with children, often people with military, government, professional, and technical backgrounds. The Elders recognize that such people form the majority of the IBC church family, but that there is a pressing need to cultivate the next generation of leaders both for our church and for our community at large. The Elders have decided that for the period covered by the 2006–2011 strategic plan, it will be a priority for the IBC Pastors, Elders, and Deacons to identify and invest in exceptional young men and women PAGE 1/2006-2011 STRATEGIC PLAN who are willing to join them in ministry leadership and development. Included in this investment will be a systematic effort to mentor these young people and open them to significant leadership opportunities across the full range of ministries within Immanuel Bible Church. BACKGROUND Background In 2001, the Elder Council approved a five-year strategic plan built around our mission of “Seeking Him Constantly, Serving Him Faithfully, and Sharing Him Boldly.” That strategic plan, among other things, established three major programmatic initiatives which included: 1) planting a new church, 2) developing a contemporary worship service for young adults at Immanuel, and 3) completing the final expansion of IBC’s current building and parking lot. Five years later, our church plant, Gateway Bible Church in Gainesville, is thriving; the VeNture ministry to young adults is healthy and growing, and we are preparing to break ground for the IBC building and parking lot expansion. As of 2006, Immanuel is the church home for more than 3,000 members and regular attenders. Our church is known throughout the region as a place where the Bible is taught with excellence and where a diversity of exceptional programs and vibrant ministries are available. By way of an honest assessment, Immanuel Bible Church has excelled at the “Seeking Him Constantly” and “Serving Him Faithfully” but has, in general, been less effective at the “Sharing Him Boldly” leg of our three-fold mission. In fact, the abundance of superb specialized programs and ministries at the IBC campus perhaps may be inadvertently diminishing the opportunities for our members to be out in the community because they are too busy attending activities at IBC. The result PAGE 2/2006-2011 STRATEGIC PLAN is a spiritually well-fed congregation with a disproportionately small influence in the community given the size of our congregation and the availability of excellent training. The Planning Context In formulating a strategic plan, it is helpful to list our planning presumptions, which are outlined as follows: • Our congregation will continue to be fairly transient, with a 50% turnover rate every three years. • The number of people attending Immanuel will grow. • Revenues will continue to be sufficient to meet IBC’s growing budget needs. • No program at IBC is (in itself) sacrosanct, and that in an effort to become more balanced and sustain balance across all three mission areas, each ministry program will undergo an annual review by council to determine a recommended course of action for the future of each specific ministry program. Our Vision • To continue building mature followers of Jesus Christ who seek Him constantly, serve Him faithfully, and share Him boldly. • To grow as an equipping center and be a place where people continue to come for outstanding corporate worship, Bible teaching, and training in ministry. • To grow through encouraging, connected, and accountable community groups. PAGE 3/2006-2011 STRATEGIC PLAN OUR INITIATIVES OUR INITIATIVES Immanuel Bible Church will pursue six initiatives during the five-year planning period. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Community and Group Development Leadership Training Personal Evangelism Church Plant Local and Foreign Missions Personal and Corporate Prayer INITIATIVE 1 – COMMUNITY AND GROUP DEVELOPMENT In order to achieve a greater impact in our community, we need to be in the community. Our vision is to take the body-life ministries we experience on-campus and expand them into our neighborhoods. IBC members’ needs for fellowship will be met through encouraging, connected, and accountable community groups, the majority of which meet in locations other than the Immanuel campus. Thus, much of the time, energy and resources that have previously been invested in programs at the Immanuel campus will be freed to allow Immanuel members to have a greater and more deliberate impact in their community. As members spend less time at Immanuel and more time in their community, it is our hope that they will be afforded the necessary time to build additional relationships with non-believers. Those relationships may then become the context to effectively and boldly share the good news about Jesus Christ. IBC members will be encouraged to engage in every aspect of community life, to include local government, clubs, sports, service groups, scout troops, homeowners’ associations, and volunteer settings. As a result, it is our hope that people from every walk of life will be exposed PAGE 4/2006-2011 STRATEGIC PLAN to committed followers of Christ, boldly living out their faith in our community. Strategies to achieve this goal: • Enhance community dynamics at IBC through increased attendance in encouraging, connected, and accountable community groups. • Encourage every adult IBC attendee to serve as a volunteer somewhere in the community (Little League coach, PTA, volunteer fire department, literacy tutor, etc.) by the end of 2007, with the specific intent on sharing Christ. • Have 50% of our adult congregation actively participating in connected, accountable, and encouraging community groups by 2008 and 75% by 2011. INITIATIVE 2 – LEADERSHIP TRAINING There is a pressing need to cultivate the next generation of leaders both for our church and for our community at large. The Elders have decided that for the period covered by the 2006-2011 strategic plan, it will be a priority for the Immanuel Pastors, Elders, and Deacons to identify and invest in exceptional young men and women who are willing to join them in ministry leadership and development. Strategies to achieve this goal: • Develop and equip current and future ministry leaders through increased participation in IBC training programs such as Immanuel Bible Institute and Lay Counselor Training. • Develop and formalize a vibrant internship program designed to develop men and women for Christian ministry and graduate six people annually from our internship program • Establish an expanded partnership with Capital Bible Seminary and host seven Capital Bible Seminary courses each semester on IBC’s campus. • Establish a program designed to encourage and enable IBC members and attendees involved in ministry to recruit, train, and equip at least one new ministry volunteer • Have 280 people successfully complete a leadership training track. PAGE 5/2006-2011 STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE 3 – PERSONAL EVANGELISM Jesus Christ has enlisted all believers to participate in sharing the Good News and introducing others to the life changing relationship that they can experience when they simply place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. “Personal Evangelism” is best understood as giving unbelievers the opportunity to make an informed decision to trust in Christ. It is our obligation to engage the non-Christian world around us. Finding By finding common ground, the issues and perspectives that we share with non-Christians, will increase our evangelistic effectiveness. Strategies to achieve this goal: • Implement an evangelism training program that equips Immanuel members and attendees to include outreach as an emphasis in all ministries of the church. • Provide training and encouragement to each IBC attendee in an effort to collectively lead 365 people to Christ each year beginning in 2006. • Integrate evangelism training into a broad range of IBC programs. INITIATIVE 4 – CHURCH PLANTING Church planting – the development of new congregations in areas of a growing populations – is a significant way to broaden the outreach of Immanuel Bible Church. Our recent involvement as the “sending church” in the establishment of Gateway Bible Church in Gainesville, VA, in 200203, and our partnership with Grace Bible Church in Lorton, VA in 20052006 have helped us to realize both the importance and joy of forming a new congregation. Strategies to achieve this goal: • Research, recommend, and implement a satellite church. • Establish one or more new church plants or struggling church restarts. • Implement the process for one or more church plants/restarts. INITIATIVE 5 – LOCAL AND FOREIGN MISSIONS Immanuel Bible Church has from its inception has had a global vision for fulfilling the Great Commission. Whether across the street or around PAGE 6/2006-2011 STRATEGIC PLAN the world, our role is to live the Great Commandment of loving others as Christ loves them; and fulfilling the Great Commission by making disciples of EVERY nation. Strategies to achieve this goal include: • Establish a church-wide outreach to the urban populations in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. • Accelerate the assimilation of internationals into the Immanuel family through outreach programs, ethnic fellowships, and specific initiatives in each ministry council. • Establish a long-term relationship on a foreign mission field involving IBC attendees in short- and long-term mission commitments. • Send at least 150 IBC members on short-term mission trips each year. • Develop Immanuel’s Hispanic Ministry as a congregation fullyintegrated into the life and ministries of the church and led by its own pastor and ministry council. INITIATIVE 6 – PERSONAL AND CORPORATE PRAYER To be powered by the Spirit of God, and in order to experience success in any of these initiatives, we must pray. Prayer is a vital part of a spiritually mature Christian, and an emphasis on prayer is essential for the spiritual well-being of a church. A well developed and consistent prayer life is desired for all at Immanuel Bible Church. Strategies to achieve this goal: • Establish and sustain a monthly all-church prayer meeting in which our church will 1) praise and thank God for his work in and through our church, 2) ask him to cause spiritual awakening in our communities, 3) intercede for the ministries and needs in our home church and in the mission field, and 4) pray for other needs (our country, military, emergencies, etc. as decided by the pastors/elders) • Establish and sustain a monthly prayer guide for personal prayer that will remind IBC attendees of our total dependence upon God as He moves in our individual lives as members of the Body of Christ. PAGE 7/2006-2011 STRATEGIC PLAN HOW DO WE DEFINE SUCCESS? For Immanuel Bible Church, our desire is to • Become a church comprised of encouraging, connected, and accountable, COMMUNITY GROUPS, spanning both the current and next generation. • Train and equip and fully prepare the “next generation” for LEADERSHIP AND MINISTRY. • Win new believers into the church through PERSONAL EVANGELISM. • Advance our participation in spreading of the gospel by PLANTING CHURCHES in a strategic areas. • Αdvance our participation in spreading of the gospel by PLANTING CHURCHES in strategic areas. • Broaden our involvement in LOCAL AND FOREIGN MISSIONS in a variety of ways. • Become a church with greater devotion to PRAYER as we commit ourselves to the work of the Lord. PAGE 8/2006-2011 STRATEGIC PLAN IMMANUEL BIBLE CHURCH 6911 Braddock Road | Springfield, VA 22151-3602 703.941.4124 | FAX 703.813.1957 www.immanuelbible.net TRAINING ON THE CORNER TO REACH THE COMMUNITY FOR CHRIST