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You are here: Home / Articles / How to Start a Ministry (From Scratch)

How to Start a Ministry (From Scratch)

November 8, 2017 by Charles Stone Articles, Growth

I began as Lead Pastor at my current church, West Park Church in London, Ontario, four years ago. When I started I faced a steep learning curve. I not only needed to understand a new church culture, but a new country culture as well. So, I developed what I called my six month on-boarding plan to best discern what needed to be done early on. If you are wanting to know how to start a ministry, if you’ll put in place these five essentials as you begin, your chances of success will increase. In this post I state those five essentials.

A book that’s helped me create my plan and one that I recommend for pastors transitioning to a new church is The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, by Michael D. Watkins. He also has an iPhone app as well. The book is a must read. He suggests that before you implement a change, you must make sure you have these five supporting pillars in place.

5 Essentials of How to Start A Ministry:

  1. Awareness. A critical mass of people aware of the need for change.
  2. Diagnosis. You know what needs to be changed and why.
  3. Vision. You have a compelling vision and a solid strategy.
  4. Plan. You have the expertise to put together a detailed plan.
  5. Support. You have developed a sufficiently strong group of supporters to implement your plan.

So the next time you plan to start a new ministry initiate, consider these five pillars.

What other pillars would you add?

Related posts:

  • Strategic Planning for Dummies
  • 7 Benefits of an Overlooked Planning Tool

Reference: Watkins, Michael D. (2013-04-23). The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter (Kindle Locations 1711-1715). Harvard Business Review Press. Kindle Edition

This article originally appeared here.

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About Charles Stone

Charles Stone is the pastor of West Park Church in Canada. Charles is passionate about the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and Biblical truth. Charles is the author of numerous articles and a handful of books, including Holy Noticing. He and his wife have three adult children and two grandchildren.

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