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Category: Strategic Planning

INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS – Strategic PlanningTemplate #1

Some say that strategic planning (hereafter: SP) is a trend in the business world and therefore shouldn’t be applied to the church. However: The fact that it’s trendy in the business world doesn’t make it wrong. SP should be judged by Biblical and practical criteria, on its own merits. Planning, with humility, the fear of…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

PURPOSE: Strategic Planning Template #2

  Is there a difference between mission  (what the church is supposed to DO) and purpose  (the ultimate reason for why the church EXISTS)? 1. Some evangelical writers/thinkers say “no,” there is no difference and leave it at that. 2. Other evangelical leaders confuse the issue (in my opinion) by coming up with several  purposes…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

FINDING OUR MISSION: Strategic Planning Template #3

Jesus wasn’t always easy to understand but He did make the church’s mission clear and simple. Study Matthew 28:16-20 – There is only one command here in the original language.  What is it? Three participles (ing words) describe how the command gets done.  What are they? Going – this is the action that we must…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

OUR DESIGNER DISCIPLE: Strategic Planning Template #4

 “Designer disciple” is not a great term. It conjures up all sorts of images and most them are not good.  But I’ve never heard a better term, so for the moment, we’ll stick with it. The concept is not to be confused with the “Saddleback Sam” or comical “Green Bay Gary” type character who is…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

FOCUS GROUPS – Strategic Planning Template #5

In my experiences of helping churches with strategic planning tasks – clarifying their purpose, mission, designer disciple, values, vision and strategy – the most controversial part of the process has always been the possible choice of a target or focus group. A focus group is a demographic niche which a church deliberately decides to concentrate…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

VALUES – Strategic Planning Template #6

  Valuable Thoughts On Values:   Values are the underlying assumptions and beliefs about what is important, that guide our decision making and our behavior. They are what’s important to us as we seek to achieve our purpose, fulfill our mission and realize our vision. They are a big part of a church’s CULTURE. Values…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

VISION – Strategic Planning Template #7

The creation of a vision statement vies with the identification of a focus (or target) group as being the most controversial aspect of the strategic planning (hereafter: SP) process.  It has, in fact, been said that there are two kinds of pastors in the world: those who love talking about vision and those (probably a…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

STRATEGY – Strategic Planning Template #8

Introductory Quotes:  Do you agree or disagree?  Why or why not? “For most churches, doing anything intentionally would be an improvement.”  Anonymous “Vision is worthless without strategy.” Attributed to Aubrey Malphurs “…anyone who fails to define their strategy is not only foolish but also demonstrating poor management of the time, talents and treasure of their…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Church Structure, Strategic Planning

Mission And Vision Contrasted: Why Pastors Need To Share Their Dreams

SUMMARY: Sharing your church’s mission is good, but also sharing what you believe God wants your church to become (your vision) is even better.  Here’s why: You’ve probably heard management and leadership contrasted: “Management deals with what already exists; leadership deals with what will or should exist.”  “Management deals with present realities; leadership deals with…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Healthy Pastors, Leadership, Strategic Planning

QUICK GUIDE – Discipleship Pathways – Strategies For Discipling

  Increasing numbers of evangelical church leaders believe in “intentional disciple-making.”  This means having a plan, a system, a process for bringing new believers to maturity in Christ.  We encourage every church to decide on a discipleship pathway for their own congregation.  It may be very imperfect, but an imperfect discipleship pathway is far better than none…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Disciple Making, Quick Guides, Strategic Planning

Is Planning Unspiritual?

In a recent post, Ten Planning Principles From The Book Of Proverbs, I shared the results of a study I did on the subject of planning in that heaven-sent, down-to-earth book. I concluded at the end of my short summary that God commends planning which follows the principles found in Proverbs and He will bless pure-hearted, prayerful…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Healthy Pastors, Leadership, Strategic Planning

Ten Planning Principles From The Book Of Proverbs

Is strategic planning Biblical?  Is it wise? Is it helpful?  The Book of Proverbs answers these questions with a resounding “Yes!” if we follow the following principles: 1. Planning, thinking deeply about our future work, is legitimate and wise. Don’t just “go with the flow” while claiming to be spontaneous or Spirit-led. (Somebody said that “Only…

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Filed Under: Healthy Pastors, Leadership, Strategic Planning

Four Bottom-line Truths About Vision

Vision is like the weather: everybody’s talking about it but nobody’s doing much about it. Let’s try to de-mystify this a bit, and maybe we can do something about it. Vision is simply a dream, a mental picture, of a better future. As leadership begins with dissatisfaction with the current state of things and a…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Healthy Pastors, Leadership, Strategic Planning

Book Review: The Unstuck Church

As a new pastor I was given a big set of cassette tapes which told me exactly what I wanted to hear. As a gifted teacher it was music to my ears to hear from a superstar pastor that all I needed to do was to study the Bible all week, pausing a few times…

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Church Health/Revitalization, Healthy Pastors, Leadership, Seriously Troubled Churches, Strategic Planning

Three Advantages To Choosing A Focus Group

In my experiences of helping churches with strategic planning tasks – clarifying their mission, ideal disciple, values, vision and strategy – the most controversial part of the process has always been the possible choice of a target or focus group. A focus group is a demographic niche which a church deliberately decides to concentrate on…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

Eight Ways To Choose A Focus Group

The congregation’s leadership team worked through the delicate discussion about the wisdom of choosing a target or focus group. As usual, some good people reacted to the concept of seeking to identify a God-chosen demographic group for their church to focus on reaching for Christ. The objections centered around fairness, exclusivity, prejudice (or “respect of…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

Demystifying The “Vision Thing”

Vision is like the weather: everybody’s talking about it but nobody’s doing anything about it. If nobody’s doing anything about it, it’s because practically everybody is confused about it. Demystifying the “vision thing” has become a passion for me. It doesn’t have to be painfully confusing. And a single, unifying vision really is vital, not…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Leadership, Strategic Planning

A Different Way To Download A Vision

Just about everybody knows that vision is important. It gets us dreaming and praying and moving in the same direction. When a Christian ministry believes it has received a vision from God, it’s very powerful. The “catch” of course, is how we get this vision from God. There are innumerable opinions on the subject as…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Leadership, Strategic Planning

Book Review: I Once Was Lost

Delightful. That’s my one word review of the book by Presbyterian pastor Don Everts and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship coordinator, Doug Schaupp (IVP Books). The two have extensive experience in leading college-age postmodern skeptics to faith in Christ; more than two thousand of them, in fact. Their book is based on a great deal of listening…

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Disciple Making, Strategic Planning

Four Ways Great Churches Keep It Simple

“Out of complexity, find simplicity.” Albert Einstein Not everything in life is simple, of course. There’s doing your taxes. Or getting your new computer up and running. Sigh. But the longer I live, the more I value the genius and the hard work which it takes to arrive at the elegant simplicity that is on…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Church Structure, Disciple Making, Strategic Planning

Three Ways Great Churches Focus On Action

“Words! Words! I get words all day through; First from him, now from you! Is that all you blighters can do?” Eliza Doolittle singing “Show Me” in Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” It sounds simplistic but I believe it’s true. Mediocre churches focus on words; great churches focus on actions. Here’s what…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Disciple Making, Strategic Planning

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Testimonials

Elder Jim I wanted to let you know that we have really made some huge changes in the last few months.  We are seeing new people every week and we had a leadership meeting with 23 in attendance. Pastor ______ is doing well and God is doing amazing things.  Thanks for your support, prayers and love for the church!
Elder Jim
A New Church-Goer ...thank you for your messages at [our church] over the past weeks.  I just started going to _____________ while you were there and hadn't been to church in decades.  Your messages kept me coming back...  Thank you for helping me find my way back to God.
A New Church-Goer
Pastor Trey Turner "Brian is an experienced and insightful investigator of church systems.  He has real skill in looking at and diagnosing some areas needing attention.  I benefited greatly from his insight.  As a result, our church is benefiting greatly.  The process Brian took us through gave it the encouragement it needed to begin coming out of the 2020 difficulties.  We will work on the insights Brian provided as a roadmap back to better health."
Pastor Trey Turner
Pastor Greg Lund I've appreciated so much Brian's very practical coaching as he's guided me and the leadership of our church as we've sought to become more effective for God's kingdom. His extensive experience in assisting churches navigate a variety of issues makes him highly qualified to help lead churches through congregational change.
Pastor Greg Lund
Pastor Bruce Jahnke
"Our church is extremely grateful for the insight, adaptability and wisdom Brian so graciously contributed to our needs as we transitioned.  Our pastor transition was from Father to Son, which is by definition, difficult.  Yet Brian was able to foresee issues, feelings and responses with high accuracy.  Brian is personable, yet can direct when he needs to help us be reasonable and vision-oriented."

Pastor Bruce Jahnke
Andy Shanholtz I had the privilege of co leading a pastor’s training group with Brian. Brian’s wealth of knowledge and practical experience was an asset to all of us. The interaction with the group and the relationships built was a great value. I highly recommend having Brian facilitate a group to provide invaluable resources and practical knowledge.
Andy Shanholtz
Pastor Jed Manders
Leadership development within cohorts and peer groups has become increasingly popular, and rightfully so. Being involved in Brian’s leadership training group allowed me the opportunity to work through challenges, develop strengths and learn from both reading and peer development.


Pastor Jed Manders
Pastor Mark Pitroff "I have been so privileged and encouraged to be ministered to by Brian Thorstad as I have served as an Interim Pastor here in central Wisconsin.  He has been such a help and encouragement to me and especially, to this church I have served - Faith Community Church of Waupaca.  His leadership in helping us develop the “Journey Wall” enabled us to look back on the church’s history, the high points as well as the difficulties faced, especially in recent years.   Brian has helped FCC recover from a very difficult time…  Brian was such an encouragement to us, especially in the early months of recovery and preparation."
Pastor Mark Pitroff
Pastor Dan Norman “I enjoyed getting to know the guys in the group [and] I appreciated the thought, mind and spiritual challenges presented… I found many things that I was able to immediately apply, and I am still developing next steps that much of the discussion and training of this class helped to build a foundation for. [The handouts on strategic planning] will continue to be helpful in trying to guide our church to being more intentional. This [was] exactly what I was looking for at exactly the time I needed it.”
Pastor Dan Norman
Pastor Steven Boyd  "This course showed me that I, as a solo pastor, have to do things that don’t come naturally to me and has given me some tools to do the hard things.”
Pastor Steven Boyd 
Pastor Brian Schley “I found value in our meetings and am grateful you invited me to be part of it as a ‘future senior pastor.’ I enjoyed being able to be part of the conversations and glean from those beyond me. Thanks for your leadership with the group and your heart for pastors!”
Pastor Brian Schley
Pastor Todd Sauve "It was a privilege to have been a part of a pastors group led by Brian Thorstad. It's always great to learn from other pastors, and someone needs to provide leadership to make that happen. I'm thankful that Brian was willing to do that, and to share from both his successes and failures in ministry. He's honest, humble, and cares about people."
Pastor Todd Sauve

Brian A. Thorstad

Call: 651-319-1953

Email: churchwhisperer@gmail.com

1931 Cook Avenue
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494

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