Step One:
Assessing Needs and Interests
Planning for the long term helps keep everything in perspective and flowing together. It also enables groups to focus on what is coming. Some major events like mission projects demand long-term planning. For whatever reason, it's helpful to plan at least quarterly. Let's assume you are planning for the next three months, with a group that includes seventeen people.
To assess needs and interests, decide on how you are going to gather information from each person. Let's say your planning group decides to interview each member personally. You take the list of group members and assign each person on the planning team three or four to interview. You agree on four questions and a time when all the interviews must be completed. The questions may include: "What are two strengths of our group right now? Two weaknesses?" "What three topics could we use for program ideas that would really interest you?" "What two fun activities would you like us to do as a group?"
When each person has been interviewed, gather the answers and collate them in your planning group.
Step Two:
Setting a Goal Statement
After looking over the results of the interviews and discussing them, list the most common strengths, weaknesses, topics, and activities. As you consider long-term goals, it may be helpful to create a goal statement in each of the five areas of a congregation's life: worship, study, ministry within the congregation, service, and fellowship. For instance, your goals might say:
Worship: We will include a brief worship time at the end of all of our evening programs, which will be led by a team of one adult and one youth group member.
Study: We will focus in-depth study on three specific topics highlighted by our interviews. These topics include family relationships, understanding why there are other denominations, and interpreting the Bible so it makes sense to us.
Ministry within the congregation: We will volunteer to usher once a month for worship and will be responsible for decorating the social hall for the Halloween party and potluck dinner.
Service/Mission/Social Action: We will collect donations, assemble, and deliver food baskets for Thanksgiving.
Fellowship: We will have a fun activity once a month and plan and publicize our February ski retreat.
Step Three:
Designing the Program
Because you are looking at the overall program for three months, you do not need to look at specifics for each session. What you must do, however, is assign dates, times, and responsibilities. Post or distribute a series of monthly calendars. Given your goal statements, fill in the calendars with your monthly activities and weekly meetings. Set locations and times and determine who will be the key contact. For instance, is the whole group going to plan everything or will certain people be responsible for collecting food baskets?
Step Four:
Doing the Program
Either one individual or the whole group will have to hold one another accountable for actually doing their part. Once the final calendar is set, consider publishing it and sending it to all members of the group, members of the clergy, congregational leaders, and your diocesan youth coordinator. Get the word out!
Step Five:
Evaluating the Program
On a monthly basis, meet together as the planning team to check progress on future programs and evaluate the past month's programs. You will also need to go through this process again for the next quarter. When you do, stop to consider if you have met the goals you set. Ask yourselves: "What did we do well? What needed more work. What would we change for next quarter?"
You may not need to assess needs again so soon. If your first assessment was accurate and gathered enough information for you, it may last you the entire year---all four quarters.
Congratulations! You've completed the five-step process for long-term planning.
© 1996 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society PECUSAThis article is from Handbook for Ministries with Older Adolescents, a publication of the Ministries with Young People Cluster of the Episcopal Church Center, New York, NY. Permission is granted for congregational use and use by diocesan youth coordinators. You may order this resource from Episcopal Parish Services.
