Strategic Initiatives
First Priority 2015 is all about churches. It is about acknowledging we exist to serve churches and church leaders. It is about focusing on the needs of local congregations and seeking to minimize denominational bureaucracies and overhead. It is an effort to remember Churchnet is merely the way churches cooperate to strengthen their ministries and do together what they would not be able to do alone.
Strategic Initiatives are the areas where decisive action must be taken if we are to reach our goals, fulfill our vision, and achieve our mission. No organization can do everything. When an organization identifies the strategic initiatives it is saying, “We cannot do everything, but these things we must do!” Churchnet is focused on the following initiatives as we seek to expand our capacity to serve churches.
RESOURCES
We will identify, evaluate, and provide access to existing and new resources to assist local churches with their ministries through the development of a comprehensive web-based resource center. The resource center will serve as a clearinghouse and access point for resources, information, materials, and “best practices.” It is a place for church leaders to find and share resources.
TRAINING
We will facilitate the development of an online training and leadership development program for church leaders through webinars and other web-based conferences and network events. The training program will involve collaborative efforts with institutions and other ministry organizations. It will also include the development of a Leadership Certification process.
RELATIONSHIPS
We will strategically and intentionally establish networks, affinity groups, and church-to-church partnerships and relationships to enhance collaboration, support systems, and cooperation among our churches. The convention staff and teams will also seek to assist in connecting church leaders to those who have the potential to strengthen their ministry. The Churchnet Forums and Discussion Groups are designed to provide a setting for greater collaboration and networking among the churches we serve.
CONSULTATIONS
We will provide personal consultations with churches and church leaders as needed, especially in the areas of crisis intervention, conflict resolution, strategic planning, intentional interim ministry, search committee services, dealing with change, defining needs, and congregational health. This strategy will be enhanced by the identification and training of consultants in our churches. We will seek to link qualified consultants with churches and church leaders to assist in developing and improving Kingdom ministries.
MISSIONS
We will expand our current mission partnerships to include at least one mission partnership opportunity within Missouri, our Nation, and International settings to provide opportunities for local church mission involvement. This strategy will also seek to assist our congregations in developing and implementing a comprehensive mission strategy in their congregation with a particular focus on new cross-cultural ministries in our state.
CHURCH STARTING
We will assist our churches in starting new churches and congregational units by identifying and prioritizing church starting needs, enlisting and training potential sponsoring churches, providing assessment and training programs for church starters, and providing resources, support systems, and start-up funds for new congregations.
INSTITUTIONS
We will provide support for and collaborate with our Missouri Baptist institutional partners in ways that will enhance their ministry and allow our congregations to benefit from their ministries. This strategy includes partnering with institutions as we seek to implement all of our strategic initiatives. It also includes collaborative efforts with institutional partners outside of our state including the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Associated Baptist Press, Baptist Center for Ethics, Central Baptist Theological Seminary, and others.
