Setting Goals for the future

BY: Tim Hensiek

Setting Goals for the Future

Setting goals for the future is an important part of ministry.  We have to know what the success or the ‘win’ is and what we are doing to achieve it in anything we do in life.  You can have goals for becoming healthier, or how you want to raise your kids, or the work you want to accomplish, or the number of date nights you have with your spouse and so many other things in our lives.  Having goals, coming up with the right game plan, and preparing for the future is how we can be wise stewards of the time, the talents, the gifts, the money, and the church that God has entrusted to us.

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Setting goals is important to help you know how to reach them.  Without the goals in mind, we might not come up with the right strategy and direction for our ministries.  There can be a variety of approaches to setting goals for the future, but none of them will work if you don’t have the plan in front of you and be working to achieve the goal.  One method that I like and find helpful is to use the S.M.A.R.T. goal acronym developed by George Doran back in 1981.  He wrote this for the business world but I think it applies in so many areas, including ministry. It gives us a proper framework in setting goals. The acronym S.M.A.R.T. stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

Specific means: What is the specific goal you want to reach?  What are you trying to accomplish in your small groups or Sunday school, or connection groups?  What is the main purpose of each of the weekly student gatherings?  Here we are answering the who, what, where, when, and why of the goal.  Details are good!

Measurable means: How will you measure the goal?  How will you know if you are reaching it?  How are you tracking the progress?  After all, you can’t improve what you don’t measure.  If you set a goal of growing your weekly student service, then you have to be counting the people walking in those services and begin tracking it to know if you are growing, plateauing, or even declining.

Achievable means: Can you achieve the desired goal?  The goal you set must be achievable or attainable.  You want to set goals to challenge yourself but you do not want to set goals that are impossible to reach!  For example, if you are thinking about your Sunday school or small group numbers.  Let’s say you normally have 50 students come on Sunday morning.  An achievable goal would be thinking about effective ways to grow that gathering by ten percent from 50 to 55 students.  It isn’t helpful, at least in the short-term, to set a goal of 125 students! 

Realistic or relevant means: Does this goal help you to reach the overall mission or vision of the church?  Is the goal relevant?  You want the goals you set to be closely connected to the overall objective.  I want the goals that I set in student ministry to fall under the overall objective or mission of the church.  For example, I want the goals that I have for student mission trips to be related to the goals that we have for accomplishing the great commission as a church body.

Timely means: Can the goal be reached in the necessary time.  We need to assign a beginning and ending time to the goals that we set.  A completion date holds you accountable to the task!  Maybe you are trying to renovate a student area in the building and a time-line will keep you on task and making forward progress.  Being time-bound also helps you to be able to evaluate if you have reached your goal.  If you are trying to grow the student service and have a goal of growing by 10%, there also needs to be a time frame attached to it.  The goal could be to try to grow by 10% this school year or in the next 6 months.  When there is a time frame attached to our goals, it gives us a sense of urgency and leads to healthy evaluation.

Why have goals?

Ministry necessitates us to have both short-term goals and long-term goals.  Having goals helps to keep the mission and objective in the forefront of our minds.  When I don’t have a goal, it makes it easier to lack passion and purpose in what I am doing.  It becomes mundane or I feel like I am just checking another ball-game, another service, or another event off of my to-do list.  Having simple goals in my mind when I am having conversations with students at a ball-game helps me to be more intentional with my time while I am there. 

Goals will help you to complete the task that you want to accomplish.  Goals help force you to answer those questions above (S.M.A.R.T.) that help to give you clear direction and vision during planning.  Goals help you to be more productive and to stay on task.  Goals also help you do proper evaluation.  What worked well?  What wasn’t helpful?  How can we improve?  Why didn’t we hit the goal?  Why did we hit the goal?  Were we successful?

What are some helpful goals?

You can have goals in a variety of areas.  Goals help to motivate me, give me purpose, and help me come up with the game plan to achieve them.  Goals are useful in tracking numbers.  Set goals for the attendance numbers at events.  Set goals for the numbers attending the weekly gatherings.  Set goals for the number of student contacts that you have each week. 

Goals are also useful in tracking spiritual growth.  Set goals for the number of students in bible studies.  Set goals for the number of times that students share the gospel with their friends.  Set goals for the number of students that are in a mentorship relationship with leaders.  Set goals for students inviting guests.  These are the evidence of spiritual growth in their lives!

Goals are also helpful in planning and organizing.  Set goals to have a structured preaching plan organized in advance.  Set goals of having event details and instructions available to students and parents so many weeks or months ahead.  Set goals of training your student ministry leaders and investing in them on a regular basis.

My point is, there are SO MANY THINGS that you can set goals for!  And setting goals helps you come up with the right game plan to reach or succeed at the goal. 

Today, technology is our friend!  There are so many apps and widgets that are available to help you set goals, to be more productive, and to remain on task.  So, let’s be faithful to the Lord in the little things, the planning things, the detail things.  The Lord will use our perseverance and persistence to grow His Kingdom as we serve Him with excellence, determination and yes…even organization and goals.

Tim Hensiek is the Student Pastor at First Baptist Manchester in Manchester, Tennessee. Tim and his wife, Shawnda, have three children, Chloe, Judson and Brody.