How to Develop a 5-Year Ministry Plan (And Why You Should)

I’m in a new-to-me place: a full-time ministry position with a reasonable expectation of being here for many years.

Of course only God knows the future, but with past positions, I knew I would probably move for my husband’s job after a year or two. But with this job, there’s no move on the horizon, and maybe never.

In my previous positions, I was highly conscious of giving my successor the best starting point I could. But I knew that my choices wouldn’t necessarily influence the ministry down the road.

Now things are different, and that’s where the 5-year ministry plan comes in.

You Need to Know Where You’re Going

You have to get past the race from Sunday to Sunday, and from program year to program year. If you don’t know where you’re heading, how can you actually lead?

If you haven’t heard of 5-year plans before, they are basically what they sound like: loooong term goals and plans. The idea is basically that you need long term destinations so you know where you’d like to drive your car on the journey of life.

Many of us already plan in one year increments. What are my goals for this program year? What money do we need to raise this fiscal year?

But many of the things we want to build take a lot longer than one year.

Build a successful youth program? You need more than a year.

Write a book? Probably will take more than a year.

Learn a completely new skill set? Depends on the skill and your aptitude for it, but most complicated skills take a long time to acquire.

A 5-year plan helps you put those big projects into perspective and gives you the space you need to dream.

Why 5 Years?

I don’t think 5 years is a magical time period. Some folks would rather think about a 3 years stretch, and I think that’s good too.

The important thing is having a time period that encourages you to think big and get comfortable with unpredictability.

It also needs to be short enough for you to be able to plan for the big things you want to do.

This plan isn’t for the someday/maybe dreams, but the “I can start building this right now” kinds of dreams. (Even if the first step of “start building” is “learn how to build.”)

How to Develop a 5-Year Plan

The 5-year plans that I’ve written have two steps. First, imagine what you want to build, develop, and/or grow. Second, work backwards from your goal to make an action plan.

Step 1: Imagine What You Want to Build

In leading ministry programs, we can forget that this imagination is a huge component of our jobs. It’s really easy to get lost in the weeds!

But leaders have to imagine the possibilities in their programs and then develop plans to achieve them.

As part of Step 1, you might find it helpful to categorize your goals into ones you can control, and ones you can’t.

For example, I can control whether I write book manuscripts. But I can’t control whether they get published through traditional routes. I can control whether I make a choral program that people want to be part of. But I can’t control whether choir rehearsal and job schedules conflict.

Step 2: Work Backwards to Make an Action Plan

The great thing about 5-year plans is that they are short enough to see the steps you need to take to make those plans reality.

Here’s an example of working backwards:

One of my long term goals is a thriving children’s choir at my church.

So I’ve started singing each Sunday with the toddlers and preschoolers. Every week, I’m teaching them that singing with me and with each other is a normal and fun part of their church experience.

Down the road, I hope that this results in a thriving children’s choir. And even further down the road, I hope this experience contributes to their lifelong love of congregational singing.

You Can’t Reverse the Steps (But Routines Are Powerful)

It really is Step 1 then Step 2. Otherwise your day-to-day work might never amount to more than the sum of its parts. To build something, you have to know what you’re building.

That said, routines and incremental improvements are powerful tools. Most of the programs we build rely on doing the daily work, over weeks, months, and years.

Having a 5-year plans helps us know what daily work to do.

Have you developed a 5-year plan? How has it helped you lead your ministry program? (Any spectacular changes in your plan like I had?!)

P.S. Here’s Craig Harmann on the importance of “easily erasable and flexible” ministry planning—so true!

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