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Good strategic planning combines an openness to God's presence with an understanding of congregational norms, size, systems, and polities. Grasp the steps and stages of sound strategic planning for your congregation.
To learn more, click on Approaches to Strategic Planning. Then, check out the basic and in-depth resources listed below!
LEADERSHIP : Strategic Planning
  Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations (Book)
Gilbert R. Rendle, Alice Mann, Authors.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2003.
This book, loaded with strategic planning tools, insists that it is not the tools—but the conversations evoked by the tools—that most benefit a congregation.
Projects That Matter: Successful Planning and Evaluation for Religious Organizations (Book)
Kathleen A. Cahalan, Author.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2003.
Projects That Matter introduces readers to project planning, using as a framework the elements of condition, resources, activities, results, impact, and rationale. It also identifies six effective steps in the evaluation process.
Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation (Book)
George Bullard, Author.
St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2006.
George Bullard offers congregations a comprehensive approach to what he calls a "spiritual strategic journey." This approach provides tools for assessing and developing congregational vitality.
 Spiritual Strategic Journey: Tutorial for Congregational Redevelopment (Web Resource)
George Bullard, director of the Hollifield Center, has written this free on-line tutorial to help you understand congregational redevelopment and use redevelopment resources in creative and effective ways.
 Strategic Planning for Churches: An Appreciative Approach (Multimedia)
Distributed by Christianity Today, Inc.
Strategic Planning for Churches applies appreciative inquiry to the strategic planning process. Charles Elliott explains what appreciative inquiry is, how it works, and why it can help congregations envision and act upon a vital future.
Studying Congregations: A New Handbook (Book)
Nancy T. Ammerman, Jackson W. Carroll, Carl S. Dudley, William McKinney, Editors.
Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1998.
This essay collection from scholars and leaders of congregational life provides basic tools and fresh perspectives for studying congregations. It guides readers in understanding the theology, values, and practices of congregations.
Twelve Keys to an Effective Church (Book)
Kennon L. Callahan, Author.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1997.
This book, the cornerstone of Kennon Callahan's "effective church" collection, is designed "to assist local churches in their strategic long-range planning to be effective churches in mission."
 The Board Member’s Guide to Strategic Planning: A Practical Approach to Strengthening Nonprofit Organizations (Book)
Fisher Howe, Author.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1997.
This book will help eliminate the dissatisfaction many congregations have about the results of their strategic planning by carefully moving through the planning process step-by-step.
Cracking Your Congregation’s Code: Mapping Your Spiritual DNA to Create Your Future (Book)
Richard Southern, Robert Norton, Authors.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
Richard Southern and Robert Norton provide a tested development and planning model that helps a spiritual community to clearly articulate why it exists, what it is doing, and where it would like to go.
Discerning God’s Will Together: A Spiritual Practice for the Church (Book)
Danny E. Morris, Charles M. Olsen, Authors.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 1997.
Recognizing the limits of parliamentary procedures, reasoned discourse, and majority rule in group decision-making, Danny Morris and Charles Olsen offer a full but concise guide to the alternative process of spiritual discernment.
Discerning Your Congregation's Future: A Strategic and Spiritual Approach (Book)
Roy M. Oswald, Robert E. Friedrich Jr., Authors.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 1996.
Combining practical mission planning with a deeply grounded spiritual dimension, the authors have developed a "visioning" and mission development process that enables the whole congregation to understand and foster change.
The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning (Book)
Henry Mintzberg, Author.
Free Press, 1994.
Henry Mintzberg asserts that strategic planning frequently fails because planning—as a formal procedure—focuses on analysis, while strategy building focuses on synthesis. For Mintzberg, analysis cannot produce synthesis.
Strategic Leadership for a Change: Facing Our Losses, Finding Our Future (Book)
Kenneth J. McFayden, Author.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2009.
This book explores the crucial yet often overlooked need for congregations to identify and grieve the losses that accompany change before attempting to cast a vision for their future.
Strategic Planning Training (Web Resource)
This downloadable document from Leadership Resources' Building Church Leaders Web site provides a guide to developing strategic thinking among congregational leaders.
Ten Dumb Things Churches Do: And How To Avoid Them (Book)
Philip Wiehe, Author.
Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2001.
Recognizing that most church challenges and conflicts come from within, interim and consultant Philip Wiehe has laid out ten things churches do that subvert their own best efforts and desires.
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