Stuart Murray

Church planting literature contains plenty of encouragement to set clear goals as you embark on church planting. There is certainly some value in having goals at which to aim in that these provide some benchmarks for review and accountability. But in a church planting situation – especially where you are attempting to plant a new kind of church or to plant into a different community than the one with which you are familiar – it may not be feasible to set goals until later in the process. On what basis are these established? Against what criteria will progress be measured?

I suggest that establishing goals, even when this is appropriate, should be the third strategic priority rather than the first. Many church plants are built on very shaky foundations and fail to thrive because of this. Rather than setting arbitrary goals, they would have done better to have worked first on two other issues: values and purpose. Let me try to clarify the differences between values, purpose, and goals:

In a British church planting manual, the authors summarise how these elements fit together:

Values underpin both purpose and goals. Make sure there is no essential contradiction or potential conflict between the values that a church holds and the purpose or goal that it selects. . . . Goals represent the means by which values and purpose are given concrete expression. . . . Purpose tends to stand half-way between goals and values. A good purpose statement can help to hold together the feelings represented by values and the actions represented by goals.

Why is this so important? First, a statement of core values helps to unite a new church and to avert causes for confusion or disunity. It is helpful not only for the church planting team but also for new members to understand the ethos and values of the church. Second, this statement helps to clarify the mission and focus of the new church. No one church can be or do everything. Existing activities and new proposals can be assessed in the light of the fundamental values and purpose of the church.

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