Pastoral Guidance for 2010 Ministry Year and Planning Budget
My Brothers and Sisters,
Hallelujah to the Lord our God. The Almighty Reigns! When I think about how the Lord is blessing our church and the privilege he has given us to belong to him, I must give PRAISE TO GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW! Although the things in our society may not be going as well as we would like, God Almighty Reigns!
It is my great delight to provide you with Pastoral Guidance for planning next year’s ministry and, to ask all of you to once again seek the Lord for his wisdom and guidance as we prepare to do ministry in 2010.
There is absolutely no doubt that God has been gracious to us and that Mount Pleasant is continuing to be involved in ministry in many parts of the world. I am grateful that God has given birth to a vision for our church that has helped to guide us over these last several years. While he continues to show us new insight into how to progress the current vision, our overall mission remains the same. We must go into the entire world and make disciples.
God has allowed us in 2009, to take some time for self-examination and to ensure the masses of our fellowship have a good handle on the fundamentals of our faith. Therefore, we have been placing emphasis on the basics of our faith, as well as continuing other aspects of ministry that leads us towards Christian maturity. Additionally, we identified a goal to pay off the balance of our church’s loan within two years. In 2010, we will continue to build on the initiatives of 2009 and we will aggressively pursue ways to acquire a physical plant that can better accommodate our congregational growth and the ever expanding kingdom work done by all of our ministries.
Our theme for 2010 is “Building Upon The Foundation Of Our Past As We Move Into The Future.” Ephesians 2:19-22 says “…you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (NIV, emphasis added).
I believe that God has put us together so that we can continue to rise together to do great things for the Kingdom of God. Our church has over 60 ministries that give us the organizational foundation to accomplish the mission of our church. However, as we pray and seek God’s direction for 2010, I am asking that every ministry focus on three main areas; Assembling, Equipping/Empowering, and Sending. Assembling includes coming together for worship and fellowship. Equipping and empowering is ensuring that we incorporate training in God’s word and preparation to send. Sending is every person and ministry responsibility to respond to God as the prophet Isaiah, “…here am I. Send me!”(Isaiah 6:8). Remember, what we do should be done with the ultimate goal of transforming people lives for the Kingdom of God.
1 Chronicles 12, verse 32 says in part that the men of Issachar understood the times and knew what Israel should do. I believe that the people of God must always be discerning of the Will of God, operating in the faith that God has empowered us with. I also believe, however, that we must operate with wisdom and understand the times we are living in. Our church, along with most churches, has felt the impact of these lean economic times. Yet God continues to bless us with great growth and ministry opportunities.
In 2009, our ministry directors accepted and implemented a challenge to accomplish the ministry goals and objectives set forth at the beginning of the year with a forty percent reduction in spending levels. This was collectively agreed upon in order for us to achieve the payoff of the primary loan for our facility in light of the economic times. While, we have made some modifications in our 2009 ministry plan, we believe we will achieve the majority of our plan by the end of the year. We believe that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, diligence, planning and solid stewardship, we can realize increases in total ministry activity while continuing to reduce expenditures. Therefore, we must continue to seek God on how to further our church vision while exercising financial discipline and looking for innovative ways to conduct the ministry activities God has revealed to us.
As you read this letter and pray for our church and its vision, I encourage you to fervently seek the Lord to show you your part. I am asking every active member of our church to proactively participate in the planning for ministry for 2010, and I am asking that careful consideration be given the resources that will support this planning. As we plan together, I am asking all of you to seek God on how He would have us achieve the goals of our vision. You are asked to submit your input by answering seven questions. They are:
- What did God say do?
- When and how did He communicate it (if this was done in the prior year, are there any changes God has revealed regarding how to do it)?
- How can what He said be supported by scripture?
- How does what He said fit within the overall mission and vision of our church?
- What are the estimated resources (people, time and material) needed to accomplish what He said?
- When should this event take place (proposed date and time)?
- What is a creative approach to conducting this activity (resources, costs, collaboration, partnering, and timing)?
Your input to these questions must be provided to your ministry leadership no later than (NLT) September 11th, 2009. It is very important that we receive your input by this date so that we can complete our planning in a timely manner. If you are not yet actively involved in one of our ministries, you can provide your input to your care group Deacon, my administrative assistant, or the Director of Administration.
As we seek the Lord and begin to formulate our plans for ministry and the budget for 2010, please keep in mind our primary purpose is to spread the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help to make and develop disciples.
Each ministry directorate’s goal should be to target holding their budget requests for 2010 at the reduced 2009 expenditure levels. While this will be a challenge, it will require us to additionally seek God for new and innovative ways to conduct ministry while remaining true to the vision and mission of our church. We have proven that God will empower us to do more with less when we stay focused on spreading the Gospel message. God has truly blessed our fellowship and has given us tremendous reach world-wide and, I am convinced that He will honor our diligence and further expand our ministry opportunities as a result of our enhanced stewardship.
The budget committee for coordinating the 2010 budget includes representatives from Finance, the Diaconate, Trustees, Christian Academy, Administration, Church Members At-Large, Education and Missions. The budget committee will work with the Director of Administration to ensure the budget is completed NLT November 15th, 2010.
I thank God and you for allowing me and my family the privilege to continue to serve you here at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. May God Always Be Glorified in What We Do!
James L. Graham, Jr.
Pastor
