Hi <<First Name>>! Thank you for taking time to read this email during what I know is one of your busiest seasons!
The end of a year is the perfect time to look back at what God did through your ministry this year and look ahead with excitement about what's to come. So today I'd like to talk about setting goals for your ministry in 2020!
There are lots of variables when setting goals in a ministry setting. There's only so much you can control. You may want to add fifteen new families to your ministry, but you can't control that outcome. But you could plan an event that serves special-needs families (like a free sensory friendly movie) and create a follow-up process that makes it easy to invite those families to visit your church. When setting goals, make sure you set goals with actionable steps you can take!
Here's the process I like to take when setting ministry goals:
Evaluate what's working and not working right now.
Strengthen what is going right.
Fix what's wrong.
Pay attention to what God is already doing and join Him there.
Here's a quick example:
Evaluate one area, like communicating with parents. Maybe what is working is that new parents are filling out the paperwork you need. Your forms are easy and accessible. You're also doing a great job at communicating what happens each Sunday morning (with a communication sheet that the teachers fill out and give to the parents at pick up time). To strengthen what's going right, praise your teachers and helpers for filling out the forms each week! Remind them how important that is for parents (especially the parents of kids who are nonverbal).
What isn't working is communicating with the parents about extra events (like respite nights) and resources. How do we fix that? Maybe you start an email list just for the parents in your special-needs ministry. That way you can communicate better with them. You could do a monthly newsletter with events and encouragement. Or start a private Facebook group just for parents (or parents and volunteers) in your ministry. They can get to know each other better, and you can share events and resources there!
Then figure out what God is already doing and join Him there! Ask the rest of the church staff what works for them. Has God already helped them find solutions that work? Do they have email lists? Do they have Facebook groups for certain segments? Is God bringing parents together in the hallway to chat and creating the Facebook group would help them extend those conversations and be able to encourage each other throughout the week? Are parents already fans of your church's Facebook page so you just need to talk to the person who runs it and ask him/her to share more info about what's happening in your ministry area? You don't have to fix problems from scratch—you can learn from what others are doing!
No matter what goals God leads you to set for the year, you're going to need a plan for getting the word out to your families and your community. So I've created a Disability Ministry Social Media Content Planner for you!
At the beginning of each month, you can sit down and go through the sheet to plan your social media content.
First you'll answer these questions:
What events are happening this month?
What is happening in the lives of our families this month? (Is there a school break? Is there a holiday?)
What content do we need to share via our email list, in our Facebook group, or other direct social media?
What content needs to be posted on the church’s main social media accounts? What steps do we need to take to make that happen?
Then there's a five-week grid where you can plan out what to share.
I go through these questions and fill out a grid for my ministry each month. It helps me serve families even better!
I'm so thankful for all you do for your church and community! Families like mine need the hope of the gospel, and you help connect us to that hope and give us the opportunity to be part of a church family every week. I pray that you won't grow weary as you serve, especially during this busy season!
P.S. Will I see you at any of these disability ministry events in 2020?
Our mailing address is:
1591 County Road 144
Alvin, TX 77511
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