Should the Church Set Goals?

During the years that I've been involved in the strategic leadership side of the church- we have set annual corporate goals. I understand that people have a variety of opinions about churches setting goals ranging from:

• "of course we should set goals - all successful organizations set goals for themselves" to...
  
• "we should let the Holy Spirit lead every step and he usually leads through spontaneity and not planning" to...
  
• "goal-setting is too business-y and secular - the church shouldn't be getting caught up in secular methodologies."

Needless to say- I believe that setting goals is extremely important both for organizations and individuals - especially Christians who have the high calling of Jesus on their lives and are challenged to consistently self-reflect and evaluate their followership of the savior. A goal is an aim or objective intended to guide actions toward a desired end. I have been involved on enough athletic teams in my life to know that defining what a win looks like and then setting goals to get from here to there is essential to casting vision, and building momentum, and mobilizing people to chase it down.

2 years ago we brought in a local organizational expert to talk to our staff about the process of goal setting. She challenged us that one of the more effective ways to approach the goal-setting process organizationally is to frame it in terms of problems that need to be solved. At our recent staff getaway - we had an amazing time hashing out the major goals for 08-09. Our staff is currently working on their "success maps" - each department's piece of those bigger goals. I already leaked one - but will be leaking out some of the other goals in coming posts... I'm so pumped about what God has in store for Grace this year!