Strategic Emphasis

Getting back from my leave one year, and plunging into work, I wondered at the end of my first day, "Where did my time go?" I asked myself therefore, "What strategic importance should I assign to the various areas of ministry this year?" Here was my answer -- with important qualifications below:

HIGH IMPORTANCE:

• Preaching
• Ministry by members
• Evangelism
• Elders' and deacons' meetings
• Crisis intervention
• Counselling congregants
• Church order
• The spiritual education of the congregation

MEDIUM IMPORTANCE:

• Church groups
• Conducting Bible studies
• Church staff
• Office-bearer recruitment
• Membership applications
• Police matters
• Our associate Church
• The Church programme
• A ministry journal
• Personal relations within the Church
• Reporting to the congregation

LOW IMPORTANCE:

• Finances
• Property
• Missions
• Charity
• Routine visitation
• Social events
• Administration
• Advertising
• Counselling non-congregants
• The community
• Correspondence
• Paperwork
• References and referrals
• Church strategy 

OBSERVATION: Another way of putting this is: "Which items shall I choose over which?" The above did not, therefore, reflect the absolute importance of each item (for instance, finance was vital, but was simply not my department). Nor did this list reflect an item's importance over time (for example, missions was fundamental, but not urgent as a daily priority). The list did not include my personal priorities.