Assessing Needs and Building Missional DNA
Some more reasons why needs assessment should be integrated into every new church plan…(this is part 4 in a series)
Build a missional DNA in the church from its very beginning. It’s the early history of the church that sets its DNA. If your new church will be truly missional (organized around the Kingdom mission), then what you do at the beginning will be critical in establishing this “DNA.” Needs assessment provides an early process that will engage everyone in community focus and help set this priority. If you don’t establish this character at the beginning, then when? The real ethic and story of your new church is told very early in its history and you can help this story to include a strong missional focus.
Survey the landscape. We can only learn so much about a community from secondary sources like demographic or lifestyle research. There are hidden treasures of relationships, personal readiness for a new life, community partners, and significant assets and needs in the community just waiting to be discovered. Since community is a complex mixture of culture, spiritual attitudes, institutions, families, social groups, commerce and identity, the only real way to understand this landscape is “learn by walking around.” The needs assessment allows this thorough kind of survey to put you in touch with all of these important elements.
Raise up new leaders that can lead community service efforts later. If your new church will include a long term focus on service, you will need to grow a new kind of leader. The earlier this starts in your plant process the stronger your community ministry effort will become. We can measure the value placed on community service by the church calendar, budget and leadership assigned to it. The needs assessment provides a great opportunity to attract people who can grow into this kind of leadership and give them the right foundation.
Look for some more insights about the importance of community needs assessments with the next couple of posts. Check out the community needs assessment kit for new churches
Check out the community needs assessment for existing churches
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February 20th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
This comment is greatfull. Thanks and best regards
March 26th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
This is so true. Trying to change the DNA of a church or any organization is difficult. I look at the church I pastor and realize the pastor has done most ministry in this church since its inception. Trying to mobilize people is difficult. It’s easier to pull in new people before they are ‘infected’ by the DNA. It is possible, I believe it’s called a slow drip infusion (not to be confused with a transfusion) of new people.