The Annual Plan
A repeatable annual rhythm for discerning direction, scoping the work, and funding it — the five-stage engine that turns the framework into a year of ministry.
Orientation
Read in order
Part One — Foundations
A local church does many things every year.
Part Two — The Five-Stage Process: Stages 1 to 3
The annual plan unfolds across five stages. Stages 1 to 3 — discernment.
Part Two (continued) — Stages 4 and 5
Scoping the work, and the Prospectus and the funding round.
Part Three — The Annual Rhythm
The five stages span approximately six to eight months of focused work, with the remaining months given to delivery and to interim reflection.
Part Four — Cautions and Common Pitfalls
Every process that gives structure to spiritual work carries the risk of becoming the thing it serves rather than serving it.
Part Five — Delivering the Plan
The plan is set.
Part Six — Using the Templates
The seven templates that support the annual cycle and the delivery work that follows are provided in full as the Appendix to this document.
Closing
The Annual Plan is a tool.
The Ministry Planning Portal
This document is the teaching; the Ministry Planning Portal is the engine that runs it — every ministry a tile, Saints expressing interest, the eldership shaping and funding the plan, and the church adopting the year together, all the way to signed Ministry Works Agreements.
The planning portal and the whole annual-plan cycle come with an Engaged Church membership; each elder subscribes personally to the Elder tier for their own workspace.
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