3.1 When to Run the Process
The five stages span approximately six to eight months of focused work, with the remaining months given to delivery and to interim reflection. There is no single right starting point in the calendar. Two patterns are commonly faithful:
Calendar-year cycle. Stage 1 begins in late winter or early spring (depending on hemisphere); Stages 2–3 happen across mid-year; Stage 4 in late winter to early spring; Stage 5 — the Prospectus — presented in autumn for the following calendar year. Programs run from January.
Ministry-year cycle. Stage 1 begins in autumn; Stages 2–3 across early winter; Stage 4 in late winter; Stage 5 — the Prospectus — presented in spring for the ministry year starting in autumn. Programs align with school terms or congregational rhythms.
Either pattern is faithful. The key is that the cycle is genuinely annual — not eighteen months of slipping deadlines — and that the body can see the same rhythm year on year.
3.1a A Worked Rhythm — The Annual Plan Cycle
The diagrams below show one worked example of the annual rhythm on an Australian financial year (1 July – 30 June), reflecting the Pentecost pattern of preparation, waiting on the Spirit, and sending. The five stages run across a ten-month working year (August to the approved plan in late May); July releases an Impact Report and opens the year; June confirms budgets and closes it. Leader recognition (Document 6 and Document 8) and the delivery of the current year’s programs run alongside.
3.2 Mid-Year Check-Ins
Roughly halfway through the program year, the eldership runs a brief check-in. Not a full review — just a pulse-check: are the programs running as planned? Are the people serving healthy? Is the funding flowing? Are any programs surfacing reasons to be scaled, paused, or released early? The mid-year check-in is light-touch and pastoral; it does not restart the full cycle.
3.3 Multi-Year Continuity
Each year’s annual plan stands on the shoulders of the previous year. The eldership keeps a multi-year register so that this year’s decisions can be read in light of last year’s discernment. New gifts emerging in a member over time, a calling deepening, a program maturing or running its course — these are visible only across years, not within one cycle. The longer view also protects the eldership from over-correcting between cycles.
3.4 Onboarding New Members Outside the Cycle
Saints will join the body throughout the year, not just at the start of an annual cycle. For new members, the eldership runs a mini-cycle: a personal introduction to Documents 1, 2 and 3, a guided Document 4 (the Spiritual Gifts Assessment) workbook, and a conversation with an elder or deacon about where the new member’s gifts and callings might engage with the body’s current programs. New members do not have to wait for the next annual cycle to find their place; they are welcomed into what is already underway, and their gifts feed the next annual review.