I have been reading the book The Shaping Of The Things To Come by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch. And in the book they quote Tom Sine talking about church planning. He says, “every denomination and religious organization that I have worked with does long-range planning. Ironically, they do long-range planning as though the future is an extention of the present… As a result, we are chronically surprised by change. In the future we can no longer afford this luxury.”
What can we learn for this? How can we look at the future and plan for it and not as if we are planning for the present? What are elements of long-range planning that we need to take into account when planning for the future? If we plan for growth do we need to take staff, space, parking, child care and resources into consideration? What other ways can we do long-range planning and not be surprised by the changes the future holds?
