Assessing the Impact of Your MAP w/ Hector and Juan Carlos Barrero

Cara: Welcome to GC Podcast, a podcast to help you develop into the healthiest ministry leader you can be by sharing practical ministry experience. Hello friends, and welcome to this episode of GC podcast. This podcast is devoted to exploring best ministry practices in the context of Grace Communion International churches.

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I’m your host, Cara Garrity. And today we welcome back Pastor Hector and Juanca to discuss our series on processes and practices of discernment, strategic planning, and Ministry Action Plans.

Thank you so much, Hector and Juanca, for joining us again today.

Juanca: Hello, Cara. How are you?

Hector: Hello, Kara.

Cara: Doing very well. Thank you both so much for coming back. I’m really looking forward to learning more from you about this Ministry Action Plan process and what it has looked like for you all.

I know that we’re coming to the end of the year as we record this episode. And one of the things that can be helpful to us when we think about Ministry Action Plans is to reflect on our action plans for the year and maybe debrief or look at what was actually accomplished, what our goal progress looked like.

I want to know from you guys, how has your team reflected on the impact of your Ministry Action Plan this year [and] the progress that you’ve made towards your ministry vision and goals?

[00:01:44] Juanca: Sure. We have noticed that the people basically participate more and people that are involved are aware of all the events. They are helping in the activities, and this brings growth. This brings place-sharing and fosters relationships along the way in every ministry.

It also develops leadership because some people are pioneers, and some people are just very creative. Once a team is empowered and they have this fire for doing the work, the ideas flow. And there’s a healthy independence when they are planning and sharing their ideas — that are later supporting new activities. And suddenly we have a lot of new activities.

I can speak, for example, on behalf of the ministry planners in the Love Avenue. And they just came up with an activity, for example, a few months ago to support the missions outside the church and to focus on the community, focusing especially for people that love animals. They love dogs, they have cats, a lot of people have — I cannot think of someone that doesn’t have a dog, at least a hamster.

So, they came up with this rare, very creative idea of providing a gift with a card in representation of the church saying, this is Grace Communion International, we just want to give you a gift and have a good day, something like that. And this event is going to take place in a month or so. But they were the ones that created all of this movement. They talked with the mayorship of the neighborhood, and they did everything.

It’s independence, a good, healthy independence. They are empowered. They’re full of ideas. And there’s just very good possibilities of growing in relationships, again, of growing ministry in place-sharing. And this brings a very good growth in our church and to the body of Christ.

[00:04:22] Hector: Yeah. I would say I would call that the liberating power of having a MAP. Liberating power is that we notice that when people are into something, and we showed them what we want to do in the community, people start giving us ideas. And they themselves are very creative in creating things and ways to reach the community. For example, I see that these MAPs are very liberating in terms of the things that are accomplished, are done, and the gifts of people are in action.

So those things, we see when we are planning. It is just the beginning of things.

[00:05:21] Cara: Hearing you both speak about the impact that the Ministry Action Plans have had, just brought such a joy to me because it’s like you said, Hector, that liberating aspect, and Juanca, the increase in growth of people participating — I just have in mind this equipping the saints for ministry, of fostering the priesthood of all believers. And that’s a really beautiful thing.

And I really appreciate you all sharing that. I would encourage our listeners to really reflect on what you’ve shared and see that when used in this sort of liberatory kind of way, Ministry Action Plans equip and empower folks and not just become something that you feel like tied to or becomes restricting.

I’m just overjoyed hearing about how it’s been a tool for you all to help increase and empower people participating in Jesus’s ministry there. I love that. That’s what the church is called to do. I praise God for that.

And I wonder too, as you’re noticing and reflecting on these impacts and the growth that’s happening, when you have specific goals that you’ve articulated together as a church team, how do you (or do you not) measure your progress towards those goals maybe? What are the things that you do and do not look at?

[00:07:00] Juanca: Okay. Yeah, definitely we have measured progress, and the feedback basically is collected grom the team members in a post event meeting. This is very simple. We just meet, and there’s an evaluation.

We talk about the necessary adjustments; challenges and difficulties are presented to improve for the next time. To consider a better location, to consider money, the budget, to consider some variables that we were not contemplating. We talk about the accomplishments, the pros of the events, and the goals, and the situations, everything that took place.

And also, the cons — what went bad or what we need to restructure in case the goal was not reached. There was a time also in the Love Avenue that we were expecting a lot of people, and the attendance was very low. And we evaluated the event; we just talked about what went wrong.

All of this measures the progress towards more strategic goals, right? And that’s basically it. We just gather, we talk about it. And then everything goes on What’s App in the conversation that we have on What’s App. And we send the information for everybody to get informed because not all the time people can attend these meetings, and flexibility is super important.

[00:08:52] Hector: And I would also say in another Avenue, in the Faith Avenue, how it is not something that we do in the community as in the Love Avenue. I have seen people getting involved in teaching. They tell us, I would like to teach. And we have the opportunity with these people who are willing to work in small groups, to train them and give material, church material, our beliefs. And we explain to them how to explain those beliefs to others.

In each area, I see people working according to what God himself called people to do. We see people very motivated in their work around the congregation, around the church in the community. But I see others who are teachers, who are really involved into, “I want to teach the doctrines.” It is good to see how people are different and that they have different strengths. It’s nice to see how the Avenues reach people according to their gifts.

[00:10:20] Cara: Yes, I think that’s maybe an often overlooked (maybe that’s the right word that I’m looking for) for a measure of progress: whether the members and leaders in our congregation are serving and leading according to their gifts and callings. And I love hearing that in each Avenue, you’re seeing more people being able to plug in in a way that matches their gifts and calling.

And with what you said, Juanca, too, being able to be reflective and debriefing and measuring the progress of different events or the approaches that you’re taking in ministries. I think it’s really helpful, like you said, to create even more strategic goals moving forward in the future.

I appreciate those insights. And as you do that, I heard what both of you were saying, that when you measure these progresses and look at this information, you don’t just look at it just for fun, right? And say, okay, now I have this information. That’s fine. We’ll just file it away. But you use it to inform more strategic goals, or where we go next, or if you need to train and put more leaders to do a particular ministry.

I’m wondering, can you share with us something that you’ve learned this year that you’re going to use to inform your next year’s Ministry Action Plan?

[00:12:05] Juanca: Yeah, we are going to evaluate each event. Most of the time we gather in October, November. And we are going to analyze each of the events that took place this year.

Analyzing everything — the Hope Avenue, worship team, the people that were given the opportunity to preach, the adjustments or things that we can improve as a team. And definitely, while we evaluate each event, we are going to learn from our mistakes, maybe

We’re going to take this year’s activities into account for next year’s development and plans, and we’re just going to make the process better. We can improve, right? We can improve, and it’s all part of the process in how we’re making an impact in the community.

I guess that all of the ministries are going to present their achievements. Right now, we’re not up to that point yet. We have got to have that meeting. And when we do, we’re certainly going to take the things that worked, and analyze those things that didn’t, to create more events, to enhance a little bit the three Avenues, the flow, the people.

Every single year, there’s more people participating in the Avenues. And we feel that has been very positive.

[00:13:50] Hector: Yeah. And I also would say that we want everybody to know that this plan is not for one year, two years, three years. No. It’s going to be stable. It’s going to be something that we will be working for many years. And these three Avenues, for them to be sure that this is something stable, serious.

That we will continue doing better things. This will bring some type of maturity to members and to Avenues. The stability of the idea that it’s not temporary, but it is something that we will be working through time.

[00:14:38] Juanca: Yeah. And for example, I want to give the example of some young people and some leaders that were given the opportunity to speak in public. This was the year of doing that. And I will definitely repeat that in next year to give more opportunities to those young adults that are involved in church and they’re leaders in the youth ministry, they’re leaders in the discipleship. And some of them have the gift of preaching, and they’re very creative.

So that’s one of the things that we have definitely to repeat, to develop so that we have new ideas, new leaders, another perspective. And we know that this is something that we have to implement in each ministry and each Avenue.

[00:15:42] Cara: Yes. And when you mentioned that each Avenue initially, you’re present this review of the year. Does each Avenue ministry see the review from each other’s Avenue as well? Do the leaders of each Avenue get to see the reviews from the other Avenues at the end of the year?

[00:16:06] Juanca: Oh, yes, definitely. In that meeting that we’re having, we’re talking about everything. They read all of their achievements, they read all of this. This was implemented. And so, we have a special growing phase, I will say at the end of the year.

I want to mention especially that we were visited this year by a very wonderful lady. Her name is Liliana Aparicio, and she was teaching us, guiding us into coaching. And this changed a lot of perspective in the way that we guide our teams.

It’s not about you being involved 100%. You don’t have to know all the information. You don’t have to suggest anything. Just ask questions, the right questions. That’s basically the theory that we learned.

It was a very liberating exercise that we took with the congregation of Barranquilla. And that was a very positive exercise because sometimes we just have the wrong perspective, maybe the wrong diagnosis of something. To let each leader discover the solution by asking the right questions is so important. It’s crucial for the process that we want to do in our church, especially to be independent, at the same time to make decisions based on the Spirit and based on the Bible.

And with this, let’s say coaching session, that was very positive. Cara, that was so positive for us.

[00:17:58] Hector: Yeah. Also, we have meetings, monthly meetings, in which all the champions of the Avenues and some members of the Avenues get together. We hear from the others what they are doing. We get together and we get informed what is going on in the other Avenue.

So, everybody is aware of what is going on in the other ministries, to be together in unity, according to the same and only vision for the congregation.

[00:18:41] Cara: Yes, thank you for sharing that. I wondered and I asked that follow up question because I think that gives also, sounds like, a great opportunity for the leaders from each Avenue to learn from each other when they’re report back to what’s working and what’s not working and what’s happening in each Avenue. I really love hearing about the level of communication and teamwork that you all have happening with your ministry teams locally and one Avenue can even learn from another in that way.

Again, I’m also very glad that the coaching was a positive aspect for you guys. I think that can be an approach that is really helpful in developing the Ministry Action Plan. I’m happy to hear that you felt that way.

[00:19:39] Juanca: That was awesome.

[00:19:40] Cara: Excellent. Folks, that’s all we have for this episode, but join us for one more mini episode with Hector and Juanca as we finish up this mini-series on practices and processes of discernment, strategic planning, and Ministry Action Plans.

Let me pray for y’all.

Lord God, we thank you so much that you are alive and active in our midst. Thank you that you created us for relationship because you are relationship, and that we get to learn in community with one another. I pray that you would bless us as we move forward, just reflecting and discerning together what we’ve learned this year as we’ve participated in your ministry. And as we use those reflections to inform our discernment of what that looks like, what you may be calling us into in this coming year. Inspire us, Holy Spirit, in a way that only you can. We thank you and praise you in your wonderful and holy name that you are so faithful to us. In your wonderful name, we pray. Amen.

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Cara: All right, folks, until next time, keep on living and sharing the gospel.

Thank you for listening to this episode of GC Podcast. We hope you found this time valuable. We would love to hear from you. Email us at info@gci.org with your suggestions or feedback. And remember, healthy churches start with healthy leaders, so invest in yourself and in your leaders.