Grace Church Strategic Planning Document

Strategic Objectives

Our world today is like a herd of sheep running for the cliff. Jesus called these people “his little lambs” and commanded us to “tend his sheep.” As a church we must take this very seriously. Our dream is to become a church that exhibits God’s unconditional love to hurting people; a church that doesn’t shoot the wounded, but helps them back to full health. We desire to be a welcoming, loving church that is ready, willing and able to put up with the mess of working with broken people.

Not only do we need to help the sheep that have fallen off the cliff, but we need to help families build fences that protect our little lambs from reaching the cliff. The Next Generation Ministry must protect our kids from the wolves that want to push them over the cliff. We must teach the truth and we must model the truth for our children and grandchildren. Kids model what they see.

How do we accomplish these things? We believe God has positioned Grace Church in a unique area of influence. Below are the strategic objectives that guide our ministry. Each is founded in what we believe to be the mandate for a true New Testament Church. While our ministry goals and emphasis may change from year-to-year, these objectives–along with our Core Values–will provide the compass for our planning.

A Regional, Flagship Church–Based on the principle that “to whom much is given, much is required,” we believe God is leading Grace Church to take on more leadership responsibility to the many smaller churches in our community. Clearly, God has given Grace many resources and opportunities that smaller congregations do not enjoy. We want to be a resource to these ministries and provide more training and fellowship opportunities for pastors within the Central Iowa region. We believe God is leading us to impact not just East Des Moines, but all of Polk, Dallas, Warren, Jasper and Story counties for His Kingdom.

To Continue as a Church-planting Church–God has given us the privilege of planting two new churches in the last ten years, Fellowship Community Church of Norwalk and Grace West Church in West Des Moines and assisting with the planting of Easter Lake Church last year. We believe the Lord is leading us to continue planting new churches within the Central Iowa region. Some of these churches will be new, independent bodies that will function completely autonomous from Grace Church, while others will serve as new satellite locations that will remain a permanent part of our church body.

A Mission-minded Church with a Strategic Focus–We believe God has given us a very unique opportunity to have a dynamic impact in a specific foreign field–Peru. Pastor Phil and Bonnie are career missionaries in Peru and know the language fluently and are at home in the culture. At the center of our Peru Missions Strategy is The Bridge, a property located just outside Lima, Peru. In addition to a host family (Greg and Sherry Davidson), The Bridge provides short- and long-term housing for both short-term missionaries and potential missionary candidates for full-time service. From this base we can operate a growing and expanding mission ministry in the Lima area and in the entire country of Peru. During the next several years we will seek increasing opportunities to train and deploy our own people in both short-term and long-term ministries in Peru.

Preparing Leaders for the Next Generation–We are fully aware of the impact American culture is having on the family in the 21st Century. Children growing up in our church today will face a new world where technology reigns supreme, values are anything anyone chooses to believe, and the church struggles to stay relevant. We believe God has given us a tremendous responsibility to raise our children to be true believers in the Lord God of Israel. This will not happen without the direct, active involvement of the entire church family. It is our intention to focus more of our resources on the Next Generation and to seek specific, Christ-centered objectives in our Christian Education approach.

A Balanced Approach to Church Ministry–We believe God’s approach to ministry is balanced on five specific purposes found in Scripture: membership, maturity, ministry, mission and magnification. As we pray and plan for the future at Grace Church, these five purposes will resonate in all that we do and say. Our desire is to become a church of balanced believers, bringing glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ in our individual lives, our homes, our schools, and our workplace.

Every Member a Minister–We want this to be more than just a cute catch phrase. It is our prayer that every man, woman and child at Grace Church will realize their unique calling as a believer and will seek to discover and pursue their specific ministry in this world. We realize, however, that effective ministers must be trained and equipped! It is our desire offer a multitude of training tools so that each member can be an effective minister.

Strategy of Ministry

Grace Church is a purpose-driven church. Our ministry is designed to “…present every man complete in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). There are several ways to be equipped with the Word of God at Grace Church. We offer the following…

Weekend Services–We have two Sunday worship services to choose from at 8:30 or 10:30 a.m. Our worship services include praise and worship with our choir and orchestra and praise teams. Pastor Phil teaches from God’s Word.

Family of Friends Connection Hour–Each Sunday morning starting at 9:45 a.m. we host the Family of Friends Connection Hour in the FLC. This is a great opportunity for you to grab a cup of coffee, a roll or bagel and visit with your friends here at Grace and to meet new friends.

Bible Fellowships–Bible Fellowships are offered on Sunday evenings at 6 p.m. This is an opportunity to connect with the small church within the big church. You will study the Word, pray, and fellowship with others from Grace. A detailed class listing is available on-line, or by visiting the Info Center in the Atrium.

Life Development Institute Classes–Life Development Institute Classes are on Wednesdays evenings at 7 p.m. There are several classes from which to choose. They are designed to intentionally focus on the needs of our people. Classes are 1 hour and 15 minutes unless noted differently. We offer fall, spring, and summer LDI classes.

Conferences–Each year we offer a variety of different conferences with a different focus at each. Our conferences are typically 1-3 days in length with sessions in the morning and evenings. Guest speakers highlight the events.

Online Connection–Our Web Site (www.gracehome.com) is your 24/7 connection to Grace Church and all that is happening here. You can listen to any of our teaching series, read the weekly Worship Folder, get advanced notice of upcoming events and concerts, give your tithe online, access the church database and much more!

Small Groups–Small groups will be a great atmosphere in which we may promote spiritual maturity through the exercise of the “one another’s” of the New Testament and building community. These groups will meet primarily off campus throughout the city at various times and places. Many of them will gather by affinities, specific interests or by geography as they engage in interactive Bible study and ministry. Small groups are intentional in building relationships that last forever. New Small Groups will form throughout 2005.

Grace Church Purpose Statement

Grace Church exists to bring people to Jesus and membership in His family, develop them to Christlike maturity, and equip them for their ministry in the church and life mission in the world, in order to magnify God’s name.

Statement of Faith

We Believe In:

• The Bible as the inspired, infallible Word of God, and the final authority in all matters of faith and conduct. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• The Genesis account of creation. (Genesis 1:1)
• One God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)
• Jesus Christ, His deity, virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death, burial and bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father and His personal future return in power and glory. (John 1:1; Matthew 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:9,11)
• The sinfulness of man and salvation by grace through faith in Christ who shed His blood. (Romans 3:23-25)
• The Holy Spirit that indwells and enables the Christian to live a godly life. (John 14:26)
• Salvation is eternally secure in Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:38-39)
• The resurrection of the dead; the believer to life everlasting and the unbeliever to the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:28-29)
• The church as the body of Christ, which is composed of all believers who have accepted Christ as Savior. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

Grace Church Core Values

Jesus Is Our Lord–Jesus is our Lord, and because of this everything else is peripheral.  Jesus Christ alone is the only real and lasting hope (John 14:6).  We love Him and, for this reason, we place our relationship with Him first above all others.  We strive to respond faithfully to the call of Jesus- to follow Him above all the distractions of this world, which so often compete for our time, energy, and attention (Luke 14:15-24).  If God is pleased with us, nothing else matters.

People Matter–Since people matter to God, they matter to us.  All people are made in God’s image and have worth.  Therefore, we strive to obey both the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) by reaching out to the world around us and sharing the everlasting love of Jesus Christ (John 20:21).

We Worship God–We invite the Holy Spirit to control us and lead us in our worship of Him.  God is the object of our worship and the recipient of our praise.  We live to honor Him, both with holy lives and adoring lips.  Where tradition helps to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, and further the mission of our church, we embrace it.  Where tradition becomes a wall between God and His people, we seek to tear it down (Matthew 23:13-36; John 9:1-41).

The Bible Is Foundational–We believe the Bible is God’s Holy, Inspired Word.  The Scriptures are our final authority in all matters.  The Holy Spirit- who is our Teacher- uses the Scriptures to daily guide us (Psalm 119:105; Acts 2:42-47).

We Are Called To Serve–We believe each member is called to be a minister (Ephesians 2:8-10; 4:11-12).  Our God is a great God who deserves to be served by faithful stewards.  It is a privilege to give our time, money and resources to Him.  In fact, anything less than our very best is an insult to His Holy, Awesome Name.  In response to His grace, how can we be less than fully devoted followers of the cross?

We Are one Body–We are a church of individuals, different in many ways, yet called together by God to be one in ministry and mission.  As members of the same body and family, we become more effective when we work in harmony as a unified whole (John 17:20-23).  Among us, love for one another is the norm (John 13:34; Romans 13:8), conflicts are resolved according to the teaching of Jesus (Matthew 18:15-17), and we seek to build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11).  We rejoice together and we suffer together (1 Corinthians 12:25-27).  We pray for each other (James 5:16), accept each other (Romans 15:7) and serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).

We Are A Family of Friends–We do something unusual at Grace.  Despite being a larger church, we prioritize the importance of people knowing each other by name- to the point that we provide name tags for the entire church.  We know that you want a friendly church, but even more important, a church where you can make friends.

We Are Committed to The Next Generation–We believe children are a gift from the Lord and that it is our responsibility as a church to partner with parents in raising a next generation fully committed to the Lord. Regardless of what we accomplish during our life time, it is the faithfulness of our children and grandchildren that will be our significant heritage. As individuals and as a church we must take seriously the training and equipping of the Next Generation (Deut. 6).

We Agree to Disagree–There are some disputable matters on which two Christians may agree to disagree, even though they are in the same local church and part of the same leadership team.  We may state the case for our position, but will also acknowledge that sincere and intelligent Christians hold different views.  We are committed to nurturing the unity we share as the family of God and to obeying His command to “love one another” (Romans 14:1-15; 2 Timothy 2:23-24; Titus 3:9; John 13:35).