When does the holy spirit take over and strategy end?

Dr. R. Henry Migliore

•strategy planning has been used as a tool to develop and expand churches and religious nonprofit organizations.

•examples of the intermingling of strategy and Spirit indicate there is another less understood dimension to decision making.

•First example...Southwest church began praying for a valuable piece of property adjacent to their church.

•The price was $198,000 which is ten times what could be afforded.

• Parishioners prayed a very specific prayer to attain the property.

•One January the council went outside and prayed around the building.

•After that prayer they knew something was about to happen.

•Congregation measured developments by the prayer meeting as the plan unfolded from prayer meeting to prayer meeting.

•Church received $47,000 unexpectedly.

•City offered the church the property for $38,000

•The land was appraised at $154,000

•Facts: The original owner got his price from the city.

•The city paid the church for a tiny strip of land that the church did not need

•The amount the church received was enough to pay for the adjusted price of the land they needed.

•The value of the land jumped back up in value because it was no longer landlocked.

•It took the church two years to complete all of this, and the church had the land prayed for.

•At each breakthrough, everyone was so happy about what God had done they could have stopped praying and failed to move on.

•God gave them the vision, faith and perseverance to keep trusting and see how He would move strategically to accomplish what was actually a rather complex plan.

•Second example: A church in the Southeast, the pastor needed assistance developing a strategic plan for the church.

•Various committees worked on identifying purpose/mission/vision for the church.

•Planning committee determined a good objective would be to grow by 1,000 members over the next 3 years.hyperlink

•Major problems were financial resources, space, parking and lack of facilities.

•The committee saw the need to expand the church school.

•Throughout the entire process there was continual prayer.

•Committee member discovered plans to expand a major north-south state road to a national highway.

•The church property was on the northwest corner of a busy intersection a few miles east of proposed highway.

•Church property value went up as a result of highway expansion.

•strip malls, gas stations and other commercial ventures began at a rapid pace.

•Church bought a corner lot property and later sold it for cash.

•The money from the sale paid off their other lot, put in a new parking lot, provided school expansion and bought robes for the choir.

•The church continues today to meet its purpose/mission/vision.

•The answer remains unclear as to where strategy ends and Spirit begins.

•Every step of the way fervent prayer took place for guidance, the Lord’s will, and the struggle to make the right decision.

• "Human Strategy vs. the Holy Spirit." Mission Frontiers. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. <http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/human-strategy-vs.-the-holy-spirit>.

• "Planning, Goals, and the Holy Spirit." Planning, Goals, and the Holy Spirit. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. <http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/planninggoals.htm>.

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