Questions to Ask Before Starting a New Ministry

By Michael C. Mack

This is prime time for planning a new ministry in 2016. Here are some questions to ask, and answer, before venturing forward (these are compiled from various sources):

1. What’s the purpose of this ministry?

2. Why do we need this ministry? (Is it really necessary?)

3. Would (or could) people do this ministry naturally without creating a program?

4. Are other people already doing this (and could we partner with them)?

5. Are we keeping the main thing the main thing, or is this ministry just one more thing to do?

6. How does this ministry connect to the church”s mission (and Christ”s Great Commission)?

7. Would there be any noticeable impact if we didn”t do this ministry?

8. Are we the people to carry out this ministry?

9. Would this ministry create a heavy burden for leaders or anyone else?

10. Whom will this ministry serve and what are their needs?

11. How will we provide the services these people need? What tactics will we use?

12. Who will be the key leader of this ministry?

13. What does leadership of this ministry entail?

14. What kind of team is needed to execute this ministry?

15. What kinds of training and support are needed?

16. What does our feedback loop look like?

17. What does a “win” look like for our ministry?

18. What do we want this ministry to look like three years from now?

19. How do we measure qualitative criteria?

20. How often and in what specific ways will we evaluate?