In his best-selling book, The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less, Richard Koch asserts that a minority of causes, inputs or effort usually lead to a majority of results, outputs, or rewards. Applying this principle to church ministry means that 80% of ministry results comes from 20% of the time spent. Thus, the key to being effective in carrying out the Great Commission is to omit some things that are not being effective and focusing on the 20% that produce 80% of the results.
There are numerous examples of the 80/20 principle. Most of us wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time (so the new year is a good time to do some shedding). We spend 80% of our time with 20% of the people we know or call friends. 80% of our diets are comprised of 20% of our food choices. You only use 20% of the 100% of the space in your house. 20% of your carpets get 80% of the wear. 20% of the people do 80% of the ministry. And the list goes on and on.
The beginning of a new year is a good time to ask, “What are the 20% of ministry endeavors we are doing as a church that are yielding 80% of the results in making disciples?”
Baptist Church Loan Corporation wants to assist your ministry leaders as you examine ministry priorities and effectiveness. Through a process called Next Step Partnership we examine three key areas of your church:
- Culture – Who are you as a church? What are you known for? What are your priorities?
- Context – What is the context of your church? Are you effectively reaching the community where you are located? Do your facilities help or hinder in reaching people with the Gospel?
- Calling – Based on who you are and where you are, what is God calling your church to do next? What changes need to be made to focus on the 20% of ministry yielding 80% of the results in making disciples?
Our Next Step Specialists use their extensive and specified, church-operations experience as they help church leaders examine their ministry priorities. Next Step Partnership is a BCLC-funded service for growing churches that are seeking perspective and insight regarding how they are currently positioned and what their potential future steps might be. This service is particularly valuable for churches that foresee the need of repurposing their culture, strategy, or facilities.
For more information, click here to be directed to our Next Step Partnership page.
Authored By: Dan Garland, Next Step Partnership Specialist