![Pastor James Paton setting game-changer goals for First Alliance Church Calgary](https://www.faccalgary.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/JamesPaton_Preaching2017-1200x591.jpg)
Setting Game-Changer Goals
As a church, if we’re not challenging ourselves with game-changer goals, we’re actually not being who the Church is called to be in the world. Here’s a bit of what we’re talking about at FAC to change our game looking forward:
Momentum
Game-Changer Goals #1: increase attendance to 4,000 consistently by 2018/19
Neighbourhood Strategy
We don’t want to be a church that only invites our neighbours to “come and see” … We want to “go and be” the church to our neighbours – right in our neighbourhoods! This past fall we began to intentionally cluster people by neighbourhood, toward the goal of initiating events in each community to serve, pray with/for, and connect with the people who live there.
Online Presence
Research tells us people are most likely to come to church for the first time based on a combination of personal relationship, effective advertising, and meaningful online presence. We’re working hard at deepening our online presence through a brand new website, getting better at incorporating Google Ad-Words (to improve our search-ability), and video stories told by real people just like you and me. We look forward to the day when 4,000 more people view our web resources every week. Why? It’s about creating an inviting pathway for people to actually join us on campus, and also about extending our reach beyond the city.
Facility Opportunities
Our building can serve our community, too – particularly these days through the arts and our multicultural community. We fill up fast with small groups meeting onsite and our School of Music. And we’d love to serve our multicultural community and sponsored refugees better through an ESL school. What if we could rearrange our space – maybe move our offices to the currently undeveloped third floor at the south end – to make room? What if people felt compelled to help with the cost of that? What kind of further impact could we have?
Missions
Game-Changer Goals #2: to increase missions giving to $1 million by 2022
Telling FAC’s Missions Story
We want to get better at telling the story of Missions at FAC – to celebrate the past, engage in the present, and envision what the future could be. We’re working at curating some beautiful visuals that will take the physical emphasis on what’s happening with our International Workers right onto Main Street (our main corridor).
Missions Festival
In November 2017, our volunteer Global Impact team planned an amazing FAC International missions weekend! Were you there? We got a taste of just a few of the places where we get to share the hope and love of Jesus Christ, and celebrated some of what He’s letting us be part of. We want to have this kind of weekend every year – to bring international ministry closer to home for a few days, so we can learn more about how each of us can be involved.
Multiplication
Game-Changer Goals #3: to launch a second site by fall 2019
Multisite
Calgary is the fastest growing city in Canada. The suburbs are exploding with growth, and the option of starting a second ‘satellite’ campus is a game-changer way to get closer to these families – it allows for a faster launch and easier alignment at a lower cost. Our Western Canadian District is eager to partner with us to grow FAC’s ministry this way, and there are other churches we can learn from who have taken a multi-site approach. So, we pray … Will you pray with us for vision for the location and leadership of a second FAC site?
Money
Game-Changer Goals #4: to be debt-free by 2022
Stewardship Strategy
Our Grow team offers an increasing selection of finance-related classes, courses, and workshops – helpful resources for adults at all ages and stages who want to learn more about what the Bible has to say about managing money wisely.
Debt Reduction
Wouldn’t it be great to free up the funds currently needed to pay off our mortgage debt so they could be used to serve God by serving people in Calgary and around the world? Our current plan is to keep paying off our debt at $60,000 every month. If we can do that, by December 2021, all that would be left to pay off would be $1 million … And how amazing would it be to have a “million dollar month” that December – if we gave enough that month to bring it down to zero? Given God’s faithfulness to us, and your generosity, being debt-free by 2022 is an exciting and very real possibility!
I’m dreaming of a church that dares to dream.
Our Future Direction
These four game-changer goals position us well to lean into the future God is calling us to. And what might that be? I believe it’s a calling to become a city-reaching movement by embracing the call to:
- Come and see: the church gathered – in multiple locations, multiplying every 2-3 years;
- Go and be: the church scattered – tangibly present in each of our neighbourhoods;
- Come and die: the church surrendered, filled with the Holy Spirit and on mission – everyone, everywhere, all the time.
I’m dreaming of a church that dares to dream. Are you ready to get in the game and dream with me? Stop by Meeting Place 2 here at FAC after a weekend service to chat!
Written by Pastor James