So, we’ve established that Home Depot is effective at taking an untrained novice and transforming them into a home renovator one project at a time.

The question still remains.

How can the church do the same?

How do we take a new believer and instigate spiritual renovation one step at a time?

Here is the 2nd question I am applying to my 2008 ministry event planning.

To review, question #1 was…

Does the event or resource have a next step?

Here’s the 2nd question:

Is your next step obvious?

Will your participant know where to go next?

It seems like a simple thing. But it’s vitally important.

Home Depot makes sure you know that once your flooring is done, the baseboards are next… and here’s how to do it!

If your audience is ready to go deeper and the next step is challenging to find, the ministry loses momentum, your participant loses heart and you’ve missed an opportunity.

Are your next steps obvious?

We’re reflooring our entire house right now. Things are a mess right now but it will look great when we’re done.

Of course, we’re taking the DIY approach. Home Depot is a common stop for us. (”You can do it. We can help.”)

The entire process has me thinking.

Home Depot capitalizes on the DIY trend by taking someone with limited knowledge and experience and transforming them into a home renovator… one project at a time.

So why doesn’t the church operate like Home Depot?

Isn’t our goal to take someone with limited knowledge of the bible, limited experience with Jesus and set them on a path toward spiritual renovation one ‘project’ at a time? Home Depot has found a way in the realm of home renovation. How do we make it happen in the realm of spiritual renovation?

I’m trying some new approaches in 2008 to keep me on the right path. There are 3 questions I’m asking myself throughout my 2008 ministry calendar planning.

Here’s the first question:

“Does this event or resource have a next step?”

Everything should have a next step. Everything in ministry should lead the participant somewhere. An event or resource should never be an end unto itself. If it is, it’s a waste of time.

Look at Home Depot. We decide to replace our carpet with hard-wood flooring. In order to install the flooring, we have to remove the baseboards. Now that we have the baseboards off, it’s a great time to paint the walls. If we’re going to paint the walls, we may as well paint the door casings. Once we have freshly painted door casings and walls, we may as well replace our baseboards with brand new.

Did you see that? What just happened? One project leads to another and suddenly our home gets an unanticipated mini-makeover.

Every project leads to another project. A ‘next step’.

But not just any ‘next step’. A step that lead me further into the renovation process.

Smart.

Does your ministry have next steps? Where are they leading?