That term sounds impressive — but what does it mean? What — exactly — is a Spiritual Strategic Journey?

Here’s how Bullard defines it:

A Spiritual Strategic Journey is spiritual in that it assumes total reliance on God as individual and as congregations. It assumes that unless the journey is of God, it is for nothing.

A Spiritual Strategic Journey is strategic in that it focuses on those goals and actions that will make the most significant difference in a congregation’s ability to serve in the midst of God’s kingdom. It focuses on effective touch points.

A Spiritual Strategic Journey is a journey in that it is ongoing. …. We always press forward to God’s high calling. (Bullard, Pursing The Full Kingdom Potential Of Your Congregation, page 17).

The benefit I see in this approach is that it involves God — in a conversation with the congregation — in a journey to reach the congregation’s full potential for God’s glory. It’s not a pre – packaged program that someone else brings to a congregation, but a program where the congregation seeks God’s will and leadership for their particular situation — then sets out on it’s own particular journey to be the Church God calls it to be.

What do you think about this? Use the comments section to start a conversation!

You can read Bullard’s blog here — read about The Columbia Partnership here — read more about a Spiritual Strategic journey here — and order your own copy of Pursuing The Full Kingdom Potential Of Your Congregation here.

The first thought I’d like to share is that pursuing the Kingdom potential is not a “quick fix” and is not a “program” that a congregation can complete and be done with.

Bullard stresses that this is a journey — he calls it a Spiritual Strategic Journey (I’ll explain the term more in another post) – that is never fully completed, but always sought for.

A few things that I like about this idea are:

1. It is a journey that involves the congregation. The congregation prays for a vision of the Church God would have them be and the things God would have them do, and then the steps they take in pursuing their potential are steps that they feel lead to undertake. It’s not a situation where a Pastor or a Consultant comes in and says “this is what we are going to do” — but a case where a Pastor or a Consultant (Bullard prefers the term “Coach” — but I’ll deal with that in another post) helps the congregation decide what they feel God is calling them to do — and helps them plan how they are going to do it.

2. The potential for the congregation to have more ownership for the journey, more commitment to the journey, and become more excited about the journey is greater because it came from God’s vision to them — not from someone else.

3. The fact that it is a journey that is never fully completed but always sought for makes it something that lasts — and can change as the needs and vision of the congregation changes.

I’ll be sharing more ideas as I have them — and I’d love to discuss these ideas with others. Use the comment section to share your ideas!

You can read Bullard’s blog here — read about The Columbia Partnership here — and order your own copy of Pursuing The Full Kingdom Potential Of Your Congregation here.