Organizing for Opportunity

Churches don’t die because they run out of opportunities. They die because they squander them.

Every church has more opportunities than they realize. They’re everywhere – in annual traditions, in community events, in sermon series, in hallway conversations, even in one-on-one coffee dates. But most churches don’t recognize them as opportunities. They treat them as obligations, or worse, as “just the way we’ve always done it.” And so the mission stalls, the community goes unreached, and the church drifts closer to irrelevance.

That’s why “organizing for opportunity” matters. An opportunity is only valuable if it’s leveraged for the mission, and let me be clear, the mission is always making disciples. More disciples. Better disciples. If what you’re doing doesn’t move the needle on that, it’s not an opportunity. It’s a distraction.

The problem is, too many churches chase opportunities without organizing for them. They pull off events but never define the mission, the outcomes, the avatar, or even what success would look like. And the result? Busyness. Activity. But no transformation.

This post is about fixing that. Seven steps that will help you take any opportunity, from the Christmas bazaar to a coffee with the school principal, and organize it in a way that actually grows the church, transforms lives, and moves the mission forward.

1. Recognize Opportunities

Let me be crystal clear: Every church has opportunities. Not some churches. Every church. But most miss them. They don’t recognize them for what they are – openings for growth. And so, they get treated like background noise or just “things we do.”

The reality is this: opportunities are as varied as the grains of sand on a beach. No two churches have the same mix, but every single one has them. In fact, you can practically make opportunities happen just by breathing and paying attention. The problem isn’t a lack of opportunities. The problem is a lack of recognition.

Take a look around.

• Upcoming church events – Christmas Eve, Easter, the annual fish fry, the Christmas bazaar. These are prime opportunities. Yet too many churches treat them like just another date on the calendar. If you see them only as traditions to maintain, you’re already wasting them.
• Community events – Your town’s homecoming parade, the annual arts festival, or downtown Christmas “living windows.” Every community puts on something. The question is: Will your church insert itself into those events and leverage them … or sit on the sidelines?
• Relevant sermon series – When you preach on finances, parenting, relationships, or anxiety … the real stuff people wrestle with … you’ve got a built-in bridge to your neighbors. But if you don’t position it as an opportunity, it’ll come and go without impact.
• Networking moments – Meeting the mayor, grabbing coffee with the chief of police, bumping into the school principal or a local business owner. That’s not just chit-chat. Those are opportunities if you organize around them.
• Hosting groups in your building – AA, a neighborhood HOA, or a scout troop. Most churches play landlord and never think twice. But what if your members showed up, poured the coffee, and had conversations? Stop being just a landlord. Start being a host. These are real opportunities.
• Ongoing programs – Your daycare, preschool, school, or weekly fellowship picnic. You’ve already got people walking in your doors. That’s not maintenance. That’s an opportunity for connection and impact.

Here’s the point: Every one of these is either wasted or leveraged. And the difference is whether your church has the eyes to recognize them.

2. Get Mission-Centric

Let me be blunt: If it doesn’t further the mission, your church has no business doing it. Period.

Mission is not one priority among many. It’s the first priority. And anything that isn’t mission-centric is a distraction, and distractions are killing our churches.

So once you’ve identified an opportunity, the first and only question that matters is this: How will this event further our mission?

And let’s be clear on the mission. Biblically, the mission is to make disciples – both more disciples and better disciples. (And yes, a better disciple always makes more disciples. That’s how it works.)

That means you can’t just pull off an event and pat yourselves on the back for a job well done. A rummage sale that raises a few hundred bucks but makes zero disciples is a waste of time. A Christmas bazaar where you sell crafts but don’t build relationships or collect contact info is a missed opportunity.

The mission test changes everything. Suddenly, the fish fry isn’t about fried catfish, it’s about who you’ll meet, how you’ll connect, and how you’ll set the stage for disciple-making. The city parade isn’t about handing out candy: It’s about inviting, engaging, and planting seeds for faith conversations.

If it doesn’t pass the mission test, then pass on the event. But here’s the truth: Almost every opportunity can be mission-centric … if you’re willing to think outside the box.

3. Evaluate the Outcomes

Here’s where churches trip up almost every time: They pull off an event without ever asking, What outcome do we want?

And no, pulling it off is not the outcome. That’s the output. Outputs are just the expenditure of time, energy, and money. You had the rummage sale. You fried the fish. You pulled off VBS. Great. But what changed? Who was transformed?

Outcomes are different. Outcomes are specific. They’re measurable. They’re tied to the mission.

The ultimate outcome is always the same: More disciples. We’re baptizing people who weren’t following Jesus before, and now they are. That’s the bullseye. But we usually get there through smaller steps:

• Gathering contact information from every guest so there’s a way to follow up.
• Setting up coffee or lunch appointments to build relationships.
• Creating space for real connections that don’t just end with “We had fun,” but with “We’ll see each other again next week.”

Too often we confuse “having a good time” as an outcome. Sure, fellowship is fine. But the real outcome is when neighbors have a good time and walk away with a new relationship inside your church.

And Vacation Bible School is a classic example. Churches do it because … well, because they’ve always done it. Kids learn some Bible stories, sing songs, and maybe invite a friend. That’s not an outcome. A real outcome is when kids bring parents, and parents come back the following Sunday. That’s measurable. That’s mission.

The point is simple: Before you launch the event, decide the outcome. Otherwise, you’ll waste the opportunity.

4. Add Your Avatar to the Mix

Every church has an avatar … whether they admit it or not. An avatar is simply your target audience, the kind of person you’re aiming to reach.

Here’s the problem: In most churches, the avatar looks exactly like the current membership. And it’s easy to tell. Listen to a month of sermons and you’ll know who the pastor is really talking to: The people already in the pews. Which means the church’s avatar is the choir they’re preaching to.

But let’s face reality: Everyone in your town who looks, thinks, acts, and believes like your members is already in church. Maybe yours. Maybe somebody else’s. But the pool is shallow. The odds of finding new people who are carbon copies of your folks are slim to none. Duh.

That’s why every church actually needs two avatars.

• Avatar #1: The Unicorns. These are the people who really are just like your members. They move into town, they’re looking for a church, and they happen to stumble across yours. They’re rare … but they exist.
• Avatar #2: The Reachables. These are the people your church can most effectively reach if you’ll make the effort. Maybe that’s young adults with kids. Maybe that’s empty nesters. The key is this: they have to be able to walk into your church and say, “I fit here. This could be my tribe.”

Here’s where the rubber meets the road. Once you’ve identified your avatars, you have to filter every opportunity through their eyes. Ask yourself:

• How does this event connect with their pain points?
• How does it speak to their aspirations?
• Why would they break their Sunday routine of not going to church to show up at something that smells like church?

Maybe the draw is fun and connection, like a block party where they get to meet neighbors, or a family picnic where kids play while parents make friends. Maybe it’s relief from isolation, help with finances, or support in parenting. Whatever it is, the opportunity has to connect with what matters to them.

But here’s the bottom line: If you’re not reaching unchurched people, you’re not fulfilling the Great Commission. And if you don’t add your avatar to your opportunity mix, you won’t reach them.

5. Define What Success Looks Like

Don’t confuse outcomes with success. Outcomes are about transformation – what we hope will change because of the opportunity. Success is about whether all the planning, the mission-focus, and the outcomes actually hit the mark.

Think of it this way: outcomes describe the target. Success is the bullseye.

Take the Christmas bazaar. Say the outcome is to make connections with neighbors and get their contact information for follow-up. Good outcome. But what does success look like? Success might be collecting contact information from 100 percent of your guests. Sounds impossible? It’s not. I know churches in the Growing Church Network that are doing exactly that. The secret? What you offer in exchange. An irresistible door prize or giveaway that requires registration. Make the prize compelling enough, and trust me – everyone registers!

Or maybe success looks like seven coffee dates booked before Christmas Eve. That’s specific. That’s measurable. That’s actionable. That’s realistic. And it’s time-bound. In other words, it’s a SMART success goal.

Here’s what success isn’t: Dropping a flyer in every sales bag. That’s passive at best, litter at worst. Don’t kid yourself … that’s not success.

Vacation Bible School is another example. Sure, you had 45 kids, and 20 of them were “outsiders.” That’s fine, but if the outcome is getting families to return, then success has to be defined in numbers: Is it one family? Five families? Ten? For most churches, even one returning family would be a huge breakthrough compared to the last five years of running VBS. (And honestly, I’ve often wondered why we keep pouring so much energy into something that has such a poor ROI. Surely there’s something more effective we could do with that time and effort.) Real success would be seeing kids baptized and parents engaging in the life of the church. And you can measure that.

If you don’t define success, you’ll never know how well you’re doing. And while that might feel safer – because let’s be honest, too often the results aren’t all that successful – it also means you’ll never get better. Defining success forces honesty. It gives you something to aim for. And it points the way forward when things need to change.

6. Determine Who Will Own the Opportunity

Once the opportunity is nailed down: You’ve tested it against the mission, identified the outcomes, clarified the avatar, and defined what success looks like, then comes the obvious but often skipped step – Who’s going to run with it?

Too often the board dreams up a great idea, and then … crickets. Nobody’s in charge. Which means either nobody takes charge, or (more likely) the pastor ends up carrying the ball. And let’s be honest, pastors already have more important things to do than pull off the annual bazaar.

The key here is simple: Recruit a leader, not a doer.

• Doers roll up their sleeves and make things happen. They’ll put in the work, maybe drag in a couple volunteers, but the responsibility lives on their shoulders.
• Leaders raise up a team, oversee the work, and own the ministry and its outcomes.

Both matter. The church runs on doers. But when you put a doer in a leadership role, you end up with frustrated volunteers, an exhausted “leader,” and lackluster results. Stop setting people up for failure.

And let me add this: A leader in the church is not just a warm body or a long-time member. A true church leader is a disciple of Jesus. There’s a huge difference between a believer who sits in a pew and a disciple who lives like Jesus. You can tell the difference by the way they behave. Don’t hand ministry ownership to someone who has no business leading anything in the church.

Finally, before you ever recruit someone to own an opportunity, create a ministry proposal (or outline) that spells everything out for them. The mission, the outcomes, the avatar, the definition of success – it should all be in there. Expectations should be crystal clear so the person who steps up isn’t walking in blind. They’ll know exactly what they’re responsible for, and what’s expected of them.

7. Empower, Equip, Encourage, Evaluate

This is where churches love to mess it up. They “give” someone ownership of an opportunity … but what they really mean is, “You’re responsible, but we’re still holding the reins.” That’s not ownership. That’s a setup for frustration.

If someone is going to own an opportunity, then they have to actually own it. That starts with empowerment. Empowerment means they don’t just carry the responsibility, they also have the authority to make decisions. Any decisions necessary to pull it off. No, not a blank check. But clear boundaries. Tell them what the budget is, what the rules are, and where the fences are. Then step back. Inside those boundaries, they shouldn’t need to run to a committee for permission every time they breathe. Fences are fine. Chains and shackles are not.

Next, you have to equip them. Expectations without resources are just cruel. If the Christmas bazaar is supposed to draw 300 guests, then give the leader money, access, volunteers, and facilities to make it happen. Don’t hand someone a monumental task and then expect them to pull it off with pocket change and prayer alone.

Then there’s encouragement. Leaders need support, both moral and practical. That means the board, the department, or the pastor who signed off on the opportunity needs to be the loudest cheerleader. Sometimes they need a coach to troubleshoot. Sometimes they just need someone to remind them, “You’ve got this.” Encouragement is fuel. Without it, even the best leaders burn out.

Finally, evaluation. Once the event is over, sit down with the owner and walk through it. What went well? What fell flat? Did it hit the mission? Did it reach the avatar? Did it achieve the outcomes and meet the definition of success? Most churches recycle the same opportunities year after year. Without evaluation, they recycle the same mistakes too. Worse yet, they fail to repeat what actually worked. Evaluation is how you turn an opportunity into a repeatable win.

Therefore …

It’s easy to read through these seven steps and think they only apply to the big stuff – Christmas bazaars, Vacation Bible Schools, Easter blowouts. But the truth is, the process works for every opportunity, no matter the scale.

A one-on-one coffee with a first-time guest? Same steps. A follow-up with the school principal? Same steps. You don’t need a committee, and you don’t need to draft a five-page ministry proposal every time. But you do need to think through the process. Recognize the opportunity. Center it on the mission. Define the outcomes. Filter it through the avatar. Clarify success. Decide who owns it. And then empower, equip, encourage, and evaluate.

Scale it up or scale it down – the process doesn’t change. That’s the beauty of it. Whether you’re leading a megachurch with multiple campuses or shepherding a small congregation in a rural town, the principle is the same: Organize for opportunity.

Because here’s the bottom line … opportunities come and go. The difference between growth and stagnation isn’t how many opportunities you have. It’s how well you organize for them.