Strategic Planning 2024
March 2024 Update from pastor shelli
Our Strategic Planning Team has been hard at work since the beginning of January! The Strategic Planning Team consists of 9 people: Carrie Douglas, Hut Easley, Lisa page, Robin Petrusak, Craig Stapert, Kathleen Styles, Jean Wheelock, Steve Wheelock, and myself.
As you may have seen in the social hall, our strategic planning process has six phases. Phase 1 is to envision our purpose. Phase 2 is analyzing our current situation. Phase 3 is setting our 5-year vision and goals. Phase 4 is constructing our strategies for that 5-year vision. And Phase 5 is determining a timeline and budget.
Phase One is now complete and has already been shared with the Council, who gave us some feedback that has been incorporated into our statements of Mission, Vision, and Values. We also shared these statements with the congregation on Sunday, March 3, after worship.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that what we’ve come up with here is an understanding of the church that we will use as a strategic planning team. We are not suggesting at this point to change any official documents; we could take that up in the fall if we want to after the entire strategic planning process is finished.
Below are the statements; I hope you will take some time to read them over and let us know if you have feedback.
Phase 1
Envisioning Our Purpose
Plan
Revisit our Mission Statement: What is our purpose?
Whom do we serve?
How do we serve them?
Why does it matter?
Revisit our Vision Statement: What is our greatest imaginable future achievement?
Create/modify a Values Statement: What are the principles that govern our approach?
Are we working according to our expressed values?
Are our mission, vision, values all working together?
Report
Phase 2
Analyzing Our Current Situation
Plan
Identify our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, challenges
Is our governance effective, inclusive, efficient, sustainable?
Are our programs:
Aligned with mission, vision, and values?
Serving community needs?
Generating results?
Are our finances stable, growing/shrinking/maintaining?
Are staff given the resources they need?
What is the state of our operations (e.g. physical grounds, technology, contractors)?
Research external landscape of the church in finding our opportunities and challenges:
Who supports our organization and why?
What does our wider community care about and need?
What are the other churches in our area doing?
What are major trends and issues affecting our mission (e.g. public policies)?
Phase 3
Setting our 5-year Vision & Goals
Plan
Set 5-year vision
Identify key priorities that will support the vision
Set goals for each priority
Phase 4
Constructing Our Strategies
Plan
Specify strategies/actions to accomplish the goals of the 5-year vision
Consider what resources will be required
Consider who will oversee implementation
Write full plan
Phase 5
Determining a Timeline and Budget
Plan
Set a timeline with sequenced steps to be taken
Set milestones with quantifiable metrics to track our progress
Develop a budget