 |
|
VISIONING TOGETHER Rediscovering who we are; Discerning God’s will for our future
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________ RELATIONAL
DISCIPLESHIP REPORT ____________________________________________________ COMMUNITY
OUTREACH
REPORT
____________________________________________________ VISION REPORT
VISION PROCESS In September of 2006, John Huffman announced that he would retire from full time ministry in May of 2010. Dr. Huffman’s announcement created the impetus to begin a thorough strategic planning process designed to prepare St. Andrew’s for its eventual leadership transition. Although this transition will not take place until May of 2010, it was the decision of the church’s Session to commence a “mission study” immediately. St. Andrew’s initiated its mission study process in January of 2007 with the formation of a twelve-person Steering Committee comprised of five ruling elders, six lay members, and one staff liaison. Committee members were Rick Afable, Jim Birchfield, Gina Bucher, Dustin Dickson, Jake Easton III, Jerri Gerard, Betsy Harano, Brad Hillgren, John Lehman, Tom Taillon, Fritz Westerhout, and Corey Wicks. The Steering Committee recommended that Session hire The Armstrong Group (“TAG”) as its outside consultant to assist in the re-visioning process. The mission study evolved to include a thorough evaluation of St. Andrew’s, including the development of a strategic plan and implementation recommendations, and was renamed Visioning Together. The team’s primary stated goal was to “rediscover who we are and discern God’s will for our future.” The Steering Committee’s task was to facilitate the work of a larger Visioning Team that included, in addition to the Steering Committee, the church’s current serving elders and its program staff (ordained pastors and other senior department heads). In addition, the Steering Committee made a commitment to engage and involve individual members of the congregation as much as possible throughout this visioning process. This was done to broaden ownership of the resulting strategy and to create a process that was as inclusive and transparent as possible. The visioning process unfolded in three stages over twelve months. The first stage was a period of Discovery and Dialogue that encompassed information gathering in the form of surveys (over 1400 participants), a socio-economic and demographic study of the surrounding community, an internal review of the church’s history, and an historical analysis of St. Andrew’s membership, attendance, and giving trends. In addition, our consultants facilitated over forty different focus groups (including current and former church leaders, current and former members, regular attendees, and members of our local community) and individual staff interviews involving over 200 people. The depth and quality of the information gathered was instrumental in aiding the Visioning Team in clarifying our historical trends and heritage and in identifying key strategic issues throughout the process. At the end of this phase, the Visioning Team met for the first of three strategic planning retreats for the purpose of reviewing the assessment report, identifying the key issues facing the church, and crafting a response to the challenges identified therein.
The second stage of the process focused on Discussion and Discernment and included two additional off-site planning retreats in July and September. During this stage, the Steering Committee was very intentional in its efforts to keep the congregation involved in the process through a series of “family meetings” that were designed to share information, allow for questions and concerns, and to solicit further information and feedback on specific issues and strategies that were beginning to emerge from the planning retreats. Individual members of the Steering Committee visited small groups in the congregation both to disseminate information and receive input from the congregation. In addition, the Steering Committee continued to provide regular updates through written and electronic communication, pulpit announcements, and videos in the worship services. Finally, the Steering Committee instituted weekly prayer opportunities, inviting the congregation to pray with them for God’s guidance and direction during this process. The final phase in the Visioning process was the Decision and Implementation stage. This stage featured the development of an envisioned future for St. Andrew’s that would serve to preserve the unique core values and historical self-understanding of the church’s call to serve the Kingdom of God while simultaneously stimulating change and progress toward a new sense of God’s calling for our future. The Visioning Team worked both in small teams and as a larger group to create this vision over a period of four months. Included in this vision are (1) a reaffirmation of our core values and theological beliefs; (2) a new mission statement that updates our understanding of what God is calling us to do; (3) a vision statement that provides us with a strategic focus over the next five to ten years, and an image of what our future can be if we remain true to our mission; and (4) a set of key strategic priorities and initiatives, along with implementation recommendations, that specify action that we will take, working in partnership with the Holy Spirit, to move toward our envisioned future. The Session of St. Andrew’s approved the above core elements of the Vision at its Session meetings on December 18, 2007 and January 8, 2008. Upon approval by Session, an Implementation Advisory Team was established to begin work on the implementation of the strategic initiatives that will guide our church toward its envisioned future.
A VISION FOR OUR FUTURE
The Visioning Team’s stated goal at the outset of the visioning process was to “rediscover who we are and discern God’s will for our future.” Our intent was to reflect on our past rich heritage, what God has done in and through St. Andrew’s over the last nearly 60 years, and, through the discerning guidance of the Holy Spirit, to connect our past to our future. Indeed, it is not possibleto realistically talk about our future without connecting it to our past. Our 60-year heritage is built on the lives of the committed members who have come before us. The community of believers who have invested not only into this church community but also into the surrounding community has as much to do with our vision as do future generations. We acknowledge and celebrate their faith and commitment, and are mindful of their strong legacy as dedicated servants, thoughtful friends, and faithful disciples of Christ. As we seek to be the church God desires us to be, we will be strengthened and encouraged by their example. We believe that God is calling St. Andrew’s to return to its roots as an outward-focuse “missional” church, a community of disciples engaged with one another in living out Christ’s Great Commission on a daily basis. Further, we believe God is calling St. Andrew’s to be a church that perceives mission as both the essence of its existence and a daily opportunity to share the love of Christ with a world in great need. Fundamentally, we believe this change is necessary because we have been called by God to minister to our community, to use our blessings to bless others, and because the alternative (isolation from our community, decline in participation, and loss of vitality) is no longer acceptable. We celebrate God’s faithfulness in revealing His will for our church in the future, and we rejoice in the opportunities we have to be a part of God’s Kingdom work. While preserving our core values, we have redefined our mission statement in order to clarify our sense of who God is calling us to be. Everything we do from this point forward will be evaluated against this mission statement with the goal of transformation through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. We will work together to reach out to and serve our community, to minister to and love one another, and to grow together in Christ through community.
Where is God calling you to be a part of the future of His church? As we put this vision into action over the next one to three years, we hope that every member will be challenged to discover his or her personal role in the vision of St. Andrew’s.
VISION SUMMARY Our Vision Statement St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church is a vital and life-transforming church where we are all invited to become disciples of Jesus Christ, are equipped to grow in our faith, and are challenged to love and serve our community and the world with excellence and compassion.
Our Mission Statement
Transformed by Jesus Christ and led by God’s Word, we are Connecting the generations and Serving the world, so that Lives are changed through Christ.
Our Core Values & Beliefs As a Christ-centered church we value: A biblical foundation
Experiencing worship together
Relational discipleship
Being intergenerational
A commitment to missions
Connecting the Generations. To pursue our goal of being an intergenerational church that effectively serves all generations, we will intentionally increase our focus on and service to that segment of our community and congregation that has experienced the greatest decline in the last five years (ages 25 to 45), and has been identified as critical to the ongoing vitality of St. Andrew’s.
Community Outreach. To pursue our goal of being a transforming church known for serving our community and the world, we will establish a strategy that educates and mobilizes our congregation to serve the needs of our community through acts of service and “extreme” hospitality.
Relational Discipleship. To achieve our goal of transformation by developing a culture of connected and growing members, we will establish an intentional strategy for discipleship and disciple-making that defines what a mature follower of Jesus Christ looks like, and provides a pathway of instruction, training, and equipping that allows our members to believe what they are learning and then do what they have learned.
IMPLEMENTATION RECOMMENDATIONS Delay or failure to act is not an option that will lead to the envisioned future we believe God is calling us to. If St. Andrew’s vision is to be embraced by our members, they will expect changes and recommendations to be implemented. Further, these actions must be meaningful and timely -- only by observing real change that is responsive to the feedback we have received will skeptical minds be convinced of our church’s commitment to a new vision and course for the future. Commitment to the vision and mission is critical in developing programming and ministry for the new facilities as well as for the successful call of a new senior pastor. The completion of the visioning process represents simply the beginning of a very active and critical time in the life of St. Andrew’s. Implementation of the Vision plan will begin with the creation of an Implementation Advisory Team that will function in a manner similar to the Visioning Together Steering Committee’s relationship to Session. Reporting to Session, the Implementation Advisory Team will act as an advisory and oversight committee that will empower and oversee appropriate ad hoc working teams charged with the responsibility of recommending implementation strategies for the three Strategic Priorities discussed above. The Implementation Advisory Team will also liaison with the Ministry and Management Committees in order to make sure that proposals regarding worship, technology, and communications are appropriately integrated with the other developing initiatives. Specific dates for the commencement of recommended actions have been established with a substantial number of items to be addressed beginning in 2008. The primary purpose of this Executive Summary is to provide an overview of the present reality of our church, our goals for the future, and specific actions to be undertaken in pursuit of these goals. The Vision Report (available in the front office beginning February 1, 2008, for those who are interested in reading more about the visioning process), which includes the Executive Summary as well as demographic data and external and internal findings, will serve as a guiding document for Session and the members of St. Andrew’s. In order to serve as a true living document for the leaders of St. Andrew’s, our Vision should be prayerfully considered and evaluated on a regularbasis as we continue to seek the will of God for our church.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
