Colonial Church Visioning Retreat 2 Kevin Graham Ford 1
Saturday 9-3 and Sunday 1-4 • Review Previous Work / Finalize Core Values • The Four Eras • Futuring Exercise • Begin Strategic Focus 2
Aligning to Our True North True North Public Support Alignment Iden:ty Structures Internal Culture 3
The Visioning Process Core Strategic Focus Values Priori:es Shared 4
SWOT 5
Strengths • Wealth of resources – building, location talent, money, staff, human capital, generosity • History of Innovation / Willingness to innovate • Congregational theology and polity (Inclusive, spirit-led and open-minded, diversity of thought) • Music / Worship • Humility / Self-examination • Multigenerational -authenticity that comes with aging • Legacy of and passion for social justice • Easier to pivot when need for change is more evident / church does best when challenged 6
Weaknesses • Lack of vision and focus • Lack of connectedness / Too much head and too little heart / Spiritual growth • Communication Ineffective • Perception of being stuck in the past; fear of losing legacy • Lack of racial / cultural diversity • Generational diversity reflected in what worship experience is appreciated • Building expensive to maintain 7
Weaknesses Continued • Volunteers who are over-burdened and burned out • Not effec:ve in making the “ask” • Lack of projects for volunteers to get involved with • Difficult to recruit Deacons • Empowerment and permission • Not Christ-centered – WWID? • Fear of vulnerability 8
Opportunities • Upper Room collaboration • Intergenerational and inter-denominational -- leverage seniors’ depth and authenticity that comes with age and experience • To be the Living Room for the community • Developing an Integrated Marketing and Communication Strategy (IMCS) • Connection • Social justice 9
Opportunities Continued • Being ones who start and launch / incubate new ministries / sharing resources to support others • Leverage StrengthsFinder to recruit / encourage volunteers • Leverage pastoral staff • Move past cultural Christianity/ Christendom • Faith isn’t to be consumed • Developing shared missional initiatives 10
Threats • Declining membership / other churches attracting young people • Apathy / Avoid complacency – given our substantial resources • Division (in particular over how to use Waters money) • Lack of understanding of why people leave • Church’s name is increasingly a negative • Fear • Isolation • Prevailing Culture 11
Threats Continued • Inclusiveness—may tend to water down our identity and message • Poor management of change • Balance tension of past-present-future • Too much focus on tactical • Busy schedules • Sense of entitlement • Need to please everyone • Using old metrics of success – move past money and attendance to fruitfulness 12
Core Values 13
Themes from Retreat One • ACCEPTANCE – Mercy and Grace of Jesus • HOLD TENSIONS – Mystery of Christ • COMMUNITY / HOME – Oneness in Christ • INNOVATION / RISK – New Creation 14
• BEING MISSIONAL – A sending church; long-term presence and commitments / Missions • DEEPENING RELATIONSHIPS – Through shared experiences with individuals and families; church feels like “home” • DEEPENING SPIRITUALITY – Cultivating Mind, Heart & Soul • OWNING THE COVENANT – Personal Commitment as members to parents and kids • ACCEPTING DIFFERENCES - Denominational and Theological 15
Themes from First Retreat • WELCOME ON YOUR TERMS • PUTTING PEOPLE IN POSITIONS TO CONNECT GOD’S WORK • OWNED CONGREGATION • CONNECTING NOT ONLY STRENGTHS, WHAT ENGAGES YOU • RELATIONSHIP – CREATING SPACE • CONNECTING PARTICULARITY OF WHO YOU ARE • DIVERSITY • CREATING SPACE TO BE SEEN AND WELCOMED 16
Themes from Retreat One • RELATIONAL COMMUNITY • MISSION-ORIENTED • VOCATION + FAITH INTERSECTION • HEALTHY WRESTLING + INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING 17
Finalizing Core Values • Where are we on drafting? • Next steps for final wordsmithing • How do we use core values? 18
Mission and Strategy 19
What is a Mission Statement? Mission = purpose + result/benefit + beneficiary. It must be short and concise! It is a tool for leadership, not a motto. It defines what we do. But it also defines what we don’t do. 20
Name the Organization To fight and win the nation’s wars We help you save money so you can live better To make people happy Nurturing the human spirit, one cup and one neighborhood at a time To preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name without discrimination 21
What is Strategy? Strategy is an integrated focusing of resources to fulfill our mission in an ever-changing context. Anyone can operate effectively and still go out of business! 22
The Four Eras 23
Medium -> Value -> Form -> Role Era: Oral Print Broadcast Digital Medium: Person Book TV Internet Value: Authority Reason Experience Engagement Form: Courtroom Classroom Concert Café Congregant’ Gather Discuss Observe Collaborate s Role: 24
Things that are impacting Colonial Potential Disruptors 25
Futuring – 45 Minutes • Take a look at each of the 6 arrows. What change drivers do we anticipate coming out of those in years to come? How should we think about doing ministry differently as a result? • For the following questions, brainstorm and then identify one answer for each: What do we hope will be most different about • Colonial in 10 years? On what list, which we could create, would we • like to be at the top? What ministry area or outreach focus might we • consider inves:ng our windfall in? What is the biggest gap between our stated • values and our reali:es? 26
What is a Strategic Focus? It is not a mission statement. In fact, it’s not really a statement. It is a medium-term “charter” which provides focus in light of our mission and vision. What must we bet the farm on for this season in the life of our church? Think of where our (church) greatest passion meets our community’s (local) greatest need. It must be short and concise! 12 words or less. It is a tool for leadership, not a motto. It doesn’t need to be pithy. It could be one or two words. It guides resource deployment for 3-5 years. It should help us say “no” to good opportunities. 27
Examples • Relocate! • Be an incubator for new ministries in our community. • Lower the divorce rate in Kankakee County. • Become the most relevant ministry on the mid- Peninsula. • Become a church where kids can’t wait to bring their parents. • Mobilize every member for ministry. • Become the “Third Place” for our community. • Become a church of small groups. 28
Strategic Focus To become the go-to ministry for families in University Place. 29
Past Strategic Objectives (5-7 year time frame) Create a community center to meet the emotional, physical, recreational and spiritual needs of people in Pierce County. Demolish the consumer mindset by connecting every person in service together. Make God’s love real to every child in our community. Be known regionally as the church for single- parent families. Engage 20’s and 30’s in a setting where they can meet Jesus through us. 30
Key Accomplishments! • Turned the Sunset Christian Preschool into the largest pre-school in the state of Washington. • Built the MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) ministry to serve over 100 women, a majority of which are single parents or unchurched mothers. • Developed the youth ministry to a substantial size serving hundreds of students a week. • Food Bank serves 3000 individual clients a month. • Launched refugee ministry and established the UPC safe haven house. • Initiated 6.2 million dollar Open Doors” capital campaign and completed phase 1 (of 3). 31
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Emerging Focus Exercise • Over the next 5-7 years, what should our emerging focus be? • Draw heavily on the Futuring exercise. Brainstorm all options. Narrow to the top three and then rank them. Think in terms of doing things “differently” not “better”. • Think in terms of our greatest passion meeting the community’s greatest need. • Write each as a short statement: verb, target, outcome (see previous examples). • Do not try to cover everything. This is not a mission statement! Don’t wordsmith. You are simply to create a clear overarching medium-term focus for church leadership. 33
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