Strategic Planning Update
April 28, 2008
First Church’s strategic planning initiative is under way, and we invite your participation! Members of the planning teams will soon be contacting Sunday School classes, other church groups and individuals for input from the congregation to help identify core values and develop mission and vision statements for First Church.
As the planning process unfolds, we will also work with members of the congregation to identify groups, inside and outside the church, that we have a passion for serving and signature ministries to reach them. We will explore evangelism, church facilities and signage, guest hospitality, new member assimilation, engagement of laity, care ministry for church members, and other areas that can help transform First Church to more effectively win people to Christ and enhance the spiritual development of church members.
Congregational input and “ownership” is crucial to the success of the planning process and the strategic plan that emerges. Please look for frequent communication in church publications and on our website at www.fumcstw.org.
February 29, 2008
It was exciting that so many members of our congregation participated in the presentation by Don Nations on Sunday afternoon.
This was the kick-off event for First United Methodist Church Stillwater’s strategic planning initiative. This effort will occur over several months and hopefully will engage the entire congregation. Steering Committee members helping coordinate the strategic planning process (under the umbrella of the Church Council) are: Rose Bonjour, Beth Buchanan, Jerry Gill, Kathleen Harder, Jenny Hoecker, Monty Karns, Michael Lorenz, Stan Warfield, and Tom Wuller. Within a few days we will populate three planning teams: DNA Formation, Church Transformation and Tactical Planning. These teams will drive the process and will include many individuals representing a broad cross-section of the congregation; we will be sharing these names with you in the near future.
At the onset, we want to emphasize some guiding principles of the key elements of the initiative:
This is First Church’s initiative! At its February 21 meeting, the Church Council approved a strategic planning initiative. Many lay leaders and members of the congregation, Pastor Stan and other members of the staff have been informally discussing over the past several months the need for a vision and plan that will lead our church in the 21st century. As these conversations were occurring, we learned that the Oklahoma Conference was encouraging and financially supporting local church transformation activities and had engaged Don Nations, a United Methodist Minister and nationally recognized consultant, to work with and “coach” congregations. We felt that it would make sense to avail ourselves of Nation’s skills and resources to support our efforts; however, First Church will have ownership of its strategic planning initiative and will drive the process and develop the plan.
The process will be comprehensive and inclusive and will provide (indeed encourage) participation of all members of First Church. Built into the process are congregation-wide gatherings and numerous focus group meetings; these will be interactive, seeking input, suggestions and reactions to planning assumptions and proposals. It is not likely that everyone will agree with every aspect of the final plan, but hopefully each of us will feel that that our voice was heard and that it helped inform the discussions.
If you participated in Don Nations’ training session on February 26, you heard him refer to a church transformation process of two and three years. “Transformation” may possibly take years to totally implement, but it is hoped and intended that First Church’s strategic planning initiative will be completed this fall, to enable us to incorporate elements of the plan into the 2009 church budget and to allocate staff and other resources necessary to sustain current programs and implement new or enhanced ministries.
Steering Committee members (listed above) have discussed several desired outcomes of strategic planning for First Church which we want to share with you when they are more fully formed. One that has been discussed speaks to the heart of our effort: “First Church better prepared and positioned to serve and to win people to Christ.” And, to that we might add Don Nations’ frequent reference in his presentation to “spiritual transformation.” We will be including opportunities for prayer, faith sharing and public affirmation and celebration, as the process unfolds.
We urge your participation in and prayers for the strategic planning initiative and for the future mission and ministry of First Church!
We have pledged to keep the congregation updated on all aspects of the strategic planning process and to share ideas, issues and documents that emerge from congregation-wide meetings and focus group sessions. We encourage you to regularly review our church website for information and updates, and periodically, we will convey information through the church paper, worship bulletin and brief presentations/announcements at worship services, as well.
We sincerely solicit your suggestions, questions and concerns, as we move forward. Please contact any one of the steering committee members at any time.
Members of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee