Proposed Three Year Plan presented to LCEM congregations - November 2007

Last week, a plan for the future of our cluster ministry was presented to our congregations.

Our goal: Stable and growing congregations


LaSalle County Episcopal Ministry
3 Year Strategic Plan

Our Objective: To do God's will as His Church

In this 3 year plan, we will, with God's help, improve in the key areas of
1. Specific, Concrete, Missional Objectives
2. Pastoral and Lay Visitation
3. Solid, Participatory Decision Making
4. Christian Formation
5. Strong Leadership Resources

We live in the richest mission field on earth.

Specific, Concrete, Missional Objectives
2008- 2010 Increase by 20 the number of individuals receiving help in our communities over the previous year.

Life is a pilgrimage. One of the rare gifts of our pilgrimage is the discovery of people with whom we develop a sharing and caring relationship.
Pastoral and Lay Visitation
2008
a) Pastor to visit on average, one household or household member each week.
b) Develop a lay visitor training program
c) Recruit and train 3-5 lay visitation ministers. Newly trained lay ministers begin visitation.
2009 to 2010 a) Pastor to visit on average, one household or household member each week.
b) Recruit and train 3-5 lay visitation ministers. Newly trained lay ministers begin visitation.

Insofar as a congregaton has a streamlined participatory structure with solid participatory decision making, that congregation is likely to move forward with competence and confidence that will best put in place its solid destiny as a mission church.
Solid, Participatory Decision Making
2008
1. Evaluate in the first 6 months, structural changes, including:
a) No change
b) Shift decision-making except daily operations to LCEM.
c) One Parish w/4 sites
2. Develop best option(s) including schedule of any proposed structural changes, make recommendation, discuss and revise
2009
Make decision with vestries or at annual meetings and proceed with the next phase of implementation
2010
Complete or continue the implementation of any organizational changes.

Christian Formation
Programs do not reach people. People win people. It is not how many programs we have, it is how well we serve with the programs we have.
2008
1. Evaluate church school programs and develop an improvement plan by May 2008.
2. Start Youth Group for young teens.
2009
1. Implement Sunday school plan
2. Recruit a potential vacation bible school leader and evaluate starting a vacation bible school
2010 Implement a vacation bible school

Strong Leadership Resources
When leaders share their strengths toward the congregations' mission and program, the future promise becomes the present reality and we advance toward the future that God has promised and prepared for us.
2009
1. Evaluate our readiness to continue programs and activities after Fr. Crist retires.
2. Form committee and begin search process.
2010
Select a new Sr. Pastor


Remember, we live in the richest mission field on earth. This plan represents our first small steps to become the kind of church God wants us to become. This will not happen overnight, or in a year, but everything we do, we'll look at how we can do it better. Through a continuous process of improvement, Planning, Implementation, evaluation leading to a new plan, we'll see what God has in store for us.

Thanks to this year's participants, Steve Grzywa, Shanon Edwards, Jack Kessler, Jeff Dean, Sharon Boer, Fr. Crist, Judy Russell, Diane DiGregorio, Mary Grzywa

All are invited to participate in any future phase of our journey as a cluster ministry.
Thank you for your prayers during our planning process.

Let us become a church of the Good Shepherd. A church more interested in helping than being helped. More interested in loving than being loved. More interested in giving than getting. When this is our focus and is demonstrated outwardly, we become one of the distinctive churches in the community. And that, we believe, is God's will for us.

God Bless you all.


This article was submitted by Steve G.

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