REPORT ON THE 2005-2006 STRATEGIC PLANNING EFFORT

Saint Michael and All Angels

Vestry Town Hall Meeting ~ May 14, 2006

The complex process of producing a Strategic Plan covering the next five years for our parish is well on track.  All of our eight sub-committees have largely completed their work and submitted their reports.  The Strategic Plan Committee is currently hard at work compiling and writing its main report, with the aim of distributing the final Strategic Plan to the parish in September.

The Strategic Plan 2006 will differ from our past several strategic planning efforts in that it will contain detailed financial projections for our parish over the next five years, clearly indicating the expense associated with realizing our goals and aspirations.  Considerable effort is currently going to refining our long-term financial projections.  Another major focus during the month of May is building consensus among the Vestry and our various volunteer leaders around the goals, directions, and specific actions envisioned in the Strategic Plan.  We also aim to produce a condensed version of the final report that will be mailed to all of our parishioners.  Soon the Communications Committee will become involved in the layout and production of this document.  Shortly after the plan is completed, we will devote a Town Hall meeting to the Strategic Plan in September.

The Strategic Plan report represents an effort to translate the diverse and evolving needs, demands, aspirations, and dreams of our parish into a coherent plan for ministry over the years 2006 through 2011.  As such, the report will be complex, somewhat long, and full of information about our parish.  Among other things it will include:

· In-depth discussions of what was learned from our listening sessions and volunteer meetings last year – which were attended, cumulatively, by more than 600 parishioners – as well as from our “best practice” studies of other churches;

· A thorough analysis of major trends in our parish, as seen in a detailed collection of quantitative data on our parish community;

· A clear articulation of the “missions” and “core values” of each of our major ministry programs;

· Concrete goals and actions for each of the ministries / programs we have studied;

· Timelines for the implementation of each action item;

· Financial projections covering 2006-2011 for each department, as well as for the parish as a whole; and

· Measurable benchmarks of success, where appropriate.

Some highlights of the numerous actions called for in the Strategic Plan will include:

• Increasing the number of clergy on staff from six to eight;
• Restoring much of the cuts in recent years in our music budget, in order to reinforce our music department’s effort to bring transcendent musical experience into our worship services;

• Developing a regular, high-quality musical concert series at Saint Michael;
• Improving, through a wide variety of action items, our ability to welcome newcomers and integrate them into the life of our parish community;
• Developing a series of “classes,” designed for both post-Inquirer’s Class newcomers and longstanding parishioners, to help turn newcomers or marginally engaged members into fully committed parishioners, to develop parish leaders, and to equip and empower our parishioners for a life of “personal ministry”;
• Reinforcing the efforts of our Children and Family Ministry to engage children in the 3^rd-5^th grade range in the life of the church;
• Bolstering our staff of full- and part-time youth ministers;
• Launching numerous new programs for 8^th-12^th grade youth members;
• Bringing in a Director of Children and Youth Music, with the aim of reinvigorating our efforts to stimulate the spiritual lives of our children through the power of music;
• Providing much improved staff support to our Singles and Young Adult ministries;
• Bringing outstanding speakers to Saint Michael, to help take our adult Christian education efforts to the next level;
• Broadening our programmatic offerings for our older members;
• Streamlining and clarifying the governance, purposes, and policies of our aggregated Mission / Outreach ministries;
• Providing enhanced staff support to our Mission / Outreach programs, with the aim of offering more specific outreach opportunities for our members, expanding our mission trip offerings, and improving our ability to identify and recruit volunteer leaders with specific talents;
• Bringing in a dedicated Coordinator of Volunteers, Membership, and Newcomers, with the aim of more effectively communicating the range of opportunities available to SMAA parishioners and building improved connections between our members and our many programs in need of more effective recruitment;
• Setting a clear and ambitious goal for increasing the size of our financial support to the major Mission / Outreach programs to which our members devote their time and talents; and
• Setting a clear and ambitious goal for parish membership and attendance growth.

Anyone wishing to comment on the Strategic Plan process should feel free to contact the Strategic Plan Committee Co-Chairs, Cullum Clark (cclark@cimarronlp.com) and Ann Hobson (lahobson@charter.net).