Why Plan Strategically?

by Vicki Jones

Or why plan at all? Even our Lord said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:34). But David gave Solomon plans from our Lord for the temple (1Chronicles 10-12); and in Proverbs, "Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established." (Proverbs 15:22). Planning is necessary if we are to be wise stewards of what God has given us.

This is an exciting time for our parish. But to make sure we stay on track with those things that are important to us, the Strategic Planning Committee formulated our Strategic Plan. Some of you are aware that strategic planning for our parish has been going on for some time – since March 17, 2002, to be exact. And at our March 16, 2003, special meeting, the Strategic Plan for 2003-2007 was approved by your parish council. This article highlights main points from the plan; the entire plan is available on the bulletin board in the fellowship hall, and on our parish website at http://www.theforerunner.org.

Our parish is growing, and nurturing growth of a parish is like nurturing a child. It takes prayer, hard work, dedication, love, patience, help from others, and some idea of what type of adult the child should become. Put another way, the vision of the child’s growth encompasses both what the child is now and what the child aspires to be. Our parish’s vision has similar characteristics; it is what we experience now in His kingdom and what we as a parish aspire to be – Heaven on earth.

Our mission is how we achieve our vision, and encompasses four primary areas: worship, discipline, fellowship, and evangelism and other outreach:

It is the will of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to join heaven and earth. In our worship, we praise the Most Holy Trinity. In our disciplined lives, we follow in the footsteps of the martyrs and all the saints made perfect. In our fellowship, we seek to love one another as Christ loves us, that all men may know that we are His disciples. In our evangelistic and other outreach work, we share the love of the Most Holy Trinity with the people of Central Texas. Through all these things, heaven and earth are united.

Holy Prophet and Forerunner John, our Patron and Protector, pray for us.

Each principle area has multiple goals, tactics and objectives that are measurable so we know when the objective has been achieved. In the area of worship, our plan commits us to providing frequent services; providing education, support, resources, and alternate locations to enable participation in the services; and to identify talented people with gifts to serve and sing at the services.

The area of discipline addresses those aspects of our lives that distinguish us as Orthodox – the practice of Orthodoxy, or Orthopraxis. Orthopraxis as defined in our Strategic Plan includes substantial support and resources committed to promoting prayer, fasting, almsgiving, repentance, and educational programs for all ages of parishioners. Objectives related to discipline also include promoting educational resources available through The Voice in the Wilderness newsletter, Christ the Lightgiver Bookstore and our Lending Library.

Fellowship is a very important component of Orthodoxy and our life together here at St. John. It reinforces that we are one body, in Christ. Our Strategic Plan recognizes the importance of fellowship by outlining activities related to celebrating our lives together, through blessings on name days, birthdays, and anniversaries; light snacks at coffee hour after the Divine Liturgy; simple Lenten communal meals on Wednesdays, followed by adult education and Small Compline; and festal celebrations that include potlucks or picnics, and dances four times a year. We plan to petition our Bishop, His Grace BASIL, to change our patronal feast day beginning in 2004 from the Synaxis of St. John (January 7^th) to his nativity (June 24^th), to allow more focus on our patron than is typically possible following the seasonal feasts of Nativity and Theophany. And we commit, through our Strategic Plan, to offer more personal hospitality to others in our homes. Fellowship is enjoyed as we work together in our organizations: St. Photini Women’s Auxiliary, a new Men’s Group with a focus on service, and our Teen SOYO. Fr. Aidan and those in Holy Orders commit to visit those who are ill or infirm, and we empanel a Community Care Team (also referred to as the Inreach Committee, chaired by Subdeacon Thomas Wilson) to address needs of our parishioners throughout critical life transitions.

The last focus area of our Strategic Plan is evangelism and other outreach. We must all commit ourselves to sharing Christ’s love and His message with those outside our parish, to bring them into His kingdom. Several mechanisms are outlined in the Strategic Plan to accomplish this: organized and publicized outreach events; a more robust Internet presence with an enhanced web site; a more organized approach to greeting and following up with visitors; Orthodox instruction designed specifically for catechumens, inquirers, the newly illumined, and Godparents; providing items for home liturgical use to promote the spiritual life of those recently baptized or chrismated, and a "First Year Program" to help ease their transition into Orthodoxy as a way of life. Many of these objectives are the responsibility of the newly created Outreach Committee, chaired by David Brown.

As you see, this plan is very ambitious – which is why it is implemented over a five-year period. Some changes, like coffee hour, are coming fairly soon. Others are later, after we move to Cedar Park, or even further in the future. And since this is a plan, it is dynamic, evolving as needed to meet changing circumstances and needs of the parish. Each person who has responsibility for plan objectives is also charged with reporting progress on these objectives to the parish council on a regular basis; reports are made available to all parishioners through meeting minutes and bulletin board postings. But the best way to know what kind of progress is being made on the plan is to be a part of it! Be responsive when asked to serve in some capacity, or on a committee. Communicate your special talents to Fr. Aidan, or a council member. Contact a parish council member today for more information on how you can get involved in our Strategic Plan.