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Strategic (Long Range) Planning
Our Biblical Story
Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight
Mark 10: 46-52
Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."
"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
The story of Bartimaeus tells of a blind beggar beside the road crying out for mercy as Jesus and His disciples led a group of people out of Jericho. The disciples tried to hush the stir caused by the beggar, but he was even more persistent. Jesus ignored the interference of the disciples and commanded them to bring the blind man to Him. The Master acknowledged the faith of Bartimaeus and restored his sight. Then they all joined the happy parade!
This story fits the family of St. James in several ways:
- Sometimes we are Bartimaeus, crying out for mercy and healing.
- Sometimes we are the disciples, trying to maintain the status quo and insulating ourselves in the church, pushing aside those on the fringe who need help or appear to be unimportant.
- Sometimes we are the people of Jericho, waiting, watching and wondering what will happen and what we should do.
Our goal is to find ourselves in the conclusion of the story: being persistent in our plea for mercy, and bringing those in need to the Master for healing. Like Bartimaeus, the disciples, and the people of Jericho, we strive for spiritual sight in our faith and in our response to each other. Like Christ, we need to be the loving, accepting instrument of reconciliation in the life of every person in need. Then we can all join the joyful procession of praise.
CORE PURPOSE
We are witnesses to all people of the love of Christ, God with us, God through us, God around us.
CORE IDEOLOGY
God invites all to his Table, whether blind or sighted, baptized or un-baptized, gay or straight, poor or rich, young or old, prominent or obscure, of whatever race, and of whatever faith or unbelief. Accordingly, we are committed to enlarge our hearts and our physical place to welcome inside all those who come to our door.
CORE VALUES
We value the place each of us has found at God’s Table, and we value the generosity of spirit which God’s free gift of grace inspires in us. We value our friendships which are the authentic reflection of God residing in us. We value our aspiration to welcome all others to join us in the procession to God’s holy place.
ENVISIONED FUTURE
The envisioned future for St. James will evolve from the information we are gathering in the surveys and focus groups. It is only with the input for all members of St. James that this can and will be written.
ANNUAL MEETING REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE
The Mission of the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) is to develop long range goals for St. James. With the growth that St. James has experienced in the past few years, a plan for the next three to five years that addresses all functioning aspects of St. James, from facilities & maintenance to formation, outreach, & mission is critical. The SPC has charged itself with defining a plan for the future of St. James based on the needs of the members of St. James and our surrounding community.
The committee began meeting in the spring and has continued to meet regularly since then. The members of the SPC are: Rev. Marya DeCarlen, Alice Claps (Chairperson), Starr Anderson, John Anderson, John Cole, Elaine Hatch, Sue Mood, Carl Much, Mark Prescott, Jayne Smallman. As the SPC discussed its objective the magnitude of this process unfolded and specific tasks were identified.
A plan with a realistic timetable to accomplish this needed to be developed . A plan for the strategic plan which details all major and minor tasks and sets target deadlines has been developed. The SPC expects to have this process completed in May at which time the draft of the long term plan will be presented to the congregation.
The needs, wants, and dreams of the members of St. James have to be identified . The methods by which this information will be gathered have been defined. All members of St. James will be asked to complete a comprehensive survey. In depth Focus Groups will be held at Foyer Groups and at an “Open Group” for all who were not at the Foyer Groups. The Survey will be distributed at the services on Jan 14 th. The Focus groups are scheduled for January 2007.
The needs of the surrounding community have to be learned A detailed analysis of the demographic data for our surrounding geographical communities will be performed from available data. The raw data has been obtained and the compilation process begun.
The identity of St. James has to be expressed . The Biblical Story which stands as a metaphor for St. James has been identified. Statements of St. James’ Core Ideology, Values and Purpose have been written. A statement of St. James’ Envisioned Future will be finalized when all the information has been gathered and analyzed.
The gathered information has to be analyzed and the resulting plan articulated When all information has been gathered a plan will start to reveal itself. This will be evaluated based on realistic goals for St. James and long range plan defined. The plan will be presented to all members of St. James for comment and input. When that has been accomplished the final long range plan will be defined.
CONGREGATIONAL SURVEY
St. James conducted a needs survey to help develop a plan for serving our congregation. You can view and download the results of the survey here (Adobe Acrobat Format)
Thank you
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