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Forward With Faith II Information
May 16th, 2008 Dear Ministry Team/Area Leaders and Brothers and Sisters in Christ: For about the past month, the Session has been working on the Forward with Faith II (FWF II) strategic planning process with the input of the FWF II Steering Committee and Deaconate focusing on developing statements of our core values, mission, core goals, and ministry model building upon previous planning efforts. We have also developed a list of stategic planning questions for our ministry areas. A working document (fwf2_jb_5-15-08).doc) summarizing the results of this work is downloadable from this webpage at the upper right. We are encouraged by God's leading in FWF II planning process and progress made to date! The next phase of the FWF II planning process more directly involves each of our ministry teams and the congregation as a whole. The Session is asking your ministry team to develop specific 5-year strategic goals for your team's ministry area with year-by-year objectives and actions plans (see first question under your ministry team heading in the FWF2 document). We also ask your ministry team to consider how your team's ministry area can more effectively teach and communicate the Gospel, our core values, mission, core goals, ministry model, and "doctrines of grace" to church officers and other leaders, the congregation as a whole, ministry givers and receivers, and our local community and world (see last question under your ministry team heading in the attached working document). Each ministry team should address these two fundamental questions in your report to the Session. These two questions provide "book-ends" for a number of other strategic questions in between that we also ask you to consider as you formulate your specific ministry goals and plans. Please keep in mind that the specific 5-year goals and actions plans that your team will develop and propose to the Session should be consistent with our church core values, mission, core goals, ministry model and Gospel-centrality which overarches and drives everything. Because of its overall importance as a central guiding principle, I have also attached two documents by Dr. Tim Keller which provide more explanation (better than I can do myself) of the meaning and implications of Gospel-centrality. As ministry team leader, the Session asks you to help communicate the essential elements of Gospel-centrality and our church core values, mission, core goals and ministry model to your ministry team members. May I suggest that one of the fist things you do with your ministry team as part of the FWF II process is work through and discuss Keller's "Centrality of the Gospel" paper downloadable from this webpage at the upper right (which includes discussion questions). The work of the ministry teams on formulating specific 5-year ministry goals and action plans is crucial to the FWF II strategic planning process. I have cc'ed tje Faith PCA Session, Faith PCA Deaconate and Faith PCA Staff on this message and invite all to provide input to your ministry team on your 5-year strategic questions, goals and plans. During this phase of the process, we will also make the attached FWFII working document available to the congregation as a whole and invite individuals to provide input to the Session, Deaconate and ministry teams focusing on your 5-year strategic ministry questions, goals and plans. To keep the planning process moving, we ask your ministry team to provide a draft of your proposed 5-year strategic goals and year-by-year action plans along with responses to the last question under your ministry area by August 30, 2008. Please feel free (and encouraged) to also provide responses to the other strategic questions in between the two fundamental "book-end" questions. If at any time I can faciliate your efforts or address questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will be praying continually for each of you, your ministry teams and our church. Please remember that we only are requesting a draft plan from your ministry team by August 30, 2008. After the Session and Deaconate review your draft and the congregation provides comments, your team will have an opportunity to revise and build upon your draft. I know in some ways summer is not the best time to get your team together to work on strategic planning (unless you take them to the beach at the same time!). However, in other ways summer may be a good time for your team to step back from your normal duties and thoughts and meet together for the sole purpose of visionary thinking and planning for God's Kingdom! Thank you so much for your service to the Lord! Take care and God Bless, John Bergstrom on behalf of the Faith PCA Session |