16. STRATEGIC PLANNING UNIT (Report C21)

That the Assembly:

16.1 adopt the four principles stated in the report:
- developing an outward focus,
- developing a sense of vision,
- developing new ways of being church, and
- making space,
as a basis to assist the church to undertake its strategic planning in the next three years;

16.2 with regard to Congregations

(a) request congregations that have not developed a vision statement in the past two years, to develop one in consultation with their presbytery, or synod mission planners, and submit the statement to the presbytery;

(b) encourage each congregation to identify an appropriate way, every three months, of renewing their commitment and ownership of their vision for the life and witness of their congregation;

(c) encourage congregations to invite their presbytery liaison person, and a member of a neighbouring congregation, or some other suitable person not in the congregation, to one meeting of the congregation each year that is devoted to reviewing their mission plan and re-invigorating it;

(d) urge groups and congregations to develop different styles, times and places of worship as part of a spectrum of worship options;

(e) ask medium and larger sized congregations in particular (but not exclusively) to identify a group not well represented in current worship services and, where possible, to work with them to develop new and appropriate celebrations of worship;

(f) request congregations to report back to presbyteries by 1 December 2001 on these initiatives and their progress to date;

16.3 with regard to Presbyteries

encourage presbyteries to:

(a) affirm the congregations in their choice of initiatives in mission and worship;

(b) encourage and support congregations as they implement these initiatives;

(c) make provision to regularly receive reports from congregations on progress being made and to share ideas and stories;

(d) regularly review the progress and outcomes being achieved;

(e) encourage congregations to identify and implement further mission and worship initiatives;

(f) support the ongoing development of these initiatives in congregations and to report to each meeting of their synod on what has been achieved;

16.4 with regard to Synods

(a) encourage Moderators during the next triennium to give particular attention to new faith communities and emerging congregations and report at least annually to their Standing Committee or Council of Synod in regard to this area of the church's life;

(b) request editors and communication officers in Synods and the Assembly to regularly feature stories on the implementation and outcome of these mission and worship initiatives of congregations;

16.5 with regard to education for ministry

(a) request presbyteries to encourage and further develop new and flexible models of ministry appropriate to the changing context of ministry and report to each meeting of their synod on progress being made;

(b) request the Synods and the Ministerial Education Commission to consider the impact of new models of ministry on both initial preparation and continuing education for ministry, and encourage them to develop appropriate models of training for these ministries, and report to the Assembly Standing Committee on progress made in this regard by March 2002;

(c) ask the Standing Committee to identify, after appropriate consultation, a theological college willing to develop a pilot program focussed on both preparation and continuing education for new and alternative models of ministry [as referred to in (b) above], and report back to the Standing Committee in November 2001 on progress made;

16.6 with regard to chaplaincy

affirm the key role that chaplains can play in furthering the mission of the church in its interface with the wider society, and call upon synods, presbyteries and congregations to support chaplains in their various ministries, to engage with them in discerning how their work might be developed in the future, and to identify strategies appropriate for that purpose;

16.7 with regard to the Strategic Planning Unit

request the Strategic Planning Unit to continue to monitor the broader social trends in society in order to alert the church to the implications of these changes for its ministry and mission.

Rationale:
See report C21.