9:30                        coffee

10:00                     Welcome, sharing expectations, housekeeping

10:05                     Experiencing the Present Challenges of the Church

10:20                     Worshipful Reflection

10:30                     Leading the Church as it Faces These Challenges

10:50                     Feedback to larger group

11:00                     Discerning the attributes of a missional leader?

11:15                     Seven Characteristics of a Missional Leader

11:45                     Lunch

12:30                     Worshipful Reflection

12:40                     What is required of us?  Where do we need to be going?

1:10                        Feedback to larger group

1:25                        What is happening with Strategic Plan

1:55                        Feedback - How do you see the strategic plan unfolding in your own parish/area? (parish          groups)

2:25                        Resources for Congregational Development

2:45                        Worshipful reflection (What I am going to do)

2:55                        Evaluate the day

3:00                        Head home

9:15 a.m.              Coffee, Registration

9:45 a.m.              Worship

10:00 a.m.           Guest Speaker – The Rev. Paul Borthistle

                                Theme: Building the Bridge as you Walk                                                              Upon It!

Finding strategic direction for a parish is giving shape and form to the call of God’s Spirit in the life of the parish as we together answer God’s call to mission.  It celebrates where God has been present and invites us more deeply into God’s future.

Our time together will focus on hearing the parish story and voice and assessing our mission and our resources.  We will use the resources of the Appreciative Way (Appreciative Inquiry) as tools to open the parish to God’s preferred future.

Bio for the Rev. Paul Borthistle

Paul is currently the interim priest at St. Mary – Kerrisdale in the Diocese of New Westminster.  For ten years (2000 to 2010) he served as the Director for Parish Support Ministries in the diocese.  During this time he worked extensively with parishes and the diocese in developing tools and processes for determining and actualizing strategic direction.  He is a ‘third career’ priest, having prior careers in lay ministry and business before becoming a parish priest in 1990.

Paul is a practitioner of the Appreciative Way (applied Appreciative Inquiry) as he seeks out what is the best that we have to offer to God, neighbour and ourselves

12:15 p.m.           Lunch

1:00 p.m.             Conclusion of Paul Borthistle’s  presentation

1:30 p.m.             Introduction to Capital Campaign (Richard Salt)

1:40 p.m.             Stewardship Conversation (John Robertson)

2:00 p.m.             Capital Campaign details (Amanda Gellman)

2:15 p.m.             Small groups focusing on how to go back to the parish and set priorities for the capital campaign

3:00 p.m.             Report back session with Amanda, John and Richard co-facilitating

3:30 p.m.             Homeward Bound

The Strategic Plan Implementation Group met for the third time on Thursday November 24, 2011.  The group heard a report about the work of the Director for Mission and Ministry.  Final reports are still to come from the sub-groups established to look at the criteria for the distribution of grants and loans and with regard to recommendations to Diocesan Council about the establishment of new columbaria and scattering grounds. 

There was considerable discussion about the subject of congregational development as the SPIG recognizes that the future of the diocese ultimately depends on the health of the local congregations.  A variety of programs and methods for aiding congregational planning were discussed.  Archdeacon Kim Van Allen described the work of the diocesan congregational coaches and their approach to planning using the Appreciative Inquiry method.  Archdeacon Salt explained that the Diocese of Toronto was having some success using the Natural Church Development program in conjunction with Appreciative Inquiry coaching.  Additionally Robert Schnare’s “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations” was brought forward as a method of assisting congregations in their planning process.  It was agreed that more conversation would be held about this matter but that a variety of approaches would be useful.

Schedules were finalized for the Lay Leadership Days to be held in early 2012 and for the Clergy Day to be held January 19^th.  After a lively discussion it was recommended that the Lay Leadership Days be for lay people only.  Schedules for the two days will be posted on this blog separately.  The Lay Leadership Day will be held in four different locations in the Diocese with participants being able to attend the day closest to them.  The day will be held in Windsor on February 11^th ; in London on March 24^th ; in Waterloo on April 14^th and in Clarksburg on May 5^th. 

There was continued discussion about the formation of ordinands and about “Right Person – Right Place” (getting the right people in the right jobs.)  As there was not time to draw these discussions to a conclusion it was agreed that they would be the primary agenda  items for the next meeting.

The group accepted with regret the resignation, due to personal reasons, of Paul Knowles as Vice-chair.  Jane Cartier agreed to act as vice-chair and Archdeacon Salt stated that someone to represent the Waterloo archdeaconry would be recruited and appointed to the SPIG.

The new Strategic Plan Implementation Group met together for the first time on Thursday September 22^nd.  The Group will meet regularly on the fourth Thursday of the month.  It was agreed that a communication would be sent to the Diocese following each meeting via missionconversations.blogspot.com with a link provided to the site in the Sunday announcements.  The Director for Mission and Ministry will also report regularly to the Diocesan Council and to the whole diocese through the Huron Church News. 

The Group spent much of its first meeting getting to know one another and being updated by The Venerable Richard Salt as to what steps have been taken and what has been accomplished during the first five months of his new ministry to the Diocese. Among many other things Richard reported that he had initiated the Prodigal God Study which will take place widely across the diocese during the six weeks following Thanksgiving and held a clergy day to prepare the clergy for the study; consulted with the Archdeacons and Executive Staff to establish some priorities for the use of financial and time resources;  worked with the Bishop’s and Archdeacons to develop guidelines for motions coming to Diocesan Council regarding the disestablishment, reorganizing and realigning of congregations and parishes; and has started conversations about planning for the future with a number of  congregations.

Later in the meeting the Group spent some time discussing the possible direction for and content of the proposed Lay Leadership Day that will be held in four different locations in the diocese in early 2012.

Finally the group elected John Thorpe as their chair and Paul Knowles as their vice-chair.

Ministry in Three Dimensions – by Stephen Croft

In his book “Ministry in Three Dimensions” Stephen Croft examines the work of ordained ministry in light of our changing culture and circumstances.  He traces the biblical roots of the three-fold ministry of diakonia, presbyter and episcope and then points out how these roles have changed and developed over the centuries as the needs of the church have changed. He points out that authentic ministry that meets the needs of today’s church has elements of the traditional work of all three orders.  Personally I believe that those of us who are priests have not fully developed the various dimensions of the ministry we are called to. We were all ordained deacons and yet most of us considered it a transitory place and did not come to fully embrace the role of servanthood that deacons are called to.  The fact that we remain deacons after being priested does not always continue to form us as it should. Similarly, if we have grown up in the church of the 20^th century we do not always see the need to provide locally the vision and leadership that have traditionally been the role of the episcope.  Croft’s book is a good read that encourages all who are ordained to reexamine what their ministry is about and how it needs to develop and grow to meet the challenges of the 21^st century. 

- Richard Salt