Report on Strategic Options 2011 – 2016
Town Hall Feedback
The Conference Executive Committee requested feedback from local churches on the key areas our Conference should focus on strategically over the next five years. This is a summary of the process and feedback we received from a series of Town Hall meetings held in June and July 2011.
Meetings were conducted in Northland, Auckland (3), Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Taranaki and Wellington. The vast majority of members including pastors who attended were very positive about the purpose of the meetings and welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction of the Conference. A recording secretary was appointed in each meeting who noted comments made by participants. These comments were collated and given to the Executive Committee.
In addition to the Town Hall meetings we also received responses via email and postal correspondence.
The eight strategic options presented at the Town Hall meetings were;
- Community Engagement
- Church Member Engagement
- Institution Management
- Local Church Leadership
- Growth
- Alignment (Unity)
- Governance
- Communication
In looking at these options people were asked to consider the importance and urgency of each one. Because of limited resources including money the Conference is not able to address all of these areas as high priorities at the present time. At the end of each meeting all who attended were asked to prioritise the eight options from highest to lowest. This would give guidance to areas that would be given foremost attention in our Strategic Planning for the next five years.
 |
| Graph showing overall results of how participants ranked the options |
While all the identified strategic areas will continue to receive attention the main focus of the Strategic Plan will concentrate on the top three ranked priorities above of Church Leadership Development, Growth and Community Engagement. The Spirit Led Leadership Summit, focused on local church leadership development, will again be happening at Tui Ridge Park shortly. The dates for this important event are 30 September to 2 October and applications are now available on the Conference website.
We truly appreciated the genuine interest of local members in their church and its mission and also for the constructive and friendly tone that prevailed in the meetings. For this we thank you and praise our amazing God from whom all good things come.
As the Strategic Plan is finalised and implemented please continue to pray for God’s Spirit to empower us all as His Church in North New Zealand to fulfill our vision of seeing a Spirit-filled body of believers leading their communities to Jesus in preparation for his soon return.
Ben Timothy
Administrative Pastor