Strategic Planning
WHAT IS GOING ON AT OAKDALE EMORY?
If you talk to Oakdale Emory folks about the future, some long to go back to what they remember as the best of the past, but many express a sense that God has something special in store for our church—just over the horizon.
When we are honest with ourselves, we know that we can never go back to how it used to be. Since we are people of faith, we know that we need to go where God wants us to go. The leadership of Oakdale Emory has been actively seeking God’s will for our future.
WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THE STRATEGIC-PLANNING PROCESS?
You were, if you wanted to be. Every member and our regular attendees, as well, were asked to fill out a survey in January and February. About 82% of the active worshipping congregation did just that—well beyond the 15-20% most churches would expect.
Another significant number of individuals were selected to represent a cross-section of OE in twelve Focus Groups. They were chosen by age, gender, length of membership, involvement in the activities of the church. These Focus Groups vetted out survey questions and further shared who we are and where we are going.
Following these data-collection efforts, your leadership—the 15-member Church Council, staff, and key lay members— worked with the TAG consultant to make sense of the data and seek where God is leading Oakdale in the future. It was a caring, open and diligent process of discernment.
WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT WHO WE ARE?
Part of the TAG process was to identify our DNA code or character of Oakdale Emory. We learned that:
We also learned that we must work within our code because it is who we are. To go outside or ignore our code and character would be a recipe for conflict.
WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT WHO WE ASPIRE TO BE?
Last year, at the Council-Staff planning retreat, the church leadership followed the Bishop’s desire for Acts 2 churches by selecting six principles from Acts 2:42-47. We want to be:
Christ Centered – all about Christ
Radically Hospitable – offering a warm welcome for all
Life Changing – introducing people to a life-changing knowledge of Jesus
Demographically Diverse – representing the entire community in which we live
Oasis – a place where people recognize they can come for peace and refuge
Contagious Faith – with a willingness to tell our faith stories to others
WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?
As we struggled with mission and vision and whether it had changed, we came to the conclusion that our purpose had not changed. It comes, and will always come, from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20.
Our PURPOSE is:
To Make and Empower Disciples for Jesus Christ
A number of participants felt that we had emphasized the building up of disciples within the church, rather than making new ones. This vision is part of who we are, as well as what we want to be. It has led us as we grew in faith and it will continue to lead us into the next chapter of Oakdale’s history.
WHAT IS OUR
Our mission reflects how Oakdale Emory will carry out the church’s purpose in the 21st century.
Our MISSION is:
To connect people to a personal relationship with Jesus that empowers all to share his life-changing message with others.
WHERE DOES GOD WANT US TO GO FROM HERE?
We have prayed, we have talked, and we believe that God has revealed His will to us in this process. We believe that God reveals His will to individuals as well as to the body of the church. As we looked at our strengths, our weaknesses, our opportunities, our threats, we developed a list of action items God seemed to be directing us toward. After prayer and much discussion, we came back to consolidate and summarize these items.
We agreed on Five Key Initiatives for the next 2-3 years to help us carry out our mission:
ASSIMILATION – How do we bring people into the Oakdale community, share Jesus with them, and send them back into the world? By focusing on spiritual growth, relational connections and helping people be used by God in the life of someone else (inside or outside the church). We want this emphasis to be so ingrained in our culture that people would have to actively resist getting caught up in the ministries of Oakdale Emory.
TECHNOLOGY – Through the use of cutting-edge technology, we want to expand the message of the Gospel within and beyond our campus. Technology is an essential tool to share the Gospel in the 21st century, to be relevant to emerging generations and make an impact in the lives of our community (especially people with long commutes and busy lifestyles). Technology can also enable multi-site ministry.
INTERGENERATIONAL - We want to develop and emphasize opportunities for cross-generational groups to worship, fellowship, study, serve and witness together in the community on a regular basis.
GLOCAL OUTREACH – “Glocal” is the new buzzword for both global and local outreach. We want to maintain and expand our witness and service to the local community, the country, other ministries and the world.
OAKDALE EMORY ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Church Council of Oakdale Emory UMC serves in many ways as a board of directors for the church, setting and verifying mission and vision and adopting staff and budget resources to carry out the mission. The working committees and staff members are given authority and responsibility by the council to carry out the various aspects of the church’s mission within the budget and scope designated from the council.
Questions may be directed to Leslie Myers, Pastor of Leadership & Development, at lmyers@oeumc.org.