5 Year Strategic Planning Committee Report

WAYNE SWEITZER – CCCC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Strategic vision refresh. Staffing needs and transition processes. Multi-year budgeting and resourcing. Stewardship, grant applications, and generous financial gifts. Future Annual Gatherings.

These are some of the high-level issues considered by the CCCC Board of Directors and Conference leadership during their last in-person meeting in February 2020. As the end of the multi-day meeting drew near, the Board recognized that several important topics warranted additional, on-going attention.

Accordingly, they formed a subcommittee to prayerfully continue discussion of specific strategic planning topics with a smaller, more focused cadre. This so-called Five-Year Plan (5YP) Subcommittee has met monthly since then via teleconference, with two overarching purposes in mind:

(1) to advise the larger Board and other Conference leaders on a range of strategic issues, plans, and objectives; and,

(2) to inform and support the multi-year budgeting efforts of the CCCC Finance Committee as they ensure alignment between future resourcing and those strategic plans and objectives.

The Subcommittee is comprised of three members of the Board of Directors: Mr. Phil Lewis, Rev. Thomas TJ Turner, and myself. Participating advisors to the Subcommittee include: Rev. Tim Dubeau (Mideast Regional Pastor), Rev. Dr. Ron Hamilton (Conference Minister), Rev. Alvin Helms (Board President), and Rev. Dr. Phil Noordmans (West Regional Pastor).

In addition to these regular participants, the Subcommittee has engaged outside experts for specific discussions, such as Mr. Frank Pace, retired President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., and Rev. Keith Tolley, former President of Vision New England, for their perspectives on topics such as defining success, prioritizing leadership characteristics, aligning mission and resources, and succession planning.

Per the Board’s direction, the Subcommittee’s initial focus has been on issues related to future leadership succession, recommending for instance the adoption of succession planning as an on-going organizational process — as opposed to an episodic, reactive undertaking — to be better prepared for whenever future leadership transitions might occur.

The Subcommittee has also begun to focus on Conference staffing and personnel resources and responsibilities, particularly regarding the Home Office and the planning and execution of future CCCC Annual Gatherings. For the latter, the Subcommittee is working closely with the Annual Gathering Subcommittee as they begin analyzing the results of the recent survey of the Conference membership.

Please pray for the efforts of these fellow disciples of Christ as they consider these and other strategic issues, that the Holy Spirit will make plain in their deliberations His will for the future of the Conference in accomplishing the work of His Kingdom.