FIND A CHURCH

STRATEGIC PLAN

Our Mission

To draw people to Jesus and embody his love for the world by equipping faith communities, promoting spiritual growth, and striving for justice.

Vision 2025

To be a Diocese that draws on the gifts of all God’s people to serve Christ together and live Jesus’ Way of Love.

Revitalize our churches to grow the Jesus Movement

  • We will implement a church revitalization strategy that leads to healthy, thriving congregations throughout the diocese, reversing the trends of decline
  • Our leadership and congregations will reflect the demographics of our surrounding communities
  • We will develop a stewardship strategy for our facilities and finances so that parishes are not constrained by building concerns
  • We will launch or relaunch three worshiping communities focused on rising generations so that we become a spiritual home for our children and grandchildren

Inspire every person to grow in faith & equip our leaders to lead well

  • We will establish a school for Christian leadership for clergy and laity
  • We will develop and implement a collaborative strategy for spiritual growth and discipleship
  • We will strive for a 10% increase in baptisms, confirmations, and receptions across the diocese year over year

Partner in ministries of equity & justice for greater impact in our communities

  • We will strengthen our collective witness in equity and justice through partnerships and shared resources to meet the needs of our regions
  • We will promote Creation Care practices in all our faith communities
  • We will engage issues such as racial justice, gun violence prevention, LGBTQ equal rights, and immigration reform through on-going trainings, workshops, pilgrimages, and public witness

Year Three Priorities

Measurable Objectives

Church Revitalization
We will take initial steps toward launching or relaunching three new worshiping communities focused on reaching rising generations and identify where we will invest strategic leadership and other resources.

We will establish a working group of leaders from our historic and majority Black congregations to explore strategies for their future sustainability and vitality, with its first report of recommendations to be be presented to Diocecan Council in September.

We will continue to engage congregations with health assessments & revitalization strategies, including the start of a second cohort of up to 12 congregations in Tending Our Soil, all congregations experiencing clergy leadership transition, and those seeking diocesan support.

Faith & Leadership
We will provide resources and support for congregations seeking to offer a compelling Christian witness to rising generations.

We will work to rebuild trust and deepen relationships among faith formation leaders across the diocese through one/one conversations, regional gatherings, and a diocesan formation leaders’ retreat in the fall of 2022, in order to better support formation leaders and work collaboratively for greater impact, particularly with youth and young adults.

We will continue to develop and expand the School for Christian Faith and Leadership, providing offerings that support spiritual growth, the path of discipleship, parish vitality and leadership skills, and our work for equity and justice.

Equity & Justice
The newly established Diocesan Creation Care Team will engage our congregations and regional leaders to identify current practices and then offer concrete ways we can collectively strengthen our commitment to the care of God’s creation.

We will continue to reckon with and act to dismantle racism in ourselves, our communities, our diocese and our localities through continued offerings of Sacred Ground and Anti-Racism 101, adding an additional 5 congregations studying their history through the lens of race, and offering a diocesan-wide Symposium on Reparations in the fall of 2022.

We will continue to strengthen collaborative efforts to address other areas of equity and justice, including Food Insecurity and Homelessness, LGBTQIA+ Cultural Competency, Gun Violence Prevention, Prison Ministry, and Immigration/Refugee Support.

Resources

Year Three Priorities | Prioridades del Tercer Año


Year Two Priorities | Prioridades del Segundo Año


Year One Priorities | Prioridades del Primero Año

 

Questions

Please contact us with any questions on the Diocese of Washington strategic plan.