“What’s your vision for the synod?” I have frequently been asked since I assumed the role of bishop last August.

It’s a great question, and while I do have a broad vision—“Let’s collaborate more so that the message of the gospel can be amplified through our shared gifts and joint work!”—because this first year entails such a steep learning curve, I have found it difficult to flesh out that vision while also learning the ropes. For this reason, the NC Synod has contracted with an ELCA-adjacent organization, LEAD, to create a new strategic plan.

What does this mean?

Strategic planning enables an organization to align its work with its mission, vision, and core values. Our process will take approximately 10-12 months to complete, and will involve careful listening across synod, making sense of what we hear in that listening, and, as a result, creating a plan that will direct our work together as the synod.

How will we accomplish this project?

We have a great team tasked with facilitating this work! In addition to myself, the planning team consists of the following gifted individuals: Brad Alexander, Sylvia Black, Shanitria Cuthbertson, Terry Edwards, Jeffrey Ingold, Angel Jeffery, Gerson Mendoza-Hipolito, Christina Nesslage, Cassie Overcash, Wayne Powell, and Paul Wollner. We’ll start our listening sessions at the upcoming event, Synod Gathering (May 28-30), and we hope you will share your thoughts with us! We also plan to form focus groups in the near future to do even more listening!

We need your help!

Our strategic planning team has already met several times, and so, in many ways, we are already doing the work. But we need your help! Please stop by our table at the Synod Gathering, participate in a listening session while there, and when an electronic survey lands in your inbox in a couple of months, fill it out. Stay tuned to Synod e-News for updates on our progress. (Subscribe to Synod e-News here.)

I am excited about where this process might lead us. And, I am grateful for who we are as synod and the gifts we share with one another.