Strategic Planning Retreat - April 2005

From April 14 - 17th, 2005, members of the SCM Board of Directors met at Rowe Conference Center in Rowe, Massachusetts to work with Consultant, The Rev. Nancy Bowen, to develop a Strategic Plan for the Society for Community Ministries. 

Attending (left to right) were:  Rev. Nancy Bowen, Rev. Kurt Kuhwald (representing the UU Community Ministry Center), Rev. Patricia Shelden, Rev. Maddie Sifantus, Rev. Dale Lantz, Rev. Kate Bortner, Jim Cavenaugh & Rev. Jeanne Lloyd. 

Missing (with regrets) were:  Deborah Holder (Colorado) and Darrick Jackson (Massachusetts). 

The Board reviewed current challenges and opportunities for Unitarian Universalist Community Ministry and developed a strategic vision to support, educate, and advocate on behalf of community ministry to the larger world.  The strategic vision, shared at the June 2005 Annual Meeting and in the May '05 Crossroads Newsletter, is available at the link below.  The Board will be working on developing specific action plans for the implementation of this vision across the Summer 2005 and beyond.  It invites all SCM members to comment on its implementation.

This event would not have been possible without the support of the UU Funding Panel grant for Unitarian Universalism and board members' personal contributions to cover expenses.  Retreat participants came from as far away as Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, in order to make sure that SCM grows into a sustainable and inheritable organization that will continue to minister to and on behalf of its membership.