Vision and Mission Process
After nearly five years of discernment, partnership and Building Bridges between our two legacy dioceses, it may seem redundant or tiresome to think about being in a vision and mission discernment process. However, in our Season of Becoming, this is precisely the time to discern our vision and mission.
“Vision Statement” and “Mission Statement” are such ubiquitous terms and mean different things in different contexts and are even used interchangeably in some spaces. For our purposes, these terms have to do with being and doing as we understand them in light of our unique position and situation and through the lenses of our values, most clearly expressed in our Baptismal Covenant.
A Vision Statement for our diocese will be a summary of what we collectively discern and imagine how and what we want the world to be. If we’re living into the fullness of who God is calling us to be as a diocese, when we look around our diocese, what will we see? A vision is our aim,our raison d’être, our direction toward which we’ll always strive. Our Vision is our Big Why.
A Mission Statement for our diocese will describe the work and purpose of our diocese, what we do. It acts as a high level decision filter to answer the question, “What should we do?” Our Mission is our Big What.
This work will happen concurrently with, inform, and be informed by other work in our diocese by Governing Bodies, the Ministry of the Episcopate team and others to prepare our diocese to call our first Bishop Diocesan.
The Process
The following process has been approved by the Standing Committee and Diocesan Council and will begin before the end of the first quarter of 2025.
In addition to the practical steps below, in front of mind for the Working Group will be how to create and include specific prayer and liturgical touchpoints through the entire process as we communicate often and transparently about what we’re learning and discerning together.
Phase 1: Bringing the Working Group Together and Clarifying Values
- Previewing the work of the Vision & Mission process in a number of ways to the whole diocese.
- Building on the research work of the Building Bridges Steering Committee (the then-bi-diocesan team that led the discernment regarding juncture), the Branding Subcommittee of the Transition Leadership Team, and the current Ministry of the Episcopate Team, the Vision and Mission Working Group will identify a number of values of our diocese. Once that list is compiled, it will be distributed widely in a way that invites both qualitative and quantitative feedback from lay and clergy members of our diocese alike to determine if the values are an accurate reflection of our diocese.
Phase 2: Developing Vision and Mission Statements
- communicate the results of the survey data from Phase 1,
- create a preliminary Vision & Mission “ideas” board (read: not clarified down to statements) based on results of survey data,
- prepare for and conduct focus groups of diverse sets of people and perspectives to seek their input on the Vision & Mission “ideas” board,
- refine the Vision & Mission “ideas” board into vision and mission statement drafts and then
- seek approval from the Governing Bodies to move to the next phase.
Phase 3: Finalizing Vision and Mission Statements
- present approved Vision & Mission Drafts to the diocese and invite feedback through a combination of survey and online focus groups,
- code feedback into themes and refine drafts,
- present final drafts to Governing Bodies for approval or rejection and then
- once a set of approved statements is ready, present the final results to the diocese.