In January-March we have implemented a project to empower congregations in visioning & planning. During a meeting with all presbytery clerks on 11-May-16, presbyteries reported their progress:
- 90% of the congregations in the Synod have organised a special session during which they analysed their needs and linked the needs of the congregation with the projects initiated by the Synod under the Strategic plan. As a result of this many congregations have indicated that they have taken ownership of the Synod strategic planning projects.
- 82% of the congregations have organised a training for committtee chairs during which the learned to develop and use a master time table for the congregations. Many congregations have commented that the master time table is helping them to plan well.
- 55% of the congregations have organised a special session during which they did an in-depth analysis of the life & work of the congregations. Congregations are reporting that this in-depth analysis helps them to know the real life situation of the congregations.
- 42% of the congregations have organised teaching and a special service to identify gifts and talents of all members. Congregations who have done the gift identification are reporting that members really feel appreciated through this programme
Overall implementation of the visioning & planning workshops is at 67%. All presbyteries have committed themselves to reach 100% by end of June.
We will organise a second round of trainings in the period July-August 2016. During this training we will offer a refresher course on the topics that were trained in Round 1 and we will also offer a module on strengthening presbyteries in supervision and monitoring of projects.