In the fall of 2014 Chapter commissioned a diverse group of parishioners to develop a five year strategic plan for the Cathedral. We decided to call it the Vision for Mission or V4M.
Energized by the mission statement, “Love Christ, Serve Others, Welcome All”, we are creating objectives and strategic actions under six goal areas: Worship, Music and the Arts, Formation, Community, Cathedral for the City & Diocese, and Outreach & Justice. The committee has drawn in a large number of parishioners to help form these objectives and actions, and we have referred back to the congregational survey conducted in 2013. Our hope is to implement the final plan at the beginning of 2016.
This is one of a series of blog posts, each of which gives a concise description of the draft objectives and strategic actions under each goal area. We welcome feedback and comments at www.stpaulcathedral.org/vision-mission.
Vision for Mission Objectives: Cathedral for the City & Diocese
One of the roles of a cathedral is to serve as the mother church for a community, both the spiritual community of the diocese and the secular community of the city. In fact, in the UK a city is traditionally defined as a town where a bishop has his seat or “cathedra”. So, in this goal area St. Paul’s will serve the diocese and the city of San Diego as a sanctuary for all and a center for spiritual formation where diverse religious and civic voices engage the issues of the day.
We hope to provide a public space for dialogue and to be known as a safe place for all viewpoints.
The first objective towards this goal will be to ensure that cathedral personnel, particularly the Dean, will be featured in local media as leading voices for social justice and faith-based issues, with frequent quotes or appearances in local media vehicles. The strategies we will employ will be to develop a comprehensive program of interaction with the media and wider community and to develop a communications handbook for ministry leaders to use in publicity efforts.
Our second objective is to ensure that by December 31, 2020, Cathedral forums and events, scheduled quarterly, will attract at least 200 people from within and outside the congregation to participate in conversations of common interest, with the strategy of scheduling and marketing a regular program of compelling events and soliciting the participation of outside groups and community members.
As a third objective, cathedral members will be active in all community groups that affect the cathedral and diocesan community, involving at least 50 different groups from the wider community and diocese by end of year 2020. We have several strategies to achieve this objective: we will create a mechanism to invite representatives of community groups to participate in Chapter deliberations; we will adapt our space to be more usable for community events such as galas; we will develop partnerships with other churches and the broader community; and we will effectively communicate opportunities for involvement and available services to those beyond our walls.
