Ontario Conference Unveils Five-Year Strategic Plan

Here’s a message from the Ontario Conference announcing its five-year strategic plan.

Charting the Course for Collective Growth

This message will present an overview of the official strategic plan of the Ontario Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for the next five years. This ground-breaking document provides clarity, direction, and inclusivity, ensuring every member comprehends our current standing. It glimpses into our future goals, and identifies opportunities to actively grow healthy evangelistic congregations throughout Ontario.

It is founded on our mission, “To reach Ontario and the world with the distinctive, Christ-centered, Seventh-day Adventist message of hope and wholeness,” and is embodied by our vision, “Connecting like Jesus,” which is more than a slogan, it’s a call to imitate Christ in every aspect of our lives. By living out this vision, we anticipate personal growth and a cultural shift in our churches, making them more loving and caring and unlocking their God-given potential for multiplication and disciple-making.

Why a Strategic Plan?

The book of Proverbs 29:18 reminds us, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” This biblical truth speaks to the importance of having a strategic plan within any organization. Just as a vision provides direction and purpose to a community, a strategic plan serves as the roadmap guiding an organization toward its intended destination. Through prayerful consideration and seeking divine wisdom, leaders are called to envision the future, charting a course that aligns with God’s will. The strategic plan for the Ontario Conference creates that clarity and communicates a unified direction for the conference. It is also designed to empower each member to contribute meaningfully towards the Great Commission to fulfill God’s mission.

The Road to the Strategic Plan

1. The strategic plan emerged organically from spirited discussions at the Conference Constituency session last June. During that session, delegates advocated for a unified direction.
2. These comments sparked a vital conversation among the newly elected Administrative Committee (ADCOM) team of President Jakov Bibulović, Executive Secretary Emile Maxi and Treasurer Virene Meikle about the conference’s direction.
3. These discussions laid the foundation for the strategic planning team, chaired by the executive secretary, who was tasked with distilling thoughts and insights into actionable concepts to guide the conference over the next five years.
4. When the initial plan was completed, it was shared with field secretaries, who are pastors coordinating the regional districts in Ontario. The goal was to get feedback and ensure the plan had achievable objectives for all of Ontario.
5. On November 28, at a special virtual workers’ meeting, the plan was presented to pastors and principals, who further refined this roadmap with their feedback. Everyone was encouraged to embrace and work towards the goals at that time.
6. Now, the culmination of these collaborative efforts is available, and we are awaiting your active participation to help make these goals a reality.

Strategic Plan Highlights

The strategic plan is based on the four “S’s”: Spiritual, Service, Sharing and Servant. On this foundation, the plan outlines ambitious yet achievable goals:

Specific Goals

• Experiencing 3.5% annual net growth, leading to 44,000 members by June 2028
• Welcoming 10,000 new members
• Establishing 28 new church plants
• Having 80% of leaders in all entities mentored, equipped and empowered for effective leadership
• Seeing 80% of the congregations develop into growing and multiplying churches
  Having at least 50% of attending members train for and assimilate into a holistic small group

Additionally, each director lists specific ministry goals aligning with these objectives. These goals will be subject to an accountability review. Accountability ensures transparency in actions, provides a framework for measuring progress and allows course correction to ensure alignment with God’s mission.

Your Role in the Strategic Plan

The strategic plan is a living guidebook of how the Ontario Conference intends to engage in the Great Commission over the next five years. It’s forged from consultations across all levels of the church, grounded in reality and awaits your participation. Copies of this document will be sent to each church, each pastor, each head elder, each school, each school, principals, and teachers before the end of January 2024. You can also download your copy and the conference calendar of events, a calendar that is based on this strategy.

Ellen G. White, in Christian Leadership, in the chapter “Teamwork,” beautifully encapsulates our shared responsibility, stating, “By means of one agency, Christ Jesus, God has mysteriously linked all men together. To every man, He has assigned some special line of service.” As you prayerfully read through the document, ask Jesus where He would have you serve to help reach these goals.

Now is the time to be united as one Adventist Church in Ontario. Let us preach and share the Gospel with a renewed passion; let us reach and show love to our communities so the Holy Spirit may ignite hearts, lighting a path to hope, wholeness and salvation in Jesus.