President’s Update message, September 2006

The Upper Columbia Conference quadrennial constituency session will be held on September 30, 2007 on the campus of Upper Columbia Academy. In anticipation of that business session of the conference, plans and committees are already laying the groundwork for a successful meeting.

The Upper Columbia Conference Executive Committee recently voted to establish a Strategic Planning Commission consisting of key church leaders from various geographical regions of the conference. The group includes Conference leaders, pastors, teachers, and local church lay leaders with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Dr. Jon Dybdahl, recently retired President of Walla Walla College, will chair the commission.

The Executive Committee has asked the commission “to develop a strategic plan for Upper Columbia Conference 2007-2011 making mission the priority and central focus of every church, school, ministry, department, and individual member. Give particular attention to growth, leadership, accountability, and resourcing. Final results should be summarized in 3-5 key ideas that can be voted and easily articulated.”

Please join me in praying that this group of dedicated people will be Holy Spirit empowered with wisdom and insight as they discuss plans that will guide the conference into the future. We must maximize our strengths and prioritize our resources and focus our energies on the core task that God has entrusted to the church – to prepare the world for the soon return of Jesus Christ. We must be willing to adjust budgets, redeploy employees, embrace technology, take risks on new initiatives, renew or discard worn-out ideas, and touch the lives of unreached people groups even within Upper Columbia Conference.

Such bold plans and innovative ideas will require much courage and faith but that is indeed the mission to which we have been called.