UCC Strategic Plan 2023 – 2025

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Team Members & Credits
• Introduction & Context
• Strategic Planning Timeline Summary
• Foundational Statements
• Our Future
• Strategic Goals and Priorities

TEAM MEMBERS & CREDITS

The Strategic Plan content was prayerfully formulated in the fall of 2022 by Upper Columbia Conference’s Vision Summit Delegates, Vision Dream Team,

administration, directors, communications department, and the UCC Executive Committee.

This Strategic Planning Initiative consisted of approximately 150 participants working and praying together to ask God for His vision for how to reach lost men, women, boys, and girls in the Upper Columbia Conference and beyond!

The Vision Dream Team included 20 individuals who were selected by the Vision Summit delegates:

• Stephanie Bailey

• Eric Brown
• Denise Colley
• Anne Curnow

• Autumn Dunzweiler

• Maria Duron
• Eric Haeger
• Sorin Ispirescu

• Shintell Izquierdo

• David Jamieson

• Rodney Mills
• Randy Moseanko

• Vince Onkoba
• Tobias Rebant
• Brian Smith
• Rachel Sumagpang

• Norman Thiel
• Peter Thomsen
• Joelle Townsend
• Jason Worf

Special Thanks

• Camp MiVoden Staff
• Art Lenz, UCC IT director
• UCC communications department
• UCC directors
• UCC Executive Committee
• UCC prayer team
• UCC Vision Summit Delegates
• Rhondeen Smith, executive assistant to the president

INTRODUCTION & CONTEXT

Upper Columbia Conference (UCC) was organized in 1880 in Milton, Oregon. At that time, the Walla Walla Valley had four Adventist churches and 119 members and was considered a remote frontier. Much has changed since then. We continue to build on the rich heritage of the past, and today UCC consists of 126 congregations, 33 schools and pre-schools, multiple radio stations, two Adventist Book Centers, Camp MiVoden, and other ministries and entities that work together to herald the soon return of Jesus Christ.

Our goal is to connect with people in a deeper way so that they may be drawn to Jesus and the beautiful Seventh-day Adventist message. We will do this by sharing the wonderful message of God’s love (John 3:16) in the context of the Three Angels’ Messages (Revelation 14:6-12) both locally and into all the world. As UCC journeys in this direction, it is re-positioning itself for a bold future. To facilitate its strategic planning efforts, UCC seeks to Reset, Redefine, and Realign its vision.

Reset. In June 2022, UCC administration began facilitating a strategic direction for the conference for the next three years. The intent was for church members and employees to have an opportunity to provide their prayerful input on UCC’s future strategic direction. The resulting data and information would be prayerfully collated, evaluated, and formulated into strategic initiatives for January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2025.

Redefine. On September 1, 2022, UCC administration began a conference-wide prayer initiative asking God to show us His vision for how to reach lost men, women, boys, and girls for His kingdom in Upper Columbia Conference and beyond.

This Vertical: 40 Days of Prayer initiative was a spiritual precursor to a Vertical: Vision Summit Weekend which took place October 7-9, 2022, where approximately 100 UCC delegates from across the conference were invited to participate in eight simultaneous breakout groups to discuss the future direction of UCC. Each breakout group answered 24 key brainstorming questions focused on: UCC Best Moments and Memories; Why Does UCC Exist?; Church Revitalization; Community Engagement and Evangelism; Ministry to Children, Youth, and Young Adults; the Future of Camp MiVoden; Advancing Adventist Education; and the Ministry of Camp Meeting. Afterwards, the collective group elected 20 individuals to serve on a “Vision Dream Team.” These 20 individuals represented a cross-section of church members from UCC whose median age was 40.5 years of age.

Realign. The Vision Dream Team prayerfully collated and evaluated all the data from the Vision Summit Weekend delegates into eight specific themes and worked with UCC administration, directors, and the communications department to formulate a strategic plan for UCC for the next three years.



On December 1, 2022, UCC Executive Committee subsequently approved this three-year Strategic Plan for 2023–2025 and voted to present to the entire UCC membership on Sabbath, January 21, 2023.

FOUNDATIONAL STATEMENTS

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”

II Corinthians 5:14,15

“...just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:28

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Luke 19:10

OUR VISION

Upper Columbia Conference equips and empowers ministries that reach our communities with the Christ-centered Seventh-day Adventist message of hope and wholeness.

OUR MISSION

The Mission of the Upper Columbia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is to share the everlasting gospel, in the context of the Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14:6-12, with every person in the Inland Northwest and the world, leading all to love and accept Jesus as their personal Savior and to unite with His church, nurturing them in preparation for His soon return.

OUR MOTTO

OUR CORE ACTIONS

S | Spiritual Revival
E | Engaging Youth & Young Adults 

R | Reaching out to Others
V | Vibrant Church Revitalization
E | Excellence in Adventist Education

We individually and corporately commit to these core actions:

S | Spiritual Revival

To provide resources for UCC members to participate in conference-wide initiatives in prayer, Bible study, and reading the Spirit of Prophecy that will foster passionate spirituality and commitment to Christ.

E | Engaging Youth & Young Adults

To engage, mentor, and disciple our youth and young adults to become dynamic Christ-followers and Spirit-led leaders in our local churches, schools, and conference.

R | Reaching Out to Others

To proclaim the gospel by serving the needs of others through relevant community engagement and evangelism.

V | Vibrant Church Revitalization

To train, equip, and resource our members as they lead others into a

personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

E | Excellence in Adventist Education

To pursue excellence in and advance Adventist Education that will lead children to love, follow, and live daily as citizens on this earth and in the heavenly kingdom.

OUR CORE VALUES

S | Service
E | Excellence
A | Authenticity 

R | Relevance
C | Compassion 

H | Humility

We individually and corporately commit to these core values:

S | Service

We are called to make a difference in the world by following the example of Jesus in serving God and others in the everyday places of life. Our service grows out of genuine love for the Savior and a deep love and concern for others. Matthew 20:28; Philippians 2:5-8; & Luke 10:25-37.

E | Excellence

What we do and how we do it matters to God and to others. We will put our whole hearts into the work of caring more, risking more, and expecting more than we think is possible in our human capacity. Ecclesiastes 9:10; II Corinthians 8:7; Philippians 4:8; & Colossians 3:22.

A | Authenticity

As we draw closer to Jesus, we experience the freeing power of grace. Because we are known completely and loved unconditionally, we love others authentically and treat others as we wish to be treated. 1 Peter 4:8; John 13:34; Hebrews 10:24,25; Ephesians 4:2,3.

R | Relevance

We will strive to live, teach, and preach the eternal truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in ways that every person we contact will receive and understand. John 10:10; John 14:6; I Corinthians 9:22; I Timothy 4:12; & Hebrews 4:12.

C | Compassion

We are willing to genuinely see the suffering of others, to empathize with their pain, and to feel compelled to reduce their suffering. Matthew 14:14; II Corinthians 5:14,15; & Colossians 3:12,13.

H | Humility

We believe that Jesus is the greatest example of humility and desire to have the same mindset. He did not value His own self-importance or honor, but freely gave both up in every situation so that God could be glorified through His life. Micah 6:8; Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3,4; & I Peter 5:6,7.

OUR FUTURE

As God continues to bless our conference, it is inevitable that new members, leaders, and teams with innovative ministry ideas to reach and serve others in our community, will begin to form, grow, and thrive. It is imperative that we have a clear roadmap for the future to ensure that we are ready to achieve our collective goals, priorities, initiatives, and opportunities that God will bring our way in the future. We must continually encourage Christ-centered creativity, empower Bible-based personal ministries, and reward calculated risk-taking for the benefit of seeking and saving lost men, women, boys, and girls.

We must also stay true to our Seventh-day Adventist heritage and teachings. We will do this by sharing the wonderful message of God’s love in the context of the Three Angels’ Messages both locally and into all the world. As we partner with our sister Adventist churches to reach and serve the world, God will help us accomplish His goals, priorities, and initiatives in both traditional and non- traditional ways. Although we are a diverse conference community, we are all agreed that we want to share the good news of the Seventh-day Adventist message far and wide to the very best of our God-given abilities.

We also recognize we live in a world where the use of advanced technologies is a part of everyday life, and crisp, concise, and rapid access to information and decentralized ways of working together is the new norm. To remain relevant, it is imperative that we remain flexible enough to accommodate an environment of continuous change and transformation. We will seek and apply present truth without compromising our Christ-centered, Bible-based, Seventh-day Adventist vision, mission, core values, and core actions.

Ultimately, UCC needs to focus on the spiritual priorities of personal prayer and Bible study; fulfilling the Great Commission of reaching lost men, women, boys, and girls for the kingdom; and helping everyone we possibly can to prepare for the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we prayerfully consider these ideas and commitments, we ask ourselves the following questions:

• How will we remain relevant in the future?
• How can each of us personally further the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) in the context of the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39) and the Three Angels’ Messages (Revelation 14:6-12)?
• How can we live out our faith together so we may bring incredible honor and glory to our great and marvelous God and help everyone be ready for Christ’s soon return?