What is Strategic Planning? Strategic planning is the process of determining where an organization is going over the next few years and how it is going to get there. It involves a review of the organization’s environment through an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses, opportunities for growth, and threats to its existence. And it involves a review of the organization’s values, mission, vision, and goals.
Camp Cross has had the same mission statement since an in depth review of camp was completed in 1987. That mission statement is as follows:
Camp Cross is a special place established and continually developed to provide a Christian learning environment for the promotion of personal growth and renewal within a community in which individuals and groups can develop their faith and learn to discover and accept themselves and others
A great deal of effort went into developing that statement and it has obviously endured for the last twenty years. It is, however, possible that the mission has changed. As we look to the future and develop a vision for Camp Cross, we must start with a better understanding of the values Camp Cross does and should represent, and the fundamental reason for its existence. Only then can we set a vision for its future and define the actions needed to get us there.
So much work has been done at Camp Cross in the last 30 years and an incredible number of people have helped camp record the numerous successes it has achieved. Passionate and varied beliefs about Camp Cross exist throughout the Diocese. The upcoming strategic planning effort intends to honor that commitment and those past contributions, and build on the foundation for our future. In order for the strategic planning effort to succeed, we need to touch as many people in the Diocese as possible and this article signifies our first step. We need your help, so please make every effort to reach out to us as well.
The strategic planning committee is set to accomplish this work in the next six months; its members are: Brendan Wiechert, Chair, St. David’s, Spokane; Chase Shields, Camp Cross Director; Phil Mixter, St. James’, Pullman; The Rev. Paul Lebens-Englund, Holy Trinity, Spokane; The Rev. Ernie Campbell, St. Paul’s, Walla Walla; Gerald Okihara and Brittany Keeton, St. David’s, Spokane; Tom Lewis, St. Luke’s, Coeur d’Alene; Alyne Branson and Jennifer Garrison, Resurrection, Spokane Valley; Mike Clayton, St. Andrew’s, Chelan; and Lisa Randle and Marlys Busch, St. Stephen’s, Spokane.
Please contact any one of us with your hopes, dreams, and concerns for camp, and help us conduct as comprehensive a review of Camp Cross as possible.
Brendan Wiechert can be reached by phone at (509) 863-5100 and emails to the committee can be sent to bwiechert@spokanehose.com.