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Strategic Plan FAQs

The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego is developing a new Strategic Plan to guide our shared ministry from 2027 through 2032. Shaped by conversations across the diocese and grounded in our call to share the love of Jesus Christ, the plan will help grow our churches, strengthen our congregations, and serve our neighbors.

1. What is the new Strategic Plan?

The 2027–2032 Strategic Plan is a shared vision for the future of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego. It identifies the changes we hope to see in our congregations, communities, and ministries over the next five years and provides a framework for reaching those goals.
The plan focuses on three priorities: Growing Our Church, Strengthening Our Congregations, and Serving Our Neighbors. It will guide how we invest in leadership, support congregations, develop new ministries, and respond to the needs of our communities.
Above all, it is about how we can more faithfully share the love of Jesus Christ with the world.
2. Why does the diocese need a new Strategic Plan?

Our current Strategic Plan, Courageous Love, has helped guide the diocese through a period of growth, change, and renewed ministry. As that plan concludes, we have an opportunity to reflect on what we have accomplished, recognize the challenges still before us, and consider where God is calling us next.
Our communities are changing. Some congregations are growing, while others face challenges involving leadership, finances, or changing neighborhoods. New opportunities for evangelism, discipleship, and service are emerging throughout our region.
A new Strategic Plan allows us to respond intentionally to these opportunities while building on the ministries and relationships already flourishing across the diocese.
3. What are the three priorities of the Strategic Plan?
The Strategic Plan is organized around three interconnected priorities:
Growing Our Church: Helping more people encounter Jesus Christ, deepen their faith, participate in the life of the Church, and find a community where they belong.
Strengthening Our Congregations: Equipping congregations with the leadership, relationships, and resources they need to fulfill their mission.
Serving Our Neighbors: Building meaningful relationships with our communities, responding to their needs, and putting our faith into action through service, compassion, and justice.
These priorities are closely connected. Strong congregations are better equipped to serve their neighbors. Relationships with our communities can open doors to new expressions of faith. As we grow in discipleship, we become better prepared to share God’s love beyond our church walls.
4. Who developed the Strategic Plan?

Bishop Susan Brown Snook convened a Strategic Planning Team made up of clergy and lay leaders who brought different experiences and perspectives from across the diocese.
Under the leadership of Co-Chairs, Mae Chao and Lori Thiel, diocesan staff, clergy, and lay members from across the diocese gathered regularly for prayer, conversation, and discernment. Members examined the challenges facing our congregations, considered what they heard through the listening process, and worked together to develop a shared vision for the future.
The Strategic Planning Team’s responsibility was not to develop its own ideas. It was to listen carefully to the wider diocese and translate what it heard into meaningful goals.
5. How were people across the diocese involved?

The planning process included listening sessions that invited people from across the diocese to share their experiences, hopes, and concerns about the future of the Church.
These conversations provided opportunities for clergy and lay people to describe what is working in their congregations, what challenges they face, and what resources or support could help their ministries flourish.
The team also held additional listening sessions with multicultural and multilingual congregations to include perspectives that might otherwise be underrepresented.
This process helped the Strategic Planning Team hear from people whose experiences of congregational life and ministry differ, while identifying hopes and challenges shared across the diocese.
6. What did the Strategic Planning Team hear during the listening process?

Several common themes emerged from the conversations.
People expressed a desire for congregations to grow spiritually and welcome new members. They spoke about the importance of children and youth ministries, leadership development, and creating meaningful opportunities for people to participate in church life.
Another important theme was diversity. Participants expressed a desire for congregations to better reflect the racial, cultural, linguistic, and generational diversity of the communities they serve. Conversations also highlighted the importance of welcoming different perspectives, removing barriers to participation, and creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to share their gifts.
Congregations identified practical challenges, including limited resources, financial pressures, and the need for support in developing new ministries.
Another recurring theme was the importance of relationships—with neighboring congregations, community organizations, and the people living around our churches.
While individual congregations face different circumstances, the conversations revealed many shared hopes for the future of our diocese.
7. How did listening lead to the priorities and outcomes in the plan?

The Strategic Planning Team considered what it heard during the listening sessions alongside the diocese’s existing ministries, challenges, and opportunities.
Rather than beginning with a predetermined list of programs, the team asked what meaningful change might look like over the next five years. What would be different if our churches grew, our congregations became stronger, and our ministries of service deepened?
Those conversations helped the team identify desired outcomes and examine the conditions and resources necessary to achieve them.
As the work progressed, the team discussed, refined, and sometimes combined or reconsidered ideas. This helped the team develop outcomes grounded in the experiences and needs of the wider diocesan community.
8. What is a logic model, and how was it used?

A logic model is a planning tool that connects the changes we hope to see with the conditions and resources needed to make them possible.
The Strategic Planning Team used the model to explore three essential questions.
First, the team identified outcomes: What do we hope will be different in our congregations and communities by 2032?
Next, the team examined drivers: What conditions or changes need to exist for those outcomes to become possible?
Finally, the team considered enablers: What resources, relationships, training, and support would help create those conditions?
For example, if we hope our congregations will increasingly reflect the communities around them, we need to develop relationships with our neighbors and be willing to welcome new perspectives. Congregations may need community engagement tools, leadership development, and communications support to make those changes possible.
This process helped connect the team’s aspirations with practical steps toward achieving them.
9. How does the new Strategic Plan build on Courageous Love?

Courageous Love, the diocese’s previous Strategic Plan, established important priorities that continue to guide our shared mission.
Since its adoption, the diocese has experienced significant growth in worship attendance, supported new church plants and worshiping communities, expanded campus ministry, invested in congregational development, and strengthened ministries serving people throughout our region.
The new plan builds on these accomplishments while recognizing that our work is not finished.
Rather than beginning again, the diocese is considering how existing ministries can grow stronger, where new opportunities are emerging, and what additional support is needed to carry our mission forward.
10. What does the Strategic Plan mean for my congregation?

The Strategic Plan provides a shared direction for the diocese while recognizing that every congregation has its own gifts, challenges, and opportunities.
For some churches, growth might involve welcoming new families or developing additional worship opportunities. For others, it might mean strengthening leadership, improving financial stability, or developing partnerships with community organizations.
The plan is intended to help congregations connect their local ministries with the wider mission of the diocese and identify resources that can support their work.
11. Does every congregation have to accomplish the same things?

No. Our congregations serve different communities and have different resources, histories, and opportunities.
A congregation in a growing suburban community may approach ministry differently from a small church in a rural area or an established urban congregation.
The Strategic Plan establishes shared priorities and outcomes, but the ways congregations contribute to those outcomes will reflect their particular circumstances.
The goal is not uniformity. It is to help every congregation participate meaningfully in our shared mission.
12. What resources will be available to help congregations participate?

The Strategic Planning Team has identified several areas where additional resources and support could help congregations thrive.
Among the possibilities being developed are expanded training in evangelism and discipleship, leadership development, resources for children and youth ministries, support for congregational vitality, and tools for building relationships with local communities.
The team is also considering ways to strengthen clergy recruitment and formation, improve stewardship of church properties, and share successful ministry practices across congregations.
Specific initiatives and funding priorities are still being developed. More information will become available as the implementation planning continues.
13. When will the Strategic Plan be introduced?

The diocese will introduce the outcomes and goals of the new Strategic Plan at the 53rd Diocesan Convention, November 6–7, 2026, at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Poway.
Delegates and clergy will hear about the planning process, the priorities that emerged, and the vision for our shared future.
The Convention presentation is an important milestone, but it is not the end of the planning process. Additional work will follow to develop specific initiatives, determine the resources needed, and prepare for a broader public launch in April 2027.
14. How will we know whether the plan is working?

The emerging Strategic Plan identifies outcomes that describe the changes we hope to see by 2032.
As specific initiatives are developed, the diocese will also identify ways to measure progress and evaluate effectiveness.
Some measures may involve participation, leadership development, congregational growth, or the expansion of ministries. Others may involve assessing the strength of relationships, the availability of resources, and the ways congregations are responding to their communities.
Regular evaluation will help the diocese recognize progress, learn from experience, and adjust its approach when necessary.
15. How can I participate in the Strategic Plan?

The Strategic Plan is intended to invite participation from across the diocese.
As the plan is introduced and specific initiatives are developed, there will be opportunities for congregations, clergy, and lay people to learn more and consider how they can contribute.
Participation may take different forms, from helping a ministry or joining church leadership to sharing your gifts, welcoming newcomers, or serving your neighbors.
The invitation begins with a simple question: Where is God already at work in your community, and how are you called to join in?
16. Was this plan developed primarily by diocesan leadership, or did congregations have a meaningful voice?

The plan was guided by a Strategic Planning Team, and its development included conversations with people throughout the diocese.
The listening sessions were an important part of identifying the hopes, concerns, and experiences that informed the team’s work. Additional conversations with multicultural and multilingual congregations helped bring perspectives that might otherwise have been overlooked into the process.
Diocesan leadership played an important role in organizing the work and helping translate these conversations into a practical framework. From the outset, the team created a plan informed by our congregations’ experiences rather than one developed in isolation.
17. How will the diocese support congregations that are already struggling with limited resources?

Strengthening congregations is one of the plan’s three central priorities.
The Strategic Planning Team recognized that some congregations face significant challenges involving finances, leadership, facilities, and the availability of clergy.
The planning discussions have explored ways to expand congregational development resources, strengthen stewardship practices, support clergy affordability, and help congregations make the best use of their buildings and other assets.
The goal is to help congregations identify what they need to fulfill their particular mission and connect them with appropriate tools, relationships, and support. Specific commitments will depend on the initiatives and resources ultimately approved.
18. Will the Strategic Plan require additional financial contributions from congregations?

The implementation of the Strategic Plan will require resources, and the planning process includes identifying the financial support needed to carry out its initiatives.
The team is considering how existing diocesan resources, new funding opportunities, partnerships, and charitable contributions can support the work.
A fundraising strategy is being developed alongside the implementation plan. More information about funding and opportunities to support the plan will be shared as the details are finalized.
19. How is this Strategic Plan different from simply continuing what we already do?

Much of the work envisioned in the Strategic Plan builds on ministries already taking place across the diocese. That is intentional. The Courageous Love Strategic Plan demonstrated the impact of several programs on our churches and neighborhoods. Many of those programs will be enhanced and continue uninterrupted.
The difference is that the new plan connects those efforts to shared outcomes; the plan aligns exciting new initiatives with existing programming to accomplish our goals.
This approach will help congregations and the Diocese make thoughtful decisions about where to invest resources, where to strengthen existing ministries, and where God may be calling us to try something new.