Strategic Plan — Third Church
Meet Third Leadership & Staff Strategic Plan Employment
Sunday Worship Sunday School Worship Online What to Expect
New Here? Care & Prayer I’m Here to Serve! Email Signup Baptisms Contact Us
Parish Life Missions Discipleship Children Students Men’s Ministry Women’s Ministry Immigrant Tutoring Worship Arts
Sermons Recordings Library

Holy Week Schedule: April 13–20

Third Church Strategic Plan

As culture shifts and we face new challenges that require new tools and approaches, we are grateful that our original mission and identity remain unchanging: that we are a church called together for the renewal of all things through Jesus Christ. 

A strategic plan gives us the opportunity for direction and focus in a defined period of time. It does not include all that we do as a congregation.

Rather, it reflects the unique areas of focus that God is calling us to work on in this particular moment in our story.  It does not change our fundamental DNA, wonderful ministry offerings, or our core values. We continue, in humble faith and certain hope, to simply live more deeply into the calling that God has for our church in this time and place.

Third's leadership body, the Session, first approved this strategic plan in 2021 for a 3-5 year timeline. Session agreed on a plan that has four main areas, what we’re calling “vision focuses,” with several key strategies for each vision focus.

Since initial approval, Session's standing Strategic Planning Committee has led an annual process of monitoring progress in accomplishing the strategies, and then refining and adjusting the plan's strategies for the next year, with input from staff and the Senior Pastor. Once a plan is approved by Session for a given year, the church staff team works together to create annual objectives for accomplishing the strategies for each vision focus. 

In sharing this, we hope we keep our community informed and engaged with the mission of the church.

We hope you enjoy reading more about our specific calling in this specific time, and we look with hope for what God has for us not just in the next 5 years, but the next 50 and beyond. 

– The Strategic Planning Committee

Mark Mendez, Chair, Corey Widmer, Senior Pastor, Jason Snook, Lauren Luck, and Becca Payne

blank.png

Vision focus 1

The transformation of people’s lives through spiritual formation practices.

We aspire to be a church in which people are being significantly transformed in their faith, lives and work through distinctive spiritual formation practices. 

  • We believe that in a profoundly secular age, we must depend on far more than information and programming to form our people in the way of Jesus. We want to commit to intentional, formational practices that will help our people resist the counter-formation of our secular age. This will include the habits of corporate worship, continuing to invest in our Parish Structure, and developing new formational practices for our people that help form them outside of time at church.

  • 1.1 - Lead the congregation in understanding and responding to the season away from our 600 Forest building during the renovation season as a key opportunity for corporate and individual spiritual growth.

    1.2 - Continue to build on our Up/In/Out discipleship model, implementing new forms of discipleship that are practice-based and emphasize lived experience over mere information.

    1.3 - Pursue ways to extend the good news of Jesus Christ to our new neighbors at Regency, with the prayerful hope of seeing new converts and more baptisms.

    1.4 - Develop new practices and programs that frame generosity and giving as core elements of Christian discipleship.

    1.5 - Prioritize Prayer as the fuel and power for spiritual growth.

bg.jpg

Vision Focus 2

The unity of a multi-ethnic, multi-generational community.

We aspire to be a community that is becoming more unified in its diversity, reflecting our membership in the beloved community of Christ’s kingdom in which people of diverse ethnicities, ages, political beliefs, and socio-economic backgrounds are welcomed, celebrated, and involved as active participants and leaders.

  • In a time of increasing cultural division and polarization, we believe the call of the church is to be a diverse community practicing “life together” despite our differences. Third is a unique congregation that currently has a significant degree of generational and socio-political diversity, and we believe God is stretching us to grow in our cultural and ethnic diversity. We also believe God has a special call on Third Church to be a leader in evangelical racial justice and reconciliation in Richmond, and to show the difference the gospel makes in this area.

  • 2.1 - Embrace this season at Regency as an opportunity to reach out to diverse neighbors, and actively seek ways to create a hospitable environment for people of different backgrounds and cultures to feel welcome at Third.

    2.2 - Offer learning and discipleship opportunities that continue conversations and understanding of a distinctly biblical approach to issues of race, justice and reconciliation.

    2.3 - Research, acknowledge and respond to Third’s history in valuing people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities.

    2.4 - Pursue ways to empower, support, and retain diverse leaders in our congregation

    2.5 - Strengthen our partnership with the Christian Arabic Church (CAC) as key ministry partner and develop a clear plan for specific forms of partnership in the next 3 years, which may include church planting, student ministry, shared leadership, and/or other congregational initiatives.

bg.jpg

Vision Focus 3

The intentional development of leaders.

We aspire to be a church that has a clear path for the development and formation of leaders, and has raised up many new leaders for future projects, church plants or ministries.

  • We believe that we are called to be a growing, generative church. But to do that work we need mature, Christ-like leaders. Currently we do not have a clear path for leadership development, both for lay leaders and staff. While this coming season will involve improving our church campus (see Vision Focus 4) and keeping our congregation united and strong, we anticipate a season of multiplication and growth beyond that. To be ready for such a season, we desire a strong cadre of leaders who we can empower and launch.

  • 3.1 - Grow health and fitness of staff team for our post-pandemic congregation by completing and implementing a 3-year staffing plan that includes succession planning for key senior leaders.

    3.2 - Identify new staff leaders while also investing in our current younger staff leaders, to ensure strong staff leadership in the years to come.

    3.3 - Develop pathways to identify younger lay leaders and mentor them into future core leaders of Third for the decades to come.

    3.4 - Initiate an exploration for a potential church plant in 2024 or 2025, soon after the time we return to our renovated church building.

bg.jpg

Vision focus 4

The stewarding of our physical property for the good of our neighborhood and city.

We aspire to have a clear plan for our entire campus that offers its physical space as a place of rest, beauty, mission and outreach for the neighborhood.

  • We believe that our current property has been entrusted to us by the Lord to steward not just for ourselves but for the flourishing of our neighbors. Our 2017 Neighborhood Charrette stirred our imagination of what such stewardship could look like. While our current campaign and renovation plan will go a long way to renew our church building, we want to continue to pursue a vision of renewal for our whole campus that blesses our surrounding community.

  • 4.1 - Launch a second phase of the Renew campaign to pay off the remainder of Renew renovation, and also consider including in the campaign the outstanding debt on 500 Forest Ave.

    4.2 - Develop an interior design plan for the renovated church building (including a remodeling of Third’s sanctuary) that communicates cultural hospitality and inclusion. Additionally, reevaluate brand guidelines and church name, in keeping with previous Strategic Plan suggestion to consider if it would be wise to pursue a name change when church building renovation is eventually completed.

    4.3 - Evaluate and draft guiding values for the use of our indoor spaces (the church building, office and Silverspring houses) that will help staff and ministry leaders plan for post-renovation usage, with a special focus on how our buildings can be most effectively used to serve our neighbors and advance the shalom of the wider community.

    4.4 - Review the 2017 Neighborhood Charette outcomes and develop a master plan for the wisest use of all of Third’s campus, which includes: 1) the 600 Forest Ave church building, 2) the Silverspring homes, 3) the 500 Forest Ave office building, 4) the playground, and other greenspace and outdoor space for hospitality, and 5) the Forest Ave parking lot next to the office, sidewalks, and street parking; keeping in mind our interconnection with local neighbors, Tuckahoe Elementary School and adjacent businesses.

bg.jpg

Have a question about the plan?

Email the team for any questions or to contact the Strategic Planning Committee.