cession SWOT - Vania

I know - I was meant to have done this by Wednesday... it becomes a case of prioritising, and Friday is the day - sorry! a few thoughts to follow

Strengths

• committed bunch of people willing to put themselves on the line week after week to produce an awesome sunday night gathering and all that that involves
• committed, visionary pastors
• general high level of committment from our leadership team
• a community that reaches out to care for each other

Weaknesses

• slow overall numerical growth
• tiredness in leaders and volunteer teams due to high output volume
• point of life a large group of us are at is parents of under 5's - possibility for church related tasks is diminished as caring for the kids consumes much energy
• lack of diverse age range esp. older middle aged+ people
• percieved pressure (some) on community members to volunter (when already under high pressure in "life") leading to negative attitudes
• young families - many single income means lower amounts of finance available

Opportunities

• Lloyd Elsmore Park facilities - playground, pools, netball courts in immediate area. Outreach possibilities?
• Incarnational focus of leadership leaving the door open for doing church in new fresh ways that might re-engage the de-churched.

Threats

• location that is not highly "visible" or well known - Lloyd Elsmore is known but not the "depot"

I like and am feeling lots of the comments already stated so won't continue by repeating... hope theres something fresh here...

SWOT - Kristen Jones

Strengths

- Kids Encounter - a kickass programme! Innovative, high quality and committed teachers
- 3-4 people on staff - amazing provision for our size
- Depot a big plus this year with more possibilities for next year - somewhere to call our own and has brought us together as a community
- Young families
- Many servant-hearted people who give their guts

Weaknesses

- Age profile - could do with some depth
- Financial profile our core people - younger, many sin gle income families
- Current stretch of volunteers who are serving (not everyone is)

Opportunities

- Depot as a base for families outreach eg M&M's, Easter Egg hunt at Lloyd Elsmore!
- Young Life partnership 0 big opportunity in '06 - opportunity to reach youth in our area
- Sports clubs nearby - whole Lloyd Elsmore park complex
- Prospective church planters

Threats

- Couldn't think of any specifics

Cession SWOT - Sarah

Strengths:
- Community Vibe
- People willing to give time and resources
- Relevant teaching series'
- It's a place I feel comfortable inviting others to (service and cell)
- Dinner
- People with lots of ideas
- Creativity
- Vast array of talents within community

Weaknesses:
- Doesn't encompass all age ranges, so could be hard for newcomers who are younger or older.
- People feeling 'burnt out'
- Slow growth in numbers
- Set up and pack down times


Opportunities:
- Relationships in community (at the Depot and surrounding schools/churches)
- A strong foundation built so growth is able to occur
- Own space at the depot to be used however we want


Threats:
- Ideas/opportunities not built upon due to lack of energy/'burnout'

cession SWOT - Melva

Strengths:

3 Pastors and great leaders/talented congregation.
Can be a weakness also that everyone is doing alot, especially towards Sunday services.
Dinner
Deliver/involved in courses that are fundamentals of life e.g. Money, Marriage, Parenting
Great planning of serieses -creative communication/tech stuff
Giving community

Weaknesses:

Venue reverb/temperature
Cells not expanding - growth may be happening on personal level but not many new people coming through that avenue. Cell co-ordinator (me!) probably needs to be replaced given the above, and new baby taking all available energy!
People becoming members at cession don't seem to be expanding much.
Lots of kids in same age range who are in the toddler learning boundaries stage and can be a handful for 1-2leaders! - especially in the rooms available that have things they're not allowed to touch (perhaps need younger children in creche style format vs sunday school lesson?)Budget stresses

Opportunities:

More relationship with Depot e.g. mentoring in Lifeboyz or something like that - they are our 'neighbour' that we need to love.
Pakuranga College also is a great opportunity for relationship

Threats:

No older people in the church (I miss that - mentoring/Grandparent types)
Burnout of people who are doing lots

Yo yo yo peoples.

It's my first time blogging. EVER. I vowed to myself to never do this, but just because it's "homework"........

I haven't done long lists as you guys have got so many good ideas already down. So to begin.....ditto!

Strengths
A fantastic Pastor and Ass Pastor who compliment each other and both give so much.
A committed group of leaders.
People within cession working in community facing jobs: Frank (Life FM), Scott & Greg (1914 Media), Juanita and Katie (PSI), Megan (Respite Home).....list not exhaustive!
Impletementing systems to make things work. Depot move went really well because of this.


Weaknesses
Calander awareness as a leadership team.


Opportunities
The depot being available on Friday nights.
Neighbouring Churches. (HCC, Trinity)


Threats
Energy levels, draining or burnout of highly involved community members.
Neighbouring Churches.

Love your work
Juanita

cession|cwot - uj

Well, here's my effort. Not conclusive by any stretch and pretty light on the OT end, but an effort nonetheless:

Ctrengths
- Great bunch of talented/gifted people in relation to community size.
- Strong, servant hearted leadership, not afraid or dismissive of their humanity. Also, well educated.
- Great culture of community: people looking out for each other, openness is expected and (mostly) given
- Fairly non-authoritarian structure/culture
- High level of involvement from community members
- High level of creativity
- Provide an accessible environment for the 'dechurched'
- Teaching that doesn't insult community's intelligence combined with a culture that encourages questioning, discussion and active engagement.
- Active blogger community that provides another forum for engagement, discussion and discipleship. - Good mentoring/discipleship network base

Weaknesses
- Temptation to focus too much on difference of presentation/style as an end rather than as a tool
- Too much resource (primarily thinking of people/time, but funds too) committed to Sunday night service, which makes it our primary community connection point even if our philosophy/strategy seeks to have as an equal 'one of several'.
- Relatively small community size means that a lot of our people are perhaps (or at least feel) over extended in cession related service, therefore loss of passion & energy.
- Slow growth in overall numbers over the past year- Some measure of community inwardness (which naturally develops if you don't keep consciously engaging outwardly)

Opportunities
- Wider 'depot community' involvement
- Proximity to Pakuranga college and Highland Park
- Development of online social/discipleship networking opportunities

Threats
- The various ministries could become fragmented if we do not see our individual contributions in the light of the bigger picture/overall vision.

Cheers,
Uncle Jakey.

The cessioncollision SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Rhett & Katie as “called” Youth specialists with 1-2 days (each) “voluntary” ministry time to give in 2007;
Relationships with our small core of youth have been significantly strengthened this year in an environment of informal, trusting communication;
The Depot as a non-church building, positioned adjacent to Highland park and Pakuranga College;
Multi-media elements and rock band format in service have the potential to engage youth – contemplative, kinaesthetic elements also seem to engage;
Youth are able to participate in the life of the church and in particular access service opportunities without distinctions being made
Jeremy Le Comte’s role as a part time student counsellor at Pakuranga College

Weaknesses

Absence of a clear sense of direction – too much week-to-week focus;
The size of the group currently makes momentum more difficult to encourage and limits the unchurched relational circle that we can touch;
Aspects of our service may be less engaging eg. Music tends to be over contemplative;
Mentoring and intentional spiritual formation has not occurred as intentionally as we planned;
Our leadership processes are not adding momentum and consistency to leadership and ministry development;

Opportunities

Young Life partnership offers proximity to unchurched youth and potentially a salaried community youth ministry opportunity;
Highland Park offers an incarnational mission field;
Relationship with the Depot tenants with youth emphasis – Lifeboyz & secondary school programmes

Threats

There are churches in our area who will “pitch” for youth currently attending other churches;
Other lifestyle options in the formative years

The cessioncommunity SWOT analysis:

SWOT Analysis is a powerful technique for understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses, and for looking at the Opportunities and Threats you face.

Strengths:
What advantages does cessioncommunity have?
What do we do really well?
What unique resources do we have access to?
What do people outside the community see as our strengths?

Consider this from an internal perspective, and from the point of view of people we want to reach. And be realistic.

Weaknesses:
What could we improve?
What should we avoid?
What are people we are trying to reach likely to see as weaknesses?

Again, consider this from an internal and external basis: Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that we do not see? It is best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.

Opportunities:
Where are the opportunities for us in our environment and the communities in which we are placed?
What are the interesting trends you are aware of?
Useful opportunities can come from such things as changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.
Are there local events that are a match for us?
A useful approach to looking at opportunities is to look at strengths and ask yourself whether these open up any opportunities.

Alternatively, look at weaknesses and ask yourself whether you could open up opportunities by eliminating them.

Threats:
What obstacles do we face? Is competition an issue?

Strengths and weaknesses are often internal to an organisation. Opportunities and threats often relate to external factors.

Start a new post with your thoughts on each - feel free to comment on what others post as well. I've also posted a SWOT analysis we completed for cessioncollision to start the process...