2024 Ministry Plan

Each year OSLC approves an annual Ministry Plan.  This serves as a guide when planning projects and programs throughout the year.  The 2024 Ministry Plan is here.

Our Savior Lutheran Church Strategic Plan

The Strategic planning committee was formed in January 2023.  After almost a full year of study, the Strategic Planning Committee has prepared the Strategic Plan for Our Savior Lutheran Church, Platte City and Smithville, MO.  

This plan was developed through hours of discussion, research, surveys and conversations with members and attendees of Our Savior.  Discussions with other LCMS churches took place as well. Research and member survey answers were analyzed and compiled into understandable data.  Your committee also studied community needs and demographic research. They also evaluated outreach opportunities, as well as member needs, facilities evaluation, and staffing evaluation and needs.  Hundreds of hours by volunteers were required to develop this document, meant to serve as a guide for our future as a vital and thriving church community.

This plan enables us to set goals, check projects and objectives against our stated strategic plan, as well as our annual Ministry Plan, which is approved annually by the Voters Assembly.  The purpose is to be clear in our direction and to continue to move toward our stated strategic plans. 

The plan includes objectives as well as specific targets and projects.

Below you will find our Mission Statement as written in OSLC Bylaws, and an abbreviated list of first year goals.  The full document is available here.

Section 3: OSLC Mission

Growing faith in Jesus through Scripture.

The mission of Our Savior Lutheran congregation shall be to give honor and glory to God, to carry out His will, to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world, to manifest the unity of our faith in Jesus Christ as our God and Savior, to foster Christian fellowship and love, and to extend a helping hand in human need.  All of which will be accomplished by preaching of the Word of God, the administration of the Sacraments, and by the religious instruction of all the members according to the confessional standard of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

Section 6: Ten Year Outlook

6.1 General Outlook

We acknowledge the need to grow the church, develop our senior leadership, engage more effectively with our congregation and the surrounding community, and improve our facilities. We seek to do so with two broad objectives in mind: Maintain our values as a Lutheran Church by adhering to God’s Word and to our Constitution and By-Laws, and to make decisions that support our ability to further our ministry. For the church to be successful, this Strategic Plan must remain in support of those objectives.

6.2. Grow the Church

Our Savior Lutheran Church should continue to grow as the community grows around us. Platte County and Clay County are growing rapidly, and that presents OSLC with tremendous opportunity. We should continue to track our community demographics, and seek ways to attract more congregation members, and especially younger families, to our community. Our target for Ten years is to grow our congregation by 30 percent, or just over 2.5 percent  per year. 

6.3 Facilities

Our Savior Lutheran Church develops and updates a prioritized list of facilities projects, identifies fundraising opportunities to support the same, and identifies sources for other funding. By the end of 10 years, we should have a well understood and vetted Facilities Master Plan that guides and supports our mission, vision and ministry for the church. 

6.4 Community and Congregational Outreach 

As the congregation and communities around us grow, so should our ability to engage meaningfully with those. By the end of ten years, we should have successfully identified what our congregation and the communities around us need, what we have the capacity to effectively undertake, and get those programs running. We should seek to leverage both the congregation and community partners we develop as we work through our plans. One aspect of this effort should include engaging with other Lutheran congregations in our area to gain ideas, and to better leverage resources. 

 

6.5 Senior Leadership

Our Savior Lutheran Church should have a senior leadership team in place that allows the pastors to focus on ministry, supports the day to day running of the two campuses and Our Savior Christian Academy, and supports the continued improvements in facilities, and congregational community engagement. We have to maintain a robust pool of volunteers for our committees, and to enable emerging requirements such as regular Sunday school for children. 

We should also continue to improve awareness among the OSLC community about what our leadership, to include Called Workers, Lay Leaders and volunteers do to support the church. This will assist the CAB in staffing various functions at the right levels, and with identifying staffing requirements for new initiatives.

Section 7: Three Year Action Items

To support Our Savior’s Mission, Values and Vision, the church will identify action items for the next three years. Each will be evaluated against the following criteria:
 

• Feasible: Do we have the organization and funding to start an action item?
• Acceptable: Is the action item in concert with OSLC mission, vision and values?
• Sustainable: Once started, can OSLC sustain the action item until completion?
• Timely: Can OSLC accomplish the action item in the time frame allotted? 

7.1 Year One: January – December 2024

7.1.1. Facilities

1. Finish current construction on-going at both Platte City and Smithville Campuses.
2. Clean up Landscaping at both Campuses using volunteer Fall Clean Up and Spring Clean Up events. 
3. Develop a long-term facilities plan, based on prioritized projects. Seek vendor quotes for key facilities initiatives such as parking lots, sidewalks, security upgrades and others in order to scope the magnitude of the issue, and initiate fundraising.
4. Secure a loan to re-pave the parking lots for both campuses.

7.1.2. Community and Congregational Outreach

1. Form an engagement and outreach committee to identify opportunities and plan events to increase our engagement with our congregation and our communities. 
2. Connect and build stronger relationships with OSCA families and staff. 
3. Plan and attend one community event. 
4. Lease OSCA space to Moving Mountains homeschool organization. 

7.1.3. Senior Staffing

1. Initiate the Call for a Senior Pastor.
2. Fill volunteer and paid roles associated with assisting Senior Staff (Office Staff, Lay Elders, preparation for services, Bible Studies, musicians, etc.) so senior staff can focus on ministry. 
3. Call a Superintendent for Our Savior Christian Academy.