
Embarking on Strategic Planning for Smaller Congregations: Mission, Vision, and Values
It’s hard to know where you are going if you don’t first know where you are. Strategic planning cannot take place without first undertaking strategic thinking: what are the mission, vision, and values of our community? Explore ways to think about these key issues, models for creating cohesive statements that respond to them, and challenges and opportunities of doing this work in a smaller congregation.
Carl A. Sheingold began serving in September 2004 as the executive vice president of JRF. Previously he was management professor in the Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service and director of the Fisher Bernstein Institute for Leadership Development in Jewish Philanthropy at Brandeis University. He served as part of the senior management of the Council of Jewish Federations and as executive director of the National Havurah Committee. Carl earned his doctorate in sociology from Harvard University and before beginning his work in the Jewish community held faculty positions at Cornell and Brown universities. His career has spanned many settings — academic and organizational, mainstream and cutting edge, community organization, religious/cultural, and in community relations.
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling served as executive director of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation for 12 years and is the Executive Vice President of the Jewish Funds for Justice. He is a consultant to JRF, a consultant on Money and Values issues for the Shefa Fund of Philadelphia, and a member of Reconstructionist Minyan Dorshei Derekh in Philadelphia.