Bringing the light of Christ into communities

Churches of Christ in Queensland Strategic Plan 2015–18Transforming lives

Through our local churches and care and support services we touch tens of thousands of lives each year. Our aim is to bring uplift and transformation through faith, hope and love – creating an inclusive, caring, compassionate environment and meeting needs without discrimination or prejudice. Everyone is welcome and can call on our help, regardless of religion, beliefs or background. Our services are funded by a mix of government subsidies, grants, donations, fees and charges.

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Churches of Christ in Queensland ARBN 147481436 (incorporated in Queensland) is a legal body incorporated under Letters Patent issued pursuant to the Religious Educational & Charitable Institutions Acts 1861 – 1959.

Contents

A message from the Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer

The essentials

Our funding, industry and peak bodies

Summary of key statistics

Elements of our Strategic Plan

We are Churches of Christ

Our identity and ‘DNA’

Historical foundations

Our mission

Our values

Our vision

Snapshot of our strategic priorities for the next three years

Environmental challenges

High level SWOT analysis

How we do it

Strategic priorities and strategies

STRATEGIC PRIORITY 1 – Connecting with Christ

STRATEGIC PRIORITY 2 – Growing our core services

STRATEGIC PRIORITY 3 – Building our capacity

STRATEGIC PRIORITY 4 – Funding our mission and growth

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MEET CASSANDRA MAYES Fostering Case Worker It is nice to work within such a caring, compassionate team that is passionate about making a positive difference in children, young people and carers’ lives.

Churches of Christ in Queensland has been on a very exciting journey over recent years. After much work, in 2010 every area of our organisation united around one mission: ‘Bringing the light of Christ into communities’ and six goals that we needed to focus on in order to forward this mission. At our 2014 Annual General Meeting we presented a report card on our five-year progress against these six goals and the plans we set for ourselves in our last strategic plan. The report card showed significant growth in all areas of our work, services and resources.

Additionally, we have grown our organisational capacity for our mission. Christianity has been declining in Australia and the western world for the past 50 years. Community organisations such as Scouts, Girl Guides and service clubs etc. have all similarly declined. Our Australian population is ageing with proportionally fewer taxpayers being called upon to support more people with increasing healthcare needs and costs. This is occurring at the same time as a decline in mining revenue, which has helped to underwrite our nation’s budget for a number of decades. In addition, global cloud technology, social media and online 24/7 operations are having a profound impact on our culture and the way we work and live.

All Australian leaders are grappling with how to best respond to these fundamental challenges, as we see the consequences playing out in our communities; for example, increases in child, youth and family issues; increases in homelessness; an increasing number of ageing poor people; increases in anxiety conditions and depression; and a search for meaning against a backdrop of globalisation and terrorism.

Who we are, and what we stand for as Churches of Christ, is a constant call to our movement to try to meet these challenges, and in this season we are determined to further make a positive difference for the individuals, families and communities we serve. We will do this through a range of Christ-inspired, holistic responses aimed at uplifting every life we touch.

As the needs of our communities are growing, so we too need to grow to meet them. Our strategies of the past five years have been working well, and we intend to expand our core areas of service and extend our geographical reach so we can help the light of Christ to shine in more communities.

Dean Phelan Chief Executive Officer

Gary Edwards Board Chair

A message from the Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Our models of service integration have developed significantly and we are planning to increase the number of integrated campuses across our centres of strength in Queensland and Victoria. We will continue to build upon authentic, community engagement models activated through regional mission action strategies.

Transforming lives With a focus on our primary objective of transforming lives, we intend to invest in our people, technologies and infrastructure to further strengthen a platform of excellence that will sustain us as a service and thought leader for many years to come. The next three years will be vital in positioning Churches of Christ in Queensland with sufficient scale, resources and relevant models of mission to enable us to fulfil our vision. This document lays out those plans and is an exciting blueprint for our future.

MEET DELMA GLINDEMANNPhysiotherapist – Lady Small Haven Aged Care ServiceI think the attitude of promoting maximum possible enjoyment of life for our residents is what keeps me loving my work.

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ChurchesChristof

we are

in all things, love.in opinions, liberty;

In essentials, unity;

Three pillarsChrist’s greatest commandments and his great commission:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’

‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’

‘Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.’

Matthew& 28:18-2022:37-40

MEET KOBE HISKINS Business Support Officer – Retirement LivingMeeting and spending time with our residents is always fun. They always have so many wonderful stories to share.

Summary of key statisticsBelow provides a summary of our key statistics at 30 June 2014 taken from the 2013-14 Annual Report. These statistics indicate our benchmark at this time.

Churches of Christ in Queensland is one of the top 10 not-for-profit organisations in Health and Community Services in Australia and is listed in Australia’s top 300 private companies.

(BRW Top 500 Private Companies – September 2013)

Churches of Christ in Queensland recognises the significant support and contribution of the Australian Government, Queensland Government, Victorian Government and local councils.

This invaluable support and fiscal contribution allows us to provide and augment our essential care and missional services to a growing number of individuals and communities in need throughout urban, rural and remote Queensland and in Melbourne, Victoria. We acknowledge a number of government departments that we have relationships with across Queensland and Victoria.

Churches of Christ in Queensland recognises the importance of industry and peak bodies, and contributes to their activities where possible.

We acknowledge and thank our donors, supporters and funding bodies for their support through grants, donations and gifts.

In moving forward we have identified growth and development strategies to increase funding streams and initiatives to better support missional activities across the organisation. This is identified in the strategic plan delivery.

Our funding, industry and peak bodiesChurches of Christ in Queensland works with government, industry and peak bodies to ensure we deliver high quality services. We also work with these groups to understand and inform reforms that are likely to impact individuals and the communities in which we work.

898Number of registered volunteers (including

visiting ministers)

801Number of foster and

kinship carers

28,396Persons receiving care

1,120Number of housing

places

791Number of independent

living units

214Number of family day

care and in-home carers

244Total number of

Kingdom access places

7,361Attendances in

churches

1,770Number of aged care

beds

3,281Number of staff

23New Kingdom access

places started by strategic action leadership teams

You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honour.

James 3:18

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We seek to advance the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of everyone we work with, striving to bring uplift to every person and situation we encounter.

MEET MARJE McGRATH Clinical Nurse – Moonah Park Aged Care ServiceI like my role as a coordinator as I have the chance to communicate with residents on a daily basis – I feel it’s important to always make time to listen to them.

Elements of our Strategic PlanEvery element of our Strategic Plan is connected to our mission and reason for being including our staff and volunteers.

Who Our Identity and ‘DNA’this is who we are, and this is what we stand for...

Why Our Mission and Valueswe exist to...

What

Our Visionthe future we want to create will look like this...

Our Strategic Prioritiesour key intentions or Big Rocks are...

How Our Strategieshow we are going to make the Big Rocks happen...

When Our Objectivesall the specific things we need to have done by when...

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MEET KELLY DOYLE Community Care Worker – Community Care Brisbane I have met so many beautiful clients and co-workers since working with Churches of Christ Care and can honestly say I look forward to going to work each day.

This is who we are and this is what we stand for...

Our identity and ‘DNA’Our identity, existence and purpose as an organisation are found in Jesus Christ as revealed in the scriptures.

Churches of Christ in Queensland is a church and community organisation that includes a group of affiliated, mainstream Christian churches and a range of care and community services and faith-related groups.

We have been an active part of the Queensland community for more than 130 years and are a significant presence within the state with over 200 services in more than 100 communities. We also work in partnership with Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania to provide care services in those states through Churches of Christ Care.

Historical foundationsAs we read in the Acts of the Apostles, the Christian church was called into existence in AD 30. Since that time there have been many struggles and issues. In the early part of the 16th century, Martin Luther protested against practices that had grown up in the Catholic Church, and he released the Bible and a new understanding of being ‘justified by faith’ to the world.

Later, Calvin stressed the divine sovereignty of God. John Wesley agitated for more spirituality in the churches. Around these great movements of God, great denominations grew, but so did divisive walls. As time went on, more and more splits occurred as people claimed authority and insight. By the 19th century there were hundreds of ‘denominations’ and groups claiming to be THE true church.

In the midst of all this, a movement emerged that centred on Christ and the Bible. The spirit of God was moving in the lives of many people unknown to one another, yet who shared a common sense that all this divisiveness was wrong – Christ had founded one church, one body with one mission. Their collective heart was to call on all Christians to unite on the basis of restoring New Testament faith and practices. There was a conviction that through this reformation, the church would be restored and reborn into what God intended.

We are Churches of Christ

Churches of Christ in Queensland is part of this ‘restoration movement’ which began around 1800 in the USA. Believers from various denominations began to come together with the goal of attempting to reproduce the essence of the church as presented in the New Testament. They saw themselves as a movement and had no thought of founding another denomination. They still had theological differences, but they insisted this was acceptable as long as all beliefs were based on the Bible. A shared principle of the Churches of Christ movement was the saying: ‘In essentials, unity; in opinions, liberty; in all things, love’.

Our missionWe exist to bring the light of Christ into communities through love – engaging with all people and particularly helping those who need our support the most. Through our churches and care and support services we touch tens of thousands of lives each year.

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, ‘Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!’ and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James 2:14-17

MEET COURTNEY McALIECEFostering Case WorkerI love my role as a fostering case worker and am grateful to have such a supportive and kind team.

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Our valuesAs our name implies, ‘Churches of Christ’ is founded on the teachings and values of Jesus Christ who calls on every one of us to individually be a light in the place we are in, and collectively to be the light of the world through the expression of love.

He calls upon us to be united in this effort and to work together as one body, and this is not just something we do, but rather, a way of life.

Flowing from this understanding of who we are, and what we stand for as an organisation, is a commitment to these three core values:

• Modelling unconditional love

- We respond out of love, first considering the needs of others before pursuing our own wants, and treat all people as we would like to be treated.

- We seek to advance the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of everyone we work with, striving to bring uplift to every person and situation we encounter.

- We seek fairness and justice for marginalised people and we especially have a heart for the poor, frail and vulnerable in our communities.

- We encourage all to contribute and listen openly.

- We take the initiative to reconcile known grievances.

- We go the extra mile with compassion and grace, and work with others to achieve the best outcomes for people in need.

• Behaving with integrity

- We are genuine and authentic in all our dealings.

- We are open and honest at all times.

- We are present when we are with others.

- We talk straight with one another – always with wisdom, empathy and respect.

- We are true to who we say we are with our actions matching our values.

• Being good stewards

- We practise the highest standards of management.

- We are wise in the use of our monies and assets ensuring that we generate the best measurable return for our mission.

- We take accountability for achieving the best outcomes we can in areas for which we are responsible.

- We practise self care so we bring our best to what we do.

- We care about those we work with and we each take responsibility for providing a healthy and safe work environment for all.

- We continuously look for ways to improve the quality of the services we provide.

Our visionOur organisation has a vision to transform the lives of individuals and families so that they may experience a greater sense of joy, hope, possibility, connectedness, purpose and meaning.

We will bring uplift and dignity for those who suffer, seek justice for the oppressed and restore a sense of belonging for the disenfranchised.

It is our belief that our holistic approach to individual, family and community need, delivered through a philosophy of love for all people, gives the potential to successfully meet societal challenges.

Our reputation for advancing the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of individuals, families and communities in an integrated and relevant way will grow, and we expect the number of our services in children, youth and families; housing and community services; seniors living; and local church congregations to grow commensurately.

Snapshot of our strategic priorities for the next three years

Connecting with ChristWork with churches to re-imagine what might be possible in being God’s people in the community.

Deliver holistic care services that promote dignity and quality of life.

Forge ahead with integrated strategies for mission.

Strengthen and grow the work of Strategic Action Leadership Teams across communities.

Continue to transform the culture of our workforce, inspiring a sense of vocation.

Develop Christian leadership across the organisation and in communities.

Engage young people to connect with Christianity.

Growing our core servicesContinue to develop local church congregations.

Consolidate and strengthen around: Children, Youth and Families; Housing Services; and Seniors and Supported Living.

Implement marketing strategies to promote our holistic approach.

Pursue acquisitions in communities we seek to serve.

Expand our social enterprise activities.

Expand services in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and Vanuatu.

Establish a presence in Northern Territory.

Strengthen cooperation with like-mission organisations.

Connect

Grow

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Building our capacityUpgrade our technology to meet changing expectations.

Invest in our people.

Promote practical reconciliation between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians.

Invest in our infrastructure.

Optimise our built assets investments.

Funding our mission and growthExpand the reach of services by executing robust and viable financing strategies.

Optimise service delivery models.

Establish for-profit enterprises.

Engage more volunteers, families, neighbours and community in providing care.

Employ improved cash flow and rolling forecast tools and strategies.

Fund

Build

• More than 75% of the population have voted with their feet as far as interest in traditional models of church.

• We must find additional ways of connecting Christianity with the majority of Australians.

• The 10-30 year old age group are critical as the majority of ‘commitments’ occur in these age groups.

Environmental challengesChurches of Christ in Queensland has over its 132 years successfully navigated major societal shifts and upheavals. However, the pace of change in society in that time has constantly increased so that today our responses must be ever more swift and well targeted.

There are at least four major environmental developments that are significantly impacting on us.

The recently published Intergenerational Report is very specific about the population and related financial strains Australia must deal with, and clearly as a major provider of seniors services, we have already been adapting to the new market realities introduced in July 2014.

The market-based nature of seniors services, the contestability processes being introduced by federal and

state governments to secure funding for child, youth, family and housing programs, the impact of technology on everything and the decline of religion in Australia necessitates specific planned responses.

This strategic plan document outlines plans to continue the transformation of our organisation over the next three years, so that we are truly a mission focussed, competitive, responsive provider of services that transform lives, whilst also delivering long-term sustainability.

• More than 75% of Australians have voted with their feet as far as interest in traditional models of church.

• Must find additional ways of connecting Christianity with majority of Australians.

• Imperative to connect with 10-30 year-old age groups.

• New understanding and models of ministry and Christian leadership are needed.

• More people requiring more health care services.

• Proportionally fewer tax payers.

• Steadily increasing user-pays for health and care.

• Consequent increase in aged poor.

• Influx of international investments in aged care for those who can afford it.

• Consolidation of the industry.

• Commodification of care.

• Increase in dementia, depression and isolation.

• Decline in mining, which has helped to carry our nation financially for past two decades.

• Economic downturn.

• High political volatility.

• Federal and state government funding of programs will inevitably reduce.

• Pensions and government benefits squeezed.

• More user-pays funding arrangements.

• Increasing gap between rich and poor.

• Irrevocably changing the way work is done – marketing, sales, information channels and community connections.

• Access to better information that supports care and business decisions.

• Largest, richest and most powerful corporations on the globe are now information technology/ media companies, e.g. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon, shaping our paradigms and trends.

Four major trends impacting us:

1. 2. 3. 4.Decades of long decline in Christianity in Australia

Ageing Australian population

Australia is facing major financial issues

Online and mobile technology changing everything

High level SWOT analysisStrengths

• Our mission strategies are working very well – more growth than we have had in decades at a time when other denominations and community trends are in reverse. We are working out via action research how to forward the gospel in a range of community-relevant ways.

• We have a strong market share and expertise in seniors care, housing and child and family welfare.

• Our finances, staff morale, client satisfaction and reputation with all levels of government and all stakeholders, are strong.

Weaknesses

• Our technology and associated infrastructure is inadequate and hampering us significantly as we are forced to move into a fully digital, mobile world.

• Our governance structures – a number of our autonomously run local churches are gradually dying out, and are not open to the significant change that is required to rejuvenate.

• Kingdom access places (for example, care services and new models of faith community) are not envisaged by membership definition in our constitution.

Opportunities

• Historical window – acquire stand-alone Public Benevolent Institutions, residential aged care services/retirement villages who cannot survive, but will want to see their community place and contribution continue.

• Work with state governments to assume management of government public housing stock – implementing our model with community chaplains.

• Extend our work in supporting vulnerable children and families by working with state government to implement the Carmody Report recommendations – build capability to go after new tenders and expand service offering.

• Lead the development of new models that respond to individual and community needs.

Threats

• Mission and vision being swamped by need to respond and manage large operational changes required across all areas of care.

• Being sidelined by the consolidation of the seniors care market – smaller operators being forced out/acquired, home care market being locked up by large residential aged care providers/health insurance companies.

• A number of our long day care centres are becoming increasingly unviable and not really needed in their current locations and format.

• Not having enough funds to carry out our core mission strategies.

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We seek fairness and justice for marginalised people and we especially have a heart for the poor, frail and vulnerable in our communities.

In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7:12

We respond out of love, first considering the needs of others before pursuing our own wants, and treat all people as we would like to be treated.

MEET HAYDN PARSONSCommunity ChaplainI started as a minister at Pine Rivers and Warner Churches of Christ churches. Now I am helping pioneer a new kind of ministry as a Community Chaplain. This is an exciting challenge which I approach with a real openness to God’s calling on my life.

How we do it We believe our mission of bringing the light of Christ into communities, and achieving our ultimate goal of uplifted, transformed lives are most effectively forwarded through an holistic understanding of life and community. We all need and long for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing – to be able to flourish in our own way, and to live within and belong to a community where there is a collective desire for ‘common good’. All of our Kingdom access places (KAPs) – our local congregations, care services and many other missional expressions – contribute to these ideals which are shaped through love, the Gospel of Christ.

Our overall strategy for forwarding this mission is to continue to encourage and build capacity within our current KAPs for Christ’s three imperatives, and to expand our influence through new initiatives and KAPs.

The recent change of government in Queensland has not changed the continuing focus on outcomes and social impact, which reflects a broader, international trend in human service delivery.

Research is showing that effective solutions to complex social problems, and those generating the most impact, occur when organisations work together. This is being reflected by more and more requests in government tenders for evidence of collaborative practice and even a preference for governance models that include multiple organisations. This tells us the

immense value to be gained from, and the imperative to move towards, increased community engagement.

Whilst we have always placed a high priority on the views of our many stakeholders, we intend to place even more emphasis on our community engagement methods. During the strategic planning period we will be establishing Strategic Action Leadership Teams in all of our major community areas of Queensland and Victoria to open our organisation’s planning and decision-making processes to all relevant local stakeholders.

By more thoroughly engaging with communities, we expect to harness our service delivery and integration models to pursue ever more ambitious social outcomes.

Focussing on forwarding our mission in a holistic way also places an imperative on our workforce to aspire to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. A Christ-inspired workforce, recognising and energised by the vocational nature of our work and grounded in our organisational values, will build our capability to deliver transformed lives through new models of care throughout our primary service groupings.

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:10b

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Our mission is to bring the light of Christ into communities.

Legend:CEO Chief Executive OfficerCOT Chief Officers TeamSMT Senior Managers TeamSALT Strategic Action Leadership TeamKAP Kingdom Access PlaceMAP Mission Action PartnerMAS Mission Action Strategy

Forwarding our mission

New initiatives

How can we help the light of Christ to shine more in this community?

In new communities?

Luke 4:18-19

Forwarding our mission

In our current settings• Loving God

• Loving our neighbour

• Encouraging everyone in the way of JesusMatthew 22:36-40 Matthew 28:18-20

Kingdom access places

Serv

ices

Gro

ups

Staff and

Volunteers,

SMT,

Executive,

COT, CEO

Board

Council

‘Clusters’

Regional centres of strength

Supporting smaller community KAPs

Con

greg

atio

ns

Local community affiliated church congregations

Simple church faith gatherings

Local church outreach programs

Access places

Men’s sheds

Women’s ministry

Events

Future KAPs

Psychology and counselling services

Social enterprises

Chaplaincy

Medical Santo

Children, youth and families care and support

Housing and community support

Seniors care and support

This pictograph represents our integrated mission and community engagement model focussed ultimately on transforming lives.

SALTs Strategic Action

Leadership Teams

Local leaders in local communities

Inc. Pastors, MAPs, community chaplains, congregation

members, SMT members, community partnerships

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Authentic relationships, compassion

and education

Holistic care, development and

wellbeingPhysicalMental

EmotionalSpiritual

James 2:14-26 Matthew 25:35-40

UpliftedTransformed

Lives

VocationStaff – volunteers – members

Called to the work

Ministry of all believers

Culture and values

Missionaction

strategies

Supporting people to

‘Live life to the full’

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:10

Transformed families

Transformed communities

Action

learning

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STRATEGIC PRIORITY 1 – Connecting with Christ

1. Continue to work with our local churches and faith gatherings encouraging them to truly view themselves as places where anyone can access the Kingdom of God and meet Jesus in a real way. Work with willing local church leaders to continue to reimagine the possibilities of being God’s people as a congregation as well as a mission outreach in their community through services, programs, facilities, etc.

2. Deliver transformative services to the clients we serve and care for by building on philosophies of care that emphasise and promote dignity, quality of life, and that are holistic i.e. that provide for their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs.

- Deploy care models that deliver measurable positive client outcomes. - Expand integrated service delivery models to cater for clients in their own homes and in supported living settings. - Develop alliances with agencies and other providers to create opportunities for enhanced wellbeing of clients.

3. Forge ahead with our current integrated mission strategies delivered through local churches, care services, and other Kingdom access places, for example, simple church, men’s sheds, access places etc.

- Focus on key locations and expand our service and missional footprint. - Increase the number of Kingdom access places.

4. Strengthen and grow the number of local Strategic Action Leadership Teams that are working in communities to develop mission action strategies to bring more of the light of Christ into their communities.

5. Continue to transform our workforce by shaping our culture and inspiring vocational attitudes to work.

- Everyone associated with Churches of Christ in Queensland comprehends the mission of the organisation and understands the role they play in its delivery.

- Develop our volunteers to be a strong, diverse and capable workforce. - Become an employer of choice.

6. Develop Christian leadership and formation – more Christian leaders within congregations, services and work.

- Establish a Graduate School of Christian Leadership in partnership with the University of Divinity. - Equip Christian leaders to practically apply theological principles in their workplaces. - Establish a Spiritual Retreat Centre to provide a contemplative retreat environment for spiritual formation. - Demonstrate leadership in the wider community of Christians. - Continue to promote relevant Australian College of Ministries and Stirling Theological College resources to our people.

7. Develop and implement a mission action strategy to engage young people – build 10-30 year old (Gen Y and Z) connection to Christianity and the Churches of Christ ‘brand’.

Strategic priorities and strategiesOur primary objective in this planning time frame is to improve outcomes for our clients, their families and their communities – to uplift and transform lives in our congregations, services and communities. We will do this by investing in our capability and continuing the business and organisational transformation commenced in the 2011-15 strategic planning period.

This transformation has many components including the development of our technologies, our services delivery models, and a wider understanding of what it means to be God’s people and Christ’s church in the world. At its heart is a Christ-inspired workforce following their vocation to help others to live life to the full.

Kingdom access places

A Kingdom access place is a place of service and hospitality where people can gain access to something of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is a way of being together in community and a way of being as individuals – underpinned by a belief that God loves each one of us unconditionally.

Jesus said ‘I am the Way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’ (John 14:6). The early Christians were known as followers of the Way because they took Jesus at his word and lived out his Way in their local communities.

A Kingdom access place is a presence in the community where people are intentionally trying to practice this Way and invite others to join in. To love God and put him first in their lives; to love one another, to care for the poor, frail and vulnerable; to live the most rich and fulfilling life they can. They aspire to live this Way of Jesus; and to tell and train others in this way of life.

STRATEGIC PRIORITY 2 – Growing our core services

1. Continue to develop healthy local church congregations that engage communities and who are mission focussed.

2. Consolidate and strengthen our three core care service streams:

- Children, Youth and Families - Housing Services - Seniors and Supported Living.

3. Churches of Christ in Queensland will be principally focussed on the following areas specific to children, youth and families by:

- skilling parents, families and communities (primary prevention) - supporting families in need (secondary prevention) - caring for vulnerable and/or abused children (tertiary services) - assisting young people to successfully transition to independent adulthood.

4. Implement a marketing strategy that captures the essence of our holistic approach.

- Design and implement digital marketing platform, content and websites, social media, media etc. – for all areas of our work.

5. Build on our business development capability and identify acquisitions and partnerships in those communities we seek to serve.

- Establish a framework for growth that provides direction on location and scale. - Identify and consolidate regional centres of strength. - Establish an acquisitions and business growth operating system. - Develop a stronger sales and transition team to maximise returns on new developments.

6. Build and implement social enterprise activities.

7. Partnerships with other Churches of Christ conferences to expand in Victoria, Tasmania, Vanuatu, and establish a presence in the Northern Territory.

8. Strengthen cooperation and partnerships with like-mission organisations to better serve communities – especially in remote areas.

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STRATEGIC PRIORITY 3 – Building our capacity

1. Upgrade our technology to meet workforce expectations, client needs, government and marketplace requirements through:

- delivery of a fit-for-purpose enterprise architecture refreshed to align with the strategic plan - delivery of fit-for-purpose information technology solutions that support provision of holistic,

value for money services - support of efficient and effective human resources through delivery of best of breed functional software

and revised Human Resources Information System - improved client outcomes through remote client monitoring - support of a mobile workforce with technology available at the workplace - providing valid and reliable information as and when necessary to support client care and business

activities across all of our services.

2. Invest in our people. Continue to develop critical job skills so we are task ready, have appropriate leadership skills and address workplace inequality.

- Establish an organisation development stream to equip the workforce with the skills and capacity to support growth.

- Implement a Learning Management System. - Ensure new care models are provided by skilled and trained workforce. - Further increase our numbers of volunteers. - Increase workforce diversity across all levels of management. - Align learning and development to business and culture requirements. - Build our organisational learning capacity.

3. Promote practical reconciliation between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians.

- Implement Reconciliation Action Plan. - Develop clear cultural protocols. - Implement cultural awareness training across the organisation. - Employ more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through traineeship programs and other

recruitment strategies.

4. Invest in our infrastructure. Optimise our built asset investments.

- Embed new design principles to facilitate new models of care, integration and community engagement. - Refurbish and develop our key built assets with a campus model in mind. - Improve use of underperforming assets. - Divest underperforming non-affiliated church assets that are not generating sufficient missional return. - Complete redevelopment of our Kenmore Campus.

MEET KAY RADEMACHER Service Support Officer – Centenary Development FoundationBeing a part of the team is a real blessing. I like my job and the people I work with and it’s an exciting time to be a part of the Churches of Christ in Queensland story.

STRATEGIC PRIORITY 4 – Funding our mission and growth

1. Expand the reach of our services in a financially sustainable way so we can fully play our part in meeting societal need, by preparing and executing robust and viable financing strategies.

- Leverage our existing property portfolio for growth. - Diversify affordable housing funding and equity models. - Exploit positive social impact to generate new sources of philanthropic, social investment and grant

funding, for example, Green Bonds and Kingdom Bonds. - Reinvigorate Centenary Development Foundation and attract new investments. - Establish new funding sources through innovative enterprises in seniors, for example, cafés. - Investigate self insurance of our workers’ compensation arrangements.

2. Optimising our service delivery models that meet clients’ needs and provide value for money.

- Update our quality frameworks to deliver efficient and effective processes. - Optimise occupancy/use of existing and acquired client facilities. - Review support service delivery ensuring alignment with operational needs, client attraction/support and

income targets.

3. Establish for-profit enterprise(s), for example, facilities maintenance business.

4. In recognising that employing paid staff is not always the only or best way to enable our mission, seek to engage more volunteers, families, neighbours and others in the community in providing care.

5. Develop 10 year cash-flow and rolling forecast tools that will enable financial prioritisation and sustainable staging of major projects.

MEET MARGO OLIVERVolunteer I thoroughly enjoy, and look forward to, my time spent volunteering. It gives me a true sense of belonging and allows me to give back to a part of my community. I adore the interaction with fellow volunteers, staff and residents.

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Head Office 41 Brookfield RoadKenmore Queensland 4069

Phone: 07 3327 1600 Fax: 07 3878 1268 Website: cofc.com.au