Strategic Plan - Temple Shaaray Tefila

Strategic Plan

Our Process

Last November, we began a strategic planning process by asking all of our members to reflect on our community’s mission and priorities. Your responses to that survey, along with targeted focus groups with staff and congregants, provided us with a valuable road map for the work we have been engaged in over the past six months. At the March meeting, our Board of Trustees approved a Strategic Plan for 2019-2022.

Our Mission

We are a community driven by meaning, connection, and purpose, rooted in Reform Jewish values, and animated by our commitment to each other and the world.

Meaning recognizes that there is substance to the texts of Torah that can apply to our lives today and that can help us make decisions in the best and most challenging moments of our lives.

Connection acknowledges that we cannot live alone; that we need to be in community; that especially in the 21st century, being connected to each other face to face matters; that being a part of the Jewish people worldwide matters.

Purpose reminds us that the world as it is doesn’t have to be this way and that religion, at its best, is about making the world better because we are in it.

Our Strategic Priorities

Temple Shaaray Tefila will be celebrating our 175th anniversary in 2020. Much of the credit for our longevity and success stems from our ability to adapt and continue meeting the evolving needs of our community. As we plan for the future, we’ve identified four Strategic Priorities to drive our mission and strengthen our synagogue during the coming years.

We’ve also identified four Supporting Priorities – additional areas of focus to which we’ll pay special attention as we believe they directly bolster and enhance the impact of our Strategic Priorities.

We, of course, understand and value the importance of every facet of our congregational identity (pastoral care, adult education, Israel engagement, etc). As that work continues, the established priorities will guide and focus us as together we build our future.

Membership

Our congregants have been, and will always be our top priority. We will deepen our focus on member engagement, and enhance our outreach efforts to continue to attract, nurture, and retain members who connect to our mission.

Our Physical Home

Just as we are proud of our community, we also want our physical home to be a space of which we can be proud. We will work to ensure that our facilities reflect the strength and caliber of our congregation.

Organizational Culture & Operations

We are extremely fortunate to have a talented team of clergy and professional staff. We will invest in, empower, and support our professional staff, so they are well positioned to help us realize our strategic vision and mission.

Telling Our Story

We sometimes feel like our congregation is the best-kept secret on the Upper East Side. We will strengthen our communications internally and beyond our walls, to promote our synagogue values and all that our community has to offer.

Supporting Priorities

Worship

Our clergy is committed to offering meaningful weekly Worship services. We will focus on finding ways to elevate our Worship experiences further.

Social Justice

Pursuing Social Justice is an essential part of our Reform values. We will more deeply engage members in the work of tikkun olam – repairing our world – having a meaningful impact on the issues we set out to address and building greater awareness around our work.

Raising Jewish Adults

Our Early Childhood and K-12 Religious School engage hundreds of children each year in Jewish learning and communal life. We will evaluate our programs to ensure that we are empowering and instilling a commitment in our students to live Jewish lives as adults.

Development

One of the ways we demonstrate our commitment to each other is through our generous support of the synagogue. We will focus on ways to secure a healthy financial future for our synagogue.