As we near the 70th anniversary of Brotherhood Synagogue, we are reflecting on who we are as a community and what we want to be for the next 70 years. With that in mind, the Board of Trustees has formed the Strategic Planning Committee to identify what we are doing well, where we have opportunities for improvement and how best to serve the community in the future. This process is about preserving and strengthening what makes Brotherhood special, while identifying how we can better serve our entire community.
To assist in this process, we have hired an experienced advisor in synagogue planning, Robert Leventhal. He has spent many years advising synagogues on these issues and has written Stepping Forward Together, a guide to help synagogue visioning and planning for the future. Led by Pamela Chisling and Debbie Pearlstein, the Strategic Planning Committee is working to engage the entire community in dialogue to better understand our needs and opportunities. We are looking to the community to provide input defining our strengths and weaknesses, what obstacles we face and how to overcome them. The community will be setting the vision for the future to figure out how to move forward.
How is the work being done?
Many community members participated in our Community Conversations in March and responded to the membership survey in April. The Committee analyzed community views in deciding to create seven Task Forces to further develop Brotherhood’s vision for the future: Membership and Engagement, Marketing and Communications, Families with children up to age 5, Families with children 5-18, Affinity Groups, Religious Engagement, and Fiscal Responsibility. These Task Forces are in the process of articulating a vision for Brotherhood in their area of responsibility and making suggestions for how to achieve this vision.
What will the result of the process be?
In late 2023, the Strategic Planning Committee compiled everything learned from this process (the Community Conversations, the survey, the task forces, and more) and gave a presentation to the community, which can be found here. Next, we will prepare a report for the Board of Trustees with specific recommendations for changes to be made or initiatives to be undertaken. Additionally, the Board will take steps to ensure follow through for the recommendations. The report will be made available to the entire community.
Please join us in continuing to make Brotherhood the vital institution it has always been.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at strategicplanning@brotherhoodsynagogue.org
