Five Year Plan

  6 August 2006

(Original numbering retained for comparison with earlier versions)

Mission/Vision

The Vision of the Theosophical Society in NZ is to inspire and serve the spiritual evolution of humanity.

Our Mission is to encourage enquiry with open hearts and minds into world religions, philosophy, science, and the arts; and to support the individual's endeavours to understand and apply the ageless wisdom, respect and honour all life, and achieve spiritual self-realisation.

Key Goals

The key goals we wish to accomplish over the next five years are outlined below.

1. Training officers, committee members, presenters, members and to develop a positive mentoring programme and teamwork at all these levels. (2 years)

2. To develop each year one new practical educational programme for weekend sessions or seminars that can be used throughout NZ.

3. To develop a meditation program which can be used in the community, given to groups and people as an aid to learning.

4. To form at least three new T.O.S. centres in New Zealand (interest from Napier, Palmerston North and Dunedin).

5. To raise the profile of the T.S. in the community through more effective use of the media, such as Rainbow News and In Touch Magazines, by having a presence at Spiritual Festivals like Body Mind and Spirit and attending other Spiritual fairs.  Consider inserting TS quotes in media and also sandwich boards on the streets with quotes.

6. Attract younger people to our membership through the development of programmes for the young and identify appropriate books and other material for younger people.

7. To have a youth/family camp every year.

8. Establish Yoga or Tai Chi programmes in our lodges or branches,

9. To have TS income greater than expenditure within five years.

10. Support the development of Vicente Hao Chin's “Process of Self Transformation” (PST) by TS members so that the NZ TS may eventually offer this as a service to the NZ community.

11. To create two new facilities/building for existing branches in the before 2011.

12. To promote National, Regional and Branch educational themes. 

13. To set up three new branches and study centres by 2011.

14. To develop resource materials, such as equipment for branches, programme resources, people resource database,

15. To strengthen and promote regional groups.

16. Double membership of the T.S. in the next 5 years.

17. Get our TS libraries listed in the National Library databases.

18. Commitment from membership resulting in active committees, active groups, active study centres, active branches.

Below are the items that we felt we wanted to retain from the previous plan.  I have crossed out the ones we felt for one reason or another were no longer necessary to have in the Five Year Plan.

1. Membership.

1.    Replaced.

2.    Replaced.

3.    Increase the involvement of existing members in the organisation, particularly in the exploration of theosophy.

4.    Ensure participation in our activities by providing a balance of study, meditation and service, that have practical and social components.

5.    Replaced.

2. Organisational Development.

Significant positive changes to the governance of the NZ Section over the last few years have already taken place. To continue in this area of growth we have identified what we would like to see happen over the next few years:

1.    Replaced.

2.    Review branch constitutions to create a working structure in branches more suited to today’s inclusive style of decision-making and to bring them more into line with the NZ Section constitution.

3.    Replaced.

4.    Replaced.

3. Education

1.    Organise high quality and practical educational gatherings within NZ and work with groups who are trying to achieve the same aims.

2.    Replaced

3.    Replaced

4.    Replaced.

5.    Develop national educational programmes that have a balance of study and practical aspects to them.

6.    Replaced.

7.    Replaced

8.    Replaced

9.    To support the ongoing development and implementation of a programme on 'Growing into Awareness' as an outreach programme for the public supported by the NZ Theosophical Society.

4. Technology

Use current technology to create a strong presence in NZ by developing the following:

1.    Replaced.

2.    Replaced.

3.    Replaced.

4.    Improved Internet presence.