For just the second time since the 2007 synod convention, the Synodical Council (SC) and the Conference of Presidents (COP)—the synods' two main leadership groups—will be meeting in a joint face-to-face session next week.

The main item on the agenda will be discussion of a draft of a long-range strategic plan for the synod called for by a resolution from the 2009 synod convention. Once input is gathered from both groups, the Synodical Council will present an initial draft to the district conventions in June. A final proposed plan is to be presented to the 2011 synod convention in Watertown, Wis.

Discussion of the long-range plan began in earnest at the November 2009 SC meeting. Further input gathered at the February SC meeting was sorted through by the Long Range Planning Task Force, which then revised and drafted the current four-page document that outlines plans for 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

The joint session is being held in Milwaukee on Apr. 29. The COP and SC's regularly scheduled April meetings are overlapping one day to accommodate the special session.