Members of this Covenant Community should have received a letter from the Vestry this weekend about the campaign “To Provide for a Hopeful Future.”

With that letter came a Commitment Card to retire the Diocesan mortgage and raise $400,000, which is a combination of the $360,000 loan from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, and $40,000 that will be used to supplement the 2009 parish budget.

The Vestry has already made deep cuts in the budget in response to parishioner feedback for a balanced  budget.  The last progrgam funded by the Vestry is Youth Ministry.  If the parish chooses not to respond to the  Hopeful Future challenge, the Rector will recommend to the Vestry that, in order to bring the 2009 buget into balance, that the parish discontinue funding for its Youth Minister.

Also with the Vestry letter came brief descriptions of the parishioner-led task forces who hope to increase the quality of the life of this community. 

“We have started down the path to a more hopeful future,” vestry members said in the letter. “Your voice has been heard, the time for action is now.”

You can read the full letter from the Vestry here.  What was not in the letter were full ministry plans for the task forces.  But you can now read each one here.

• Welcoming Committee
• Parish Directory Committee
• Communications Committee
• Traditional Worship Task Force
• Youth Worship Task Force
• Spring Festival
• Summer Festival
• Fall Festival
• Advent Festival

There will be a table in the Narthex on Sundays where you can find out more about these initiatives, and sign up to help.