One Vestry Member’s Perspective

Over the past 18 months or so we have been on a journey of transition and transformation in our parish.

We have gone through times of introspection, of education and learning, of challenged faith, of vision and mission building, of listening, and times of new and renewed commitment.

The Vestry, along with the Rector and staff, started the year with a weekend retreat to focus on our future. We adopted an aggressive growth scenario which reflected our belief that we needed to act on what we had heard from over 40 members of our visioning teams, the recommendations of our mission team, and members of our family ministry project team.

We chose a path of purposeful and deliberate focus on the needs of youth and families.

This strategy required that we add resources to our staff to support our new program focus. The path was clearly laid out by our mission team.

They recommended the Vestry approved the incremental hiring of a Youth minister, a Communications Director, and a Music Leader.

The Vestry agreed to a phased hiring plan throughout the current year and today, all of these positions are staffed.

What has this meant to each of us in the current year?  There is new enthusiasm and excitement around the 9:15 family service.

For long time members it has meant an opportunity to recommit to supporting the spiritual growth and life at our parish.

For many newcomers, the family service has provided an inviting opportunity to experience the love of God and commitment to one another.

The addition of a Youth Minister has been invaluable in growing covenant community through a renewed focus on youth and families.

With this new energy and enthusiasm, we have experienced a shift in attendance to our family service and new membership.

We have experienced a growth in intentional giving. We have experienced a growth in new pledges.

We face a significant challenge from a cash flow perspective. We are operating
on funds borrowed with permission from a fund given by a generous anonymous contributor.  But we are making progress.

The Vestry and staff have been working to put together the operating plan for next year. This includes sharing information with parishioners regarding the cost of being here, the cost of
worshiping here, and the cost of serving here.

Our goals include:
1) Fully funding our commitment to our programs focused on youth and families.
2) Fully funding the staff necessary to support these programs.
3) Bringing more transparency to the budget by bringing everything “on budget” so that we can understand true costs of being, worshiping, and serving here.
4) Seeking the input and support of parishioners regarding our ministry strategy.

During the month of October, as we focus on stewardship, members of the Vestry will be available in the Narthex to share, discuss, and answer questions regarding the operating plan for next year following each worship service.

We will participate with the Rector in a parish forum to present and discuss our proposed plan.

Finally, we will hold an open meeting period during our October Vestry meeting to take comments and feedback from parishioners before formally adopting our draft operating plan.

Our current strategy requires additional financial resources from all of us. We are confident that we are on the right path and hope that we will have your support.

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