Dearly Beloved,
Here are the highlights of my Report on the Spiritual Condition of the Parish 2009, presented at the Annual Meeting. The complete Report is available on our Website and our Blog.
The Spiritual Condition of the Parish 2009
A year ago, as 2008 began, I reviewed the four challenges with which we began 2007. This morning I want to begin with a quick update on those challenges.
Challenge Number One: to conduct a professional assessment of our life together as a parish. In 2009 we will meet this challenge, thanks to the Sabbatical Grant from the Lilly Endowment. Please come back next week for a special Adult Forum during which you will learn about this aspect of our Parish Sabbatical.
Challenge Number Four: to decide the immediate future of our Preschool.
We now have fifteen students in our strong and successful Preschool, and we are beginning registration for our fourth academic year this coming September. We are blessed with a terrific teaching team of Debbie Ham-Bolger and Sara Lemrise, and the dedicated assistance of parish volunteers Sis Lyon and Sybil Ten Eyck. + + +
After reviewing those past challenges from 2007, I turned to what lay ahead in 2008 with these words from Charles Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . ." I then made this prediction: "For St. Gregory's, 2008 won't be either 'the best of times,' or 'the worst of times,' but it will be a . . . year of personal and parish decisions which will tend towards one or the other." So now, let's see how we did in 2008 with these "personal and parish decisions."
Decision Number One: the choice of our new organ. Decision Accomplished!
Decision Number Two: the placement of our new organ. What I said in last year's report about this decision bears repeating:
"We can simply put the new organ under or over the chapel, where it has been for some 30 years. But that would be like putting a lamp under a bushel basket [Matthew 5:15]. It has been clear to many people over the years . . . that we have not only placed our organ and choir and band out of sight, but also significantly out of sound. Jim doesn't hear the organ as the congregation hears it; and we don't hear the choir or quartet or band as well as they deserve to be heard. So the next decision is whether to change our worship space in order to get the most out of our organ, and not only our organ but our musicians as well."
Now, as we begin 2009, we are still working on that decision, but we did decide as a parish family that we wanted to place that decision in a larger context. And so we formed a Master Plan Committee to look at our entire church building. On Tuesday, when the Master Plan Committee holds its third meeting, we will begin the process of evaluating the options which have emerged from your comments and from the interviews our architects have had with our staff and other parishioners. When the Master Plan Committee finishes this work of evaluation, perhaps by March or April, the parish will have a new set of decisions to make.
As I neared the conclusion of last year's report, I said this:
"I know full well that these decisions will be made in the context of an unsettled national economy, our 2007 Operating deficit, and pending decisions about our 2008 Operating budget. . . . But that is why [our] personal and corporate decisions . . . will tend towards either 'the best of times' or 'the worst of times' for our parish." When I spoke those words a year ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 12,000; today it's at 8,000. We now know that our unsettled economy was already in recession.
And yet, as you will hear in more detail later, we made decisions in the first quarter of 2008 that put our own economic house in order; we produced the first reconciled and clean Consolidated Balance or Net Worth Statement in several years; and thanks to the faithful support of our parishioners, we ended the year with a balanced budget.
As we begin 2009, our Vestry has put together a balanced budget for this year. It is true that we balanced the budget by reducing our office hours and by freezing the salaries of our paid staff, but that's only part of the story. . . . [We] have been able to fully fund our Youth Ministry and balance our budget thanks to the response to our 2008 Giving Campaign. Although several of our most faithful and committed parishioners have had no choice but to decrease their pledges, others increased their pledges by the asked-for 20%, and some parishioners raised their pledges significantly above 20%.
Our economic challenges, so daunting a year ago, are even more daunting today. But the spiritual condition of this parish is strong. Sustained during these difficult days by our generous commitments of time, talent, and treasure, we look to the future as we determine together our Mission and Vision, and develop a Master Plan to expand our capabilities for Ministry.
For the twentieth time, I conclude my Report on the Spiritual Condition of the Parish with these words from St. Paul: "Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen" [Ephesians 3:20-21].
Adult Inquirer's/Confirmation/Refresher Class
When? Sundays, February 8, February 22, March 8, and March 22, from 1:30 to 3:00 pm
Who? Anyone who wants to learn more about the Christian Faith as the Episcopal Church has received it.
Why? To refresh your Christian spirituality and knowledge. Or, to become a member of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
Questions? Let me know!
Faithfully yours,
"We are ambassadors for Christ, God appealing to the world through us." 2 Corinthians 5:20
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