Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

I was in utter disbelief when I heard Christmas anthems being played on my friend's computer. He had been planning for Christmas Eve services as far back as August, while at that time my mind was focused on a busy September lineup of fall programs.

Granted, as a parish musician for a large congregation, he needed to be thinking that far ahead and putting those pieces together. This is often the case for larger and well-staffed parishes, but ready or not, Advent is upon us. As we have been asking here at ECF VP: Are you ready already?

Calendaring is a best practice and system that must be in place in every congregation, diocese, or organization. What can be tricky in congregations is finding the balance that makes calendaring a practical, well-functioning, and useful tool. Planning things further in advance provides stability: you can count on it, know what to expect, and have plenty of time to prepare. Keeping things open until the short term allows for greater flexibility and to adjust as needed for how things are shaping up. Large, small, or somewhere in between, there needs to norms established for how the calendar is maintained. There also must be at least one person, be it a staff member or leader, in a congregation who is keeping an eye on both the long term and short term.

In the congregation I worked in, our staff would meet in August and spend a portion of our time plotting out all the major events and deadlines throughout the year. We would have large easel pad sheets of paper with each month of the year posted on the wall to see how everything was panning out. This was very helpful for getting the ‘big picture’ of where moments would be tight and where we would need to give further consideration to events and deadlines. Another helpful tool is keeping a copy of the parish calendar (ideally one that includes things like maintenance appointments and mailing and posting dates) for the previous 1-3 years. Use this as a guide when planning the next program year and review it month-by-month to take note of anything you may have missed or not had on your radar.

What’s the vestry’s role in this process? It’s important to leave the detailed work of collecting and assembling calendar items to staff and operational volunteers – our congregations’ front line people responsible for day-to-day operations, freeing the vestry to focus on bigger picture issues of the congregation.

If you haven’t already, take a look at the next few months - we have just three weeks of Advent, then Christmas hits with New Year’s Day and Epiphany quickly following. Many congregations will have their Annual Meeting taking place at the end of January, likely January 27. Has a deadline been set for annual reports? Have you noted that for 2013 that right after the Annual Meeting end of January, there will be less than two weeks before Ash Wednesday (February 13) and then Lent begins (February 17)? It’s quite a rigorous marathon ahead, but with planning and best practices put in place, I’m confident when these milestones approach, you’ll be ready already.