January 3, 2012

Editor's Letter: Real Basics for Vestries

Happy New Year!

If, as Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says, “Mission is the heartbeat of the Church," then the vestry is the life-giving oxygen that keeps the heartbeat on a steady course. Our focus for this month and next is Real Basics for Vestries, offering strategies for congregations looking to try different ways of addressing familiar challenges.

Here’s what you’ll find in this issue:

  • With recent Episcopal Church data showing median Sunday attendance at 65, and almost 300 of the Church's approximately 7,000 congregations reporting an average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 10 or less, some small congregations can no longer support the traditional vestry model of governance. In All-Church Vestry, Rebecca Hendricks provides a look at a different model, the vestry of the whole, being used in a number of small churches in the Diocese of Eastern Oregon. 
  • Recognizing that the parish administrator is often the person who keeps the day-to-day aspects of a congregation running smoothly, Jeremy Sierra shares Managing Staff: 7 Things To Consider as it relates to providing a good working environment for key staff. 
  • In Lessons from Babylon, Christopher Johnson offers a strategy as old as Jeremiah for moving out of the comfort zone of ‘the good old days’ and learning how to navigate our changing world using the resources already present in our communities. 
  • An update from the Church Pension Fund, Providing Pensions to Your Lay Employees by Pattie Christensen and Michael Macdonald, to help vestries with plans for adding their qualified lay employees to The Episcopal Church’s lay pension plan no later than January 2013.

Additionally, the ECF Vital Practices archives include a variety of articles, blogs, and other resources related to vestries. To access them look for our Topic menu on each page and click on “Vestry.” To get you started, here are links to some of our more popular Vestry Papers articles relating to real basics for vestries:

Over the next two months, ECF Vital Practices will be adding to this content with additional Vestry Papers articles as well as related Vital Posts, VP Talks, and Tools. I also invite you to use the Topics index on each page of the site to find other resources related to the ministry of the vestry including past Vestry Papers articles, blog posts, and the many resources found in our Your Turn and Tools sections.

I invite you to add to this content by sharing your healthy practices in the Your Turn section and by participating in VP Talks and/or posting comments related to our articles, blog posts, or other content.

Faithfully,

Nancy Davidge
Editor, ECF Vital Practices