Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

A lot.

When it comes to honoring someone in a public way, people may take it personally.

People in my hometown are crying ‘foul’ over a recent school committee decision related to naming the football field after a respected teacher, coach, and athletic director. The issue? After what felt like an excessively long process of developing a naming policy, members of the school committee seemingly subverted their own process and declined to bestow this honor on Mr. H. because ‘a football field is too big a monument to name after one person.’

What? After establishing a policy, including the field on the list of facilities open for naming, soliciting names, and hearing testimony, the committee changes the rules at the 11th hour – but only with regard to naming the football field. Not the library. Not the wrestling room.
No wonder people are upset.

And, in addition to airing their concerns in the local newspaper, they’ve also taken their case to Facebook, spreading news of this controversy far beyond town borders.

I was thinking about this situation when I received an email about naming policies:

“Our parish would like to establish a policy about memorial gifts; we already allow named endowments if $25K or more. Now we are wondering about when a gift warrants a plaque or "naming:" such as the "Sally A. Smith Porch." Have you seen models for such a policy?”

Given my hometown ‘drama’ over naming the football field, what has become clear to me is:
• It is important to have a well thought out policy and to make this policy public.
• Once adopted, the policy and process should be followed.
• Fairness and transparency are important components of this process.

What does your congregation’s policy re: memorial gifts and naming look like? A quick look at in the Tools and Your Turn section of this site showed this to be an area in which resources are needed. Has your congregation, organization, or agency developed a policy for memorial gifts? Are you willing to share? If so, I invite you to post your policy in ECF Vital Practices’ Your Turn section.