Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Although we are still in the dog days of August, congregational leaders are starting to gear up for September and the start of a new program year, planning ministries and other activities including worship, music, Christian formation, and outreach. They are also starting to ask the same perennial questions: Are members caught up with their pledges? Are we anticipating a deficit by year end? How are we going to handle the stewardship campaign for 2012? Do we need to do any major repairs before winter sets in? How are we going to recruit new members of the vestry and other parish committees? And, how can we attract new people to church especially young families?

The answers to these questions are usually expressed in terms of just needing “more” – if we had more people and more money everything would be just fine. I would suggest, however, that rather than needing more, what we really need is something different. The practical issues raised by these questions do need to be addressed but there will never be effective or even satisfactory responses or solutions unless and until congregations address the more fundamental issues: Who are we? Why do we exist? What is God calling us to do? And how and who do we need to get there?

As our numbers and resources continue to decline, we need to finally acknowledge that it cannot be business as usual. Because of these challenges, most congregations are at that critical time and place where their very existence is in jeopardy unless and until they start doing things differently. But where do we begin?

Bringing congregational leaders together to listen to the call of the Holy Spirit and discern God’s Will for the parish is a good place to start. Parish leadership, especially the clergy, often feel that every congregation, no matter how small, needs to have a comprehensive array of programs in order to be considered “active” and “vibrant” including a choir, a church school, youth and young adult ministries and active outreach. Since all of these activities require both money and people, the same cycle continues year after year. So what’s wrong with this picture? Quite simply, it totally misses the point.

Instead, leaders should consider three central questions: Where are we as a church? Where do we want to go? and How do we get there?

A congregation cannot be all things to all people especially when we’re looking at a typical Episcopal parish with average Sunday attendance of 70 and a budget of about $150,000 a year. Each congregation needs to engage in a thoughtful and prayerful strategic planning process to determine its unique identity, characteristics and purpose in a particular place. All ministry is contextual and in times of diminishing resources, we need to stop duplicating or replicating ministries or programs on the premise that “if you build it they will come.” An appropriate visioning process is one way of avoiding this common pitfall. Once a congregation discerns its “call,” it is then ready to decide how to get there including a determination of the necessary financial, human and other resources.

This is not just about articulating a new approach to structuring a parish. This is about the very survival of the church as we know it. Our current parish model is unsustainable and often zaps the energy, passion and spirit of our clergy and laity alike. On the other hand, engaging in a thoughtful, prayerful and deliberate process of visioning, discerning, training and empowering will create new mission opportunities for local congregations in an ever changing church and world.