“Thriving churches focus on transformation of life—the personal journey of faith—and on mission[s] in the community.” –Tom Ehrich
Good things are happening at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bellingham, Washington: the church family is growing, the children’s ministry is growing, and their adult formation programs are growing. As the church has grown, so have opportunities to bring Christ into the local community.
Better still, church members know about these ministries, thanks largely to lay leaders willing to lay the foundation for and do the initial work of collecting what they call “some of God’s bountiful blessings” that result from a life of stewardship. At St. Paul’s, stewardship is a journey, it’s about life, and it is seen as the way to God.
These good things didn’t just happen. They’ve been part of an intentional process of rebuilding after a split in the congregation seven years ago. The story is a familiar one: differences over Episcopal theology led to the then-priest and a number of parishioners electing to leave. What was different about this parting was, there was no fight over the church building. Friendships and bonds of affection remained between former and continuing members. Charles “Chuck” Whitmore, the assisting priest, continued in his role, providing a calm and nonanxious presence for the remaining members and preparing them for new clergy leadership.
Kathy Mintz, a newer member of the church who serves on the vestry and finance committee, describes the split as “a crack that allowed for new growth.” With that growth came many like Kathy who were from a different (or no previous) faith tradition. In California, Kathy’s home before her move north, she worshipped at a Christian Missionary Alliance church in Los Angeles. When she couldn’t find a similar church home in Bellingham, she began to look for another. St. Paul’s came the closest to what she left behind.
“The first year I was at St. Paul’s, I attended their ‘generations of generosity’ stewardship event,” Kathy recalls. “It was their use of scripture that let me know that these were a people who were serious about their lives of stewardship.”
As the church was experiencing growth and a new vitality, it was also facing challenges related to this growth as well as financial support for its ministries. Many of the newer members were from different faith traditions and unfamiliar with the Episcopal practice of tithing and an annual pledge campaign.
Recognizing the need to consider and reflect on these challenges, the vestry invited Andrea McMillin, a priest then serving on the diocesan team of congregational development consultants, to work with them during their 2014 retreat. Conversation centered on visioning related to what St. Paul’s could be and what was holding it back. Three areas of focus emerged: welcome, accountability, and effective communication.
Building on their commitment to effective communication, the vestry identified for the 2014 pledge campaign three specific ways funds raised from pledges would be used. This information became a centerpiece of campaign messaging, from letters to messages from the pulpit. It worked. Pledges increased.
Next steps
Building on the belief that the annual appeal would be strengthened by adopting a narrative budget, the new rector, Father Jonathan Weldon, introduced this approach to the finance committee in the summer of 2015. Their silence spoke volumes.
Guided by Father Chuck’s vision of a detailed “state of the church” report showing not only how funds were used but also all the various ministries taking place, an approach began to take shape. Central to this process was finding a way to show these ministries, to connect giving with the blessings that result from a life of stewardship.
Presenting this information as a narrative story rather than a narrative budget sprang from a conversation Kathy had with diocesan canon for stewardship and development, Lance Ousley. “He introduced me to the posters All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Pasadena created for their congregation’s ‘Your Pledge Dollars at Work’ campaign,” Kathy says, “and also shared samples of a similar approach used by a Congregational church in South Carolina.”
Collecting the “blessings”
The biggest hurdle in this process was collecting the data, or what Kathy describes as “God’s bountiful blessings.” Recognizing the value of inviting all the ministry leaders into this process, Father Jonathan and Father Chuck extended a written invitation, inviting them to join this journey of discovering and sharing the many ways St. Paul’s was engaged in transformation both within and outside of the church’s walls.
Kathy visited each ministry group and described the process of collecting data related to the work of a particular group. There were many questions and some resistance. And then transformation began to take place within these ministry groups. Members began to think about their ministry’s role, discussing their purpose, thinking about or naming objectives, evaluating why they approached their ministry in a certain way, and in some groups, making changes as a result of this self-evaluation.
Sharing the story
As Kathy was collecting data, Ron began to think about how to present it visually. “You can’t assume that the parish knows what is going on,” he says. “We have grown quickly, and outside of a few dozen very active members, most simply do not know.”
His solution? “As you know, the first thing Episcopalians ask each other is ‘What service do you go to?’ So, I went to the 7:45 a.m. service, which is a lot of our older parishioners, and asked around. Nobody knew that in the middle of the 10:30 service 25 to 30 little kids come streaming down the aisle from the Godly Play classes. A few years ago there were less than 10 kids in the program. We cancelled Vacation Bible School five years ago due to lack of interest. This year we had to cut off registration at around 100 kids! So this is only one example of joyous news, and very inspiring to all. Time to get the word out.”
Working with the posters from All Saints’ Pasadena as well as the collected data, the team decided to organize the information around the themes of Connect, Inspire, Transform, and Send, with a fifth category supporting the ministries (buildings, grounds, staff, and clergy). As Kathy fed him the data, Ron worked to group it all into the five categories. “Then it was just grind it out and go back and forth [with Kathy and Father Chuck] on creating the graphics, wording, proofing, and publishing,” Ron explains. “Father Chuck challenged us to turn it into some large poster boards which were set up on easels around the Great Hall for a month or so.”
The finished posters were a visible symbol of the many ways the people of St. Paul’s were joining together in faithfulness and obedience to use their time, talents, and treasure to seek and serve God.
Results
The posters—also offered as a printed handout and turned into a PowerPoint presentation for the annual meeting—served as a foundation for the other elements of St. Paul’s annual pledge drive: letters targeting three separate groups of parishioners and messages from the pulpit. They also served a different purpose: providing joy as people gathered to view and share “Aha!” and “I didn’t know” moments, as well as the sense of accomplishment and pride at the depth and breadth of their combined gifts of time, talent, and treasure.
Toward the end of 2015, there was some anxiety related to the number of pledges received and concern about not meeting budget projections. By the end of January 2016, they had received 110 percent of pledges, representing $7,000 more than the year before. With the approach of fall 2016, Ron shares: “I was talking with Father Chuck yesterday during coffee hour. Pledges are again up around 20 percent for this year. He had an absolute twinkle in his eye. Very cool.”
“God is faithful beyond what we can ask or think,” Kathy says. “God is honoring our faith, sometimes with money.”
Originally posted at www.ecfvp.org.
Nancy Davidge is ECF associate program director, editor of ECF Vital Practices, and editor of the recently revised Vestry Resource Guide.