Characteristics of a strong parish, such as ours, include financial stability, membership growth, active social outreach programs, and a sense of mission reflected in a well thought out, prayerfully developed long-range plan. One important component in planning for the long-term future of the Chapel of the Cross is population growth in the community, which it serves. Growth in the local population over the next 20 to 30 years and the shift in the demographic profile are expected to be significant. For Chapel Hill alone, the population is expected to increase by approximately 50% (by 63,000 individuals!). Included in this growth is a pattern of unprecedented shift in the population to older age groups. It is estimated that the population between the ages of 55 to 65 will increase by approximately 100% and for individuals over 65 years it will increase by 200%. These estimates do not include Durham, Chatham, or greater Orange Counties but there is no reason to believe that similar population growth and shifts will be different from those of Chapel Hill. It has been estimated that approximately 5% of the population of Chapel Hill prefer the Episcopal tradition; this compares to approximately 2.5% nationally.

Strategic long-range planning for the Chapel of the Cross has begun; the process is that of discerning what God intends for us to be as a parish over the next 20 to 30 years, given these projected growth patterns, and preparing a ‘road map’ to get us there. Changes are inherent in the process. Types of programs, worship, liturgy, music, size (optimal), staff, physical facilities, and financial resources need careful, thoughtful, and prayerful consideration by the members of the committee as well as by each member of the parish.

I got some additional perspective on the church planning process through the recent meeting of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes in Pittsburgh, which I attended with three other Chapel of the Cross parishioners. The consortium offered a series of provocative, important, and useful courses on the general theme of parish vocation. One of the courses, “Your Congregation’s Vocation,” began with the proclamation “Shift Happens.” My ears perked: “Did I hear correctly?” The moderator continued, “Yes, the world, and indeed, the Episcopal Church is right now in one of the most exciting and dynamic times in their history…yes, shift happens and we, as Episcopalians, are right in the middle of shift.” This declaration is certainly true about our local secular community and our parish community. Dynamic shift will characterize our community and church for the foreseeable future. Given these shifts, the long-range planning committee as well as other individuals in our congregation, are charged to discern what our call/mission will be and formulate a step-by-step plan for accomplishing our goals.

What we love about our church and what we believe as a congregation help define our mission or call. To this end, two questions were posed by the course’s moderator. Small discussion groups were charged with answering two questions: First, “I love my church (the Chapel of the Cross) because …”

Answers from individuals in my working group included:
* It makes a real difference in my community;
* It doesn’t require me to check my brain at the door;
* Its music and liturgy;
* Its active support of cutting-edge outreach programs;
* Its thoughtful clergy and their sermons; and
* Social activism.

The second question, which was significantly more difficult to answer for everyone, was, “We as a congregation at my church (The Chapel of the Cross) believe …” We were directed not to use the Nicene Creed but to answer the question in the context of what our individual parish believes that sets it apart from other churches/parishes and we were encouraged to attempt this without using programs. By example, one person responded that his church believed in the individual, in God’s active presence in each individual (regardless of circumstance), and in his challenge to see a revealed God in each individual and to support/treat the individual accordingly. The individual felt that this fundamentally held parish belief led his parish to support prison ministry, homeless ministry, rape crisis ministry, AIDS ministry, and a number of more controversial ministries (e.g., abolition of capital punishment).

The answers to important questions, such as these and others, will help define what the long-range planning committee is about; the committee, with the assistance of the congregation (an absolutely essential component of the process), will successfully discern God’s call to the Chapel of the Cross for the next 20 to 30 years.