Corsortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes Annual Conference

Dick Taylor, Senior Warden

In early May, five of us from the Chapel of the Cross journeyed to Atlanta to the annual conference of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes. Membership in that group is open to parishes with more than $1 million in endowment - funds restricted to generate income for the mission of the church.

Our parish acquired that status in the decade between the two terms I have served on the vestry. We are now blessed with about $1.5 million in endowment with the income designated for our buildings and grounds and outreach. We also have roughly one-half million in various funds that support programs, music, campus ministry, and general operations. At the same time, the constant dilemma facing the vestry is how to meet the growing costs of parish programs and operating expenses without depleting our principal - how can we grow in our current ministry and still have the resources to meet the needs of future generations.

The Rev. Dan Matthews, recently retired rector of Trinity Wall Street and chaplain for the conference, called us to respond to a gospel of abundance despite a prevalent view of scarcity. He preached at morning and evening prayer three times and his words became a backdrop for the various workshops.

I came to the realization that the task for the Chapel of the Cross was not to hoard our special funds or endowment, but to grow them intentionally. With the growth in annual giving and in endowment of which we are capable, we can continue to foster wonderful programs (like Johnson Interns), preserve and enhance our historic buildings, minister to ourselves more ably, and continue the tradition of beautiful worship at the edge of the campus, town, and world, which is our special call.

I was inspired by a pre-conference for wardens. The subject was leadership. Katherine Tyler Scott, President of the Consortium and a professional leadership trainer, and Jim Lemler, Dean of Seabury-Western Seminary, were the presenters. But the richest element was getting to know 23 people serving as wardens of various endowed parishes across the country and sharing information and ideas.

I also attended workshops on "Increasing Parish Revenue 10-20% Every Year," "Building Endowments," and "Overlooked Steps of Capital Construction Projects." Each was informative. I met people who will be good resources for the Chapel of the Cross.

The trip was also fun. Barbara Hastings, John McGee, and I saw the Braves in Turner Field. I went with a group to a tour of Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center. We had Evensong and a reception at St. Luke's the first night and a closing Eucharist at All Saints. Coincidentally, my niece graduated from Emory University the weekend of the conference and I had the pleasure of going to dinner with her and my mother and sister.

I returned to Chapel Hill renewed and reinvigorated for vestry work and more prepared to become your Senior Warden.

John T. McGee, Treasurer

The conference was certainly a unique opportunity to both learn from those that have been successful in their endowment efforts and to share experiences with other parishes that have similar situations. The focus on "Power of Vision: The Gospel Insight" was striking in that the ability to grow an endowment that sustains a parish and fulfills God's promise to help those in need takes continuous effort over a long period.

In its 19th year, the Consortium has become a major influence in assisting organizations in the development of capital and human resources that promote the mission and ministry of the member parishes. Although the parishes vary widely in both size and endowment, many common issues and processes can be exploited for better understanding and approaches.

One of the interesting viewpoints was given by Kurt Barnes, Treasurer of the Episcopal Church USA. He gave his perspective of controls and reporting from both a central and local parish experience. Presenter Ernie Petrey has the magical gift of delivering information in an entertaining and informative manner. His presence was powerful throughout sessions that focused on financial and investment topics. I must say, however, that most of the learning came from attendees representing parishes across the country. The size of the endowments ranged from one to 42 million dollars but there was a congruence of problems and opportunities to discuss. I plan to continue to maintain contact with several key parishes for sharing of best practice ideas.

One thing became patently clear during the conference: the overwhelming need to grow and maintain an endowment sufficient to sustain our beloved Chapel of the Cross. Although we have been blessed by a number of significant bequests over the years, we will need to expand greatly our endowment in order to protect our future from unseen circumstances and to be able to support outreach opportunities that present themselves. It will take the more productive investment strategy that we have adopted combined with a meaningful planned giving program to achieve the levels we will need for our parish. This is in addition to the annual giving program that supports the on-going operation of the parish.

Gretchen S. Jordan, Christian Education Director

Youth and Family Ministry

"You can tell when a child is approaching adolescence by the pale expressions of fear on the faces of the parents."

Was it serendipitous that as I began to write this article I flipped to the middle of a notebook which I had created for leading a workshop on parenting many years ago to find this statement underlined and starred across the top of a page? I think not, for it succinctly supports one of the four key points of the pre-conference seminar I attended in May at the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes in Atlanta: to minister to youth, the parish must minister to youth and their families.

Below are excerpts from a document being adopted by many parishes which are striving to strengthen their youth and family ministry program:

"Whereas God intends for parents to serve as the primary spiritual instructors of their children (Deuteronomy 6: 4 - 9), and

Whereas God intends for those He calls as ministers to equip His people for service (Ephesians 4: 11-13), and

Whereas many parents in church fail to fulfill their responsibility for the spiritual development of their children (Judges 2: 10, 14), and

Whereas the church makes its greatest impact upon unbelieving youth and families when its own youth and families are healthy spiritually (1 Timothy 3: 1 - 13), and

Whereas the church and organizational leaders too long have failed to equip parents for their vital role in the spiritual instruction and leadership of their youth...

Therefore, ministers are called to take on their rightful role as pastoral ministers to parents, acknowledging parents as the primary spiritual leaders of their children and serving parents in that role."

This is a changing dynamic for youth ministry and one that is already being addressed within our parish. A group of approximately 12 parents of pre-adolescents and adolescents have met several times over the past four months to discuss how to be more involved in the program of ministry to youth within the parish and how to create opportunities for parent education and support of one another. If you are interested in being a part of this developing group, please contact parishioner and parent, Maria Saunders, or me.

A second key point for this ministry is the importance of mentoring. During adolescence, youth are searching for identity, seeking out advice to help them define who they are, and experiencing a natural tendency to separate from their parents. They yearn and need relationships and connections to other people, especially to adults. Mentoring programs within the parish offer young people a relationship with adults other than their parents. While this is not presently a part of the parish's program, there has been some conversation about incorporating this into the Youth Inquirers' Class. In addition, our parish is investigating the Journey to Adulthood curriculum, designed for 7th and 8th graders, that has a mentoring component.

A third key point is the need to incorporate youth fully into the life of the parish and encourage youth to live out their life in Christ. (Youth are to be guided in determining ways to live into the baptismal covenant during the confirmation process and upon confirming their infant baptism.) This is best accomplished when the parish offers many opportunities for youth to be involved by learning about God and the Church; ministering to others; having healthy Christian fellowship; serving as leaders of the worship services; giving their time, talent, and money; and when youth are encouraged each year to commit to a minimum of two areas of participation with Church School being one of the two. This was the most concerning point for me as I reflect on the low percentage of middle and high school youth who attend Church School. We have many opportunities for youth that include three Church School classes (7th-8th grade, Youth Inquirers' during the 9th grade year, and 10th-12th grade), evening EYC, an annual youth mission trip, youth serving as worship leaders (we have youth serving as acolytes, choir members, readers and greeters), and youth as leaders in programs to children such as Vacation Church School and Children's Chapel. Other areas recommended include a youth altar guild; a stewardship program of pledging time, talents, and money; regularly scheduled family activities; diocesan participation; and intergenerational service opportunities.

A fourth point for this ministry addressed organization. To further develop, evaluate, and monitor the parish's ministry to youth and families, youth councils are strongly recommended. These councils are representative of each age level of youth, parents of each age level of their youth and leaders of all specific programs offered (i.e. Church School teachers, EYC leaders, mission trip leaders, etc....).

David Frazelle will be joining the clergy staff in December and will have responsibility for many aspects of this ministry. I anticipate that soon after his arrival David and I will be discussing how better to coordinate the varying aspects of ministry to youth and families. I look forward to continuing conversations with parents of youth through the summer and involvement with the Youth Inquirers' Class.

Barbara Hastings, Parish Administrator

I was fortunate to attend the Parish Administrator's Pre-Conference portion of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes annual conference. I benefited greatly from networking with parish administrators from other parishes. We now have an e-mail list that can be used to ask "how do you do it in your parish" questions, or get "words of wisdom from experience" advice. It's always helpful to compare notes with others and make contacts for the future.

We had four presentations by experts during the pre-conference.

• Church Insurance Corporation - I learned that our insurance plan is appropriate for our parish. All the big, important items are covered. In the coming months, we will update the inventory of our fine arts. We also will complete an emergency management plan for all groups and all parts of the building. Our facilities manager has already been working on this in recent months.
• Out-Sourcing Payroll Preparation - This in not something we need at this time with our current staff.
• ACS - This is our church information management system for finances and membership. There are lots of new modules that do many helpful things. In the next few weeks, I will review these in detail with staff members to evaluate cost effectiveness for our specific needs.
• Maximizing Benefits and Salary for Lay Employees - We heard a presentation on alternative strategies to enhance employment packages without large salary increases. Many of the strategies cost little or no money, but add to the overall quality of the workplace and thus the morale of employees. Over the next few months, I will review these strategies with lay staff members and the personnel committee so we can make recommendations for 2005.

Paul Carew, Junior Warden

The theme for this years' conference was The Power of Vision: The Gospel of Insight, and certainly the workshops and presentations reflected the theme admirably. The many workshops addressed the varied issues of endowments, leadership, spiritual formation, outreach, and stewardship. It was my privilege to moderate a workshop entitled "Simplifying Stewardship and Enabling Generosity" that included Pam Wesley Gomez from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and Mac McFarling, MD, from St. Luke's, Atlanta, as presenters. Both Pam and Mac have outstanding credentials in the field of stewardship implementation and they kept the over-subscribed workshop (and their moderator) on our collective toes.

The Chapel of the Cross attendees took full advantage of the conference workshops as well as the pre-conference seminars that provided an extended and comprehensive examination of the issues challenging wardens, treasurers, stewardship volunteers, youth directors, and parish administrators. Besides orienting attendees new to these roles, those who had been to previous conferences found a wealth of new ideas and dynamic strategies to digest and bring back to their parishes.

The conference's theme was brought into immediate focus by the three morning "commentaries" by the Rev. Dr. Daniel Matthews, the recently retired rector of Trinity Church, Wall Street. Starting with a gripping description of his witnessing the horror of 9/11 from Trinity's office building near the twin towers, Matthews led us through the lessons of loss, sacrifice, devotion, and God's stewardship. The large room was so still, you could have heard a pin drop. He continued the conference's theme in his subsequent talks, culminating with the charge that it is our obligation and responsibility as endowed parishes to do God's work in our communities and beyond through the bounty we have received.

We returned to the Chapel of the Cross enriched, refreshed, and with a renewed sense of commitment to our tasks and responsibilities.