Transcript Grace Church Stewardship 2012

Grace Church Stewardship 2012
Share God’s Gifts
and
In All Things Give
Thanks!
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Stewardship Is…
• Our response to the gifts that God has given
us in our lives and in the gift of Christ Jesus
for our salvation.
• Begins with our Baptismal Covenant.
• All that we do with all that we are and all
that we have after we say, “I believe!”
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Our Budget Hasn't Grown Very Much Lately
$1,200,000
$974,500
$976,597
$987,200
$1,000,000
$1,003,000
$985,755
$1,002,727
$800,000
Income
$600,000
Expenses
+1.7%
+0.9%
$400,000
$200,000
$0
2010
2011
2012
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We Depend Upon Our Pledge Income for Most of Our Needs
(Projected 2012 Income)
School CostSharing, $41,000
Loose Plate &
Other Offerings,
$55,000
Other Income,
$15,500
Pledge Income,
$891,500
For 2012, approximately 60% of the parish made a financial commitment
to give regularly to Grace Church.
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Where Does the Money Go? What Are the Needs?
(2012 Budget)
Other Programs &
Ministries, $42,098
Parish Outreach,
$59,490
Building Upkeep,
$154,582
Participation in
Diocesan & National
Church Activities,
$94,700
Administration,
$41,080
Salaries for Clergy
& Staff, $610,777
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A Narrative Budget Summary
for 2013
Our 10 program areas have prepared narrative statements that outline a
vision for each ministry, and what is possible if additional resources are
available in 2013.
There are three needs that must be considered:
1. Support for our professional staff;
2. Grow our programs, especially communications, education
and outreach; and
3. Care for our physical plant.
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Our Professional Staff
Grace Church is truly blessed –
•
By clergy who touch our lives in many ways, guiding and
sustaining us in the liturgy and through their inspired
preaching, encouragement, counsel, comfort and prayers.
•
By church staff who perform tireless work for all of us,
regard their work as a “calling” and often giving freely of
their time beyond the level for which they compensated.
For example:
 Enriching the music program at Grace with wonderful
musical gifts and leadership of our choirs and other
musical events;
 Leading the spiritual education and development of
our children and youth, young and growing families,
parents and adult faith formation;
 Administering the daily activities of the parish – and
the parish office – so that everything gets coordinated,
accomplished, provided and communicated; and
 Ensuring that the fabric of the church is clean and
presentable every single day.
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Our Professional Staff (cont.)
• For 2013 the Diocese recommends a minimum increase of
+2% in total compensation for currently-employed ordained
and lay staff.
• Compensating our staff fairly and adequately has been a longtime priority at Grace Church.
• Continued commitment to sacrificial and generous giving in
our financial pledges will ensure this priority is supported, and
that consideration can be given to increasing staff support to
mission, ministry and program areas.
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Worship
Give unto the LORD the
glory due unto his name:
Worship the LORD in the
beauty of holiness.
(Psalm 96, 7-9)
•
Grace Church is a special place, characterized by a deep
and abiding love of God and focus on the weekly and daily
celebrations of the Eucharist in all the glory of the liturgy.
We are a loving people, sustained and inspired by the Holy
spirit in our common worship together.
•
Led by our clergy and supported by our acolytes, Lay
Eucharistic Ministers, choirs, Altar Guild, lectors, ushers
and element bearers, liturgical worship is central to our
life at Grace Church
•
Additional resources would 


Replenish vestments, many of which are threadbare, faded,
ill-fitting or do not match
Underwrite activities like participation in the National
Acolyte Festival, development retreats for LEMs, acolyte
educational materials and fellowship programs to thank
parishioners for their service.
Grow and evolve the Grace Church music program in
the most effective way possible in order to enhance the
parish’s rich tradition of “worship in the beauty of
holiness.”
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La Gracia
• A healthy congregation with about 45 people for an average Sunday
attendance and as many as 54 this fall. The Latino population in the
church is now established and maturing.
• We want to strengthen the bridges between the Anglo and Latino
congregations in intentional steps. Shrine Mont and the several bi-lingual
services have already begun that work.
 Mutual mission to our common community for outreach
opportunities. We have new volunteers from La Gracia in the Food
Pantry and with Meals on Wheels.
 Participation in Sunday school and adult forums for theological
education.
 Integrated presence will enrich the whole of Grace Church.
• We hope for scholarship funds that could encourage members of La
Gracia to go to Work Camp or on other short mission trips to deepen their
Episcopal identity.
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Education and Spiritual Development
• The Education budget supports Nursery, Children’s
Chapel, Sunday School, adult faith formation (including Sunday
forums, monthly parent forums and Inquirers’ Class), Lenten
simple suppers and lectures, Education for Ministry, as well as
the Lenten silent retreat and the newly offered monastic retreat
at Society of Saint John the Evangelist in Boston.
•
Additional resources could provide -
 Increased support for spiritual growth of children, parents and
teachers through richer curriculum development, vital parent
forums and more teacher enrichment;
 Theologically-based adult forums, evening classes, and silent
retreats -- and to give parishioners opportunities for meaningful,
thoughtful discussions;
 Updated supporting technology including a devoted PowerPoint
projector, increased audio capabilities and updated televisions and
DVDs; and
 More diverse adult education programs and further development of
adult education opportunities.
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Youth
•
The Journey to Adulthood (J2A) is a complete youth
ministry program of spiritual formation for 6th – 12th
grades. Three 2-year program segments– Rite 13, J2A, and
EYC - use Bible study, prayer, rites of passage, outreach
ministries and both serious and playful activities to
underscore two guiding principles: Manhood and
womanhood are free gifts from God; and Adulthood must
be earned.
•
The Youth budget curently provides funding for group
activities including the Sunday evening youth group
fellowship dinners, sponsorship of seasonal calendar event
(Church Picnic and Easter Egg Hunt) and seed money for
the J2A pilgrimage and Youth mission trips.
•
Additional resources would permit building on the existing
foundation of youth-oriented programs:
• New curriculum on formative theology and guidance
for high schoolers;
• More robust and dynamic group activities; and
• Program to help our seniors transition to life after
high school and in college (both spiritually and
practically).
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“And Jesus grew in
wisdom and stature, and
in favor with God and all
people.” (Luke 2:52)
Communications
•
The Communications Ministry serves to spread Christ’s Good
News, using all the tools our digital society offers, through the
parish’s technology infrastructure and the ‘messages we
transmit” over that infrastructure.
•
The Communications Ministry (Grace Notes, the website and
technology refreshment) averages about 0.5% of Grace
Church’s total budget – not enough to improve our current
infrastructure and more robustly share the word about our
church both inside and outside the parish.
•
Grace's technological infrastructure requires substantial
investment in the near future.
• Internet infrastructure and wi-fi are under-powered,
and the hardware and software needed to do our work
requires “faithful maintenance.”
• Investment in a more robust technology infrastructure
would permit us to bolster the church’s audio/visual
offerings through recorded sermons and other parish
events, and to take Grace’s growing photo ministry
beyond the foyer photo wall.
• Additional resources would also permit us to widen our
church's digital footprint - and undertake a more robust
public outreach campaign using Grace Notes and Grace’s
active Facebook, Twitter and webpage sites.
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Evangelism
•
Jesus told His disciples to “go and make disciples of all
nations.” To complete this task, Christian must evangelize, or
bring the “good news,” to everyone they meet.
•
Grace's St. Andrew's Guild ensures that greeters meet and
welcome visitors after services. The Guild provides welcome
folders and name tags, staffs the newcomers' table at coffee
hour, makes follow-up calls, and sponsors newcomer. All
parishioners are ex-officio members of the Guild when it
comes to offering a warm welcome.
•
Grace also runs a booth at Art on the Avenue, a festival held
on Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria each October –
distributing balloons, water for our four-legged friends and
information about Grace Church
•
We can always do more to spread the good news! We'd like
to expand our presence in Del Ray, Arlandria, Beverly Hills,
and the surrounding community. We’d also love to increase
our use of signage to inform passersby about what’s going on
at Grace.
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Outreach-Mission
•
•
•
•
•
Excepting personnel and physical plant, Outreach-Mission is the
largest item in the Grace budget, reflecting this church’s ongoing
effort to help build god’s kingdom in our neighborhood and in the
larger world.
Financial contribution to local charities make a difference in the
lives of thousands of northern Virginia residents. Grace Church
Food Pantry is an invaluable resource for hundreds of local
families.
We are a positive force in the world through the mission projects
we support: Haiti Micah Project in Mirabalais, Haiti; Our Little
Rose home in San Pedro Sula, Honduras; St. James Anglican
Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
We accommodated all needs dentified this year 2012, but at the
cost of reducing contributions to some organizations
Additional resources would permit us to –
• Restore organizations with reduced funding to their original
programmed levels – or even to increase them.
• Expand impact outside Alexandria : Haiti Micah, Honduras,
and Tanzania.
• Provide increased scholarship support for youth and adult
mission trips.
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Pastoral Care
The Pastoral Care program seeks for all of us to “love one another as I
have loved you.” Using our time, talents, and treasures to reach out to
parishioners and friends with needs and ease their concerns with our
support and caring.
•Stephen Ministry - Training for lay people to provide caring support
to individuals in crisis or transition in life.
•Flowers from the Altar – Taken weekly to those hospitalized or
homebound.
•Card Ministry - Sent to fellow parishioners who need
encouragement, prayers, or congratulations.
•Care Packages - Sent to college or boarding-school students and
those serving in the military or abroad.
•Parishioner Care - Rides to a doctor’s appointment or church, a visit
to someone who lives alone, meals for someone recovering from
surgery or with a new baby, or longer-term help.
•St. Francis Garden Pet Cemetery – burial of cremated remains of pets
•Grief Share - 13-week program to assist those through the grieving
process.
In the coming year, through the growth of our Stephen Ministries
program and other areas, we would like to be able to increase the
number of Grace Church parishioners we care for on a day-to-day
basis.
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Twenties & Thirties (TNT)
•
TNT provides an opportunity for young adults (those in their 20s
and 30s) to interact with their peers within the parish and the
broader church -- and to grow spiritually and intellectually.
There is a large young adult population in the
Arlington/Alexandria area, and Grace's TNT would like to
grow into a group that can be meaningful in their lives -- and
be their entrée into the Episcopal Church.
•
Our TNT group is currently small, but no group is riper for
evangelism than young adults. Grace TNT views its mission as
one of attracting young people into the church. With additional
resources we can make a concerted effort to expand the reach of
our existing activities -- including weekly bible study and
regular social events like happy hours and Chili Bowl -- outside
the church's walls and into the Arlington/Alexandria community.
•
A larger group could sustain more activities of interest to young
adults -- like career or networking events, mentorship programs
(with TNTers serving as both mentors to younger people and
mentees to more established folks) and community service efforts.
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Fellowship
The Fellowship Program and Committee provide the support
for the many receptions, dinners, coffee hours, meeting
refreshments, and other events that help our Grace community
grow in faith, friendship, and support, in times of joy and
sorrow, throughout the church year. The kitchen is the meeting
and preparation place for so many programs in Outreach,
Youth ministries, and Altar Guild.
Over the years, the kitchen has undergone several small
additions and renovations, but with the growth of the parish
and its various programs,the demands on this space have
increased significantly. To keep pace with these demands, and
to support our community focus on environmentally friendly
and healthy practices, several efforts merit consideration,
including:
 Upgraded stove, ovens and refrigeration;
 More efficient and hygienic work space;
 Flexible storage and gradual elimination of consumable paper
and plastic products in favor of washable dishes, etc.; and
 A complete inventory of kitchen equipment and
reception/event supplies, with the purchase of supplemental
supplies as necessary.
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Stewardship of the Environment
Grace's Environmental Committee was formed in response to the
Episcopal Church’s Genesis Covenant, which commits our national
religious community to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by a
minimum of 50 percent within ten years. The committee strives to
identify ways to reduce energy and water consumption and has
worked with the day school and Junior Warden to implement
projects and track their impact on the facility’s utility bills.
 New energy efficient windows were installed throughout
Merrow Hall using funds provided from the Grace Anew
Capital Campaign.
 The committee invested significant time and energy in
development of a plan to install solar power panels on the
roof of Merrow Hall, but roof structural limitations
prevented carrying through on this project.
 Plans for upgrading the church's lighting system are under
consideration, thanks in part to an energy audit conducted
by the school.
 A workshop presented by the City of Alexandria is being
hosted to inform and involve other churches in the area on
environmental issues.
 A parish vegetable garden has been established to provide
fresh produce for the Food Pantry.
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Stewardship of Our Physical Plant
and Infrastructure
The Junior Warden’s budget includes utilities (gas, electric, water, telephone, cable,
waste removal), housekeeping, grounds maintenance, security and routine
maintenance; a small reserve for unprogrammed repairs or replacement of minor
systems; and major repairs and replacement of major systems nearing end of their
service life or major system/infrastructure upgrades largely dependent upon
emergency funding from parish reserves or from funds raised for major capital
improvements (e.g. Grace Anew, 1992 Building Fund).
The 2010 Vestry established the Property Committee to look beyond the current budget year to
assess needs, alternatives and recommendations for near, mid, and long term; and identify
capital repair/replacement needs exceeding annual JW budget.
The 2011 Vestry created a Capital Improvement account in Parish 2012 budget to prepare for
major refurbishment and replacements expected over the next decade.
2013 Physical plant and infrastructure budget needs include:
•
A modest increase to the budget for annual maintenance/repair; and
•
Sustained commitment to growing the Capital Improvement Reserve.
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The Bottom Line
• The Grace Church parish budget for 2013 will not be
determined until the 2012 Pledge Campaign is completed
and the results are known.
• Our goal this year is that ALL parish families and individual
households will make a financial pledge to support Grace
Church mission and ministry in 2013.
Give Generously and Sacrificially!
Grace Church Ministry and Mission
Depend Upon You!
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Share God’s Gifts
And In
All Things Give Thanks!
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