Buildings for Tomorrow Symposium

Earlier this week, our senior warden, a vestry member and I attended a symposium from the Episcopal Church Building Fund. Since the reality is we currently have more buildings than we need in the Episcopal Church, they are broadening their mission. This symposium was about creative ways to find new uses for our buildings and new income streams for our parishes. Our congregation, like many others, is currently wrestling with a budget deficit and the three of us found this symposium to be energizing and helped spark some creative ideas. Here are a few of my favorite things:

Diocese of Massachusetts
The Diocese of Massachusetts gave a wonderful talk and shared their resources about church merging and closing. They have had a number of church closings/mergings and will continue to do so for a while. Their diocese has done much work in this area and were willing to share what they have learned. You can see information they have developed about Vitality, Viability, and Mutuality here. Good stuff!

Diocese of Iowa
Last year the Diocese of Iowa was part of a coaching program with ECBF. The diocese invited congregations to take part in this "Recasting of Building Assets" program. Twenty congregations were interested, four were chosen to participate, and three have had success using the process. It was a delight to listen to the stories of these parishes transformed. One parish began selling toffee to bridge the gap in its budget. Another is working on gourmet dog treats. But more than simply hearing what they were doing, we could hear and see the life and vitality in these people. We could feel how energized they were from being a part of new life in the church.
It was also affirming to be in this workshop because the process these churches went through is very similar to what we are currently doing here at Harcourt Parish as we consider our assets, our strengths, and our calling.

You're Never Far From Home
This symposium was at the Maritime Institute in Baltimore. As we were walking to a workshop, we were surprised to notice a photo of Old Kenyon on the wall. We had to stop and take our picture by the memorial to the SS Kenyon Victory: