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:

Appendix A, FC.710 Ministry in Context

I am about to send in my final project for my first DMin course, FC.710 Ministry in Context, from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. There are a few online resources that might make this paper more interesting to read for someone who hasn't visited Gambier, so I am listing them here and putting a link in my paper.

Acclimating to Life on the Hill
Here is an interactive map of Kenyon College. Both the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Parish House are listed.

KCpedia has a wealth of interesting information about the Church of the Holy Spirit (although its information under the listing of Harcourt Parish is only somewhat accurate.)

Here is a link to the Harcourt Parish website, a link to our Homestay@Kenyon program, and a link to our Facebook page which includes photos of recent events.

I hope these links help you readers imagine life in Gambier, Ohio.

Time With God

So many people have feelings of inadequacy or guilt around their own prayer lives. For a majority of these folks, the inadequacy is not from themselves but rather from the people who taught them about prayer.
If you believe that prayer is either formal words addressed to God or silence listening for God, your understanding of prayer is so small that it is difficult to keep up a full prayer life. But prayer, more fully understood, is simply time spent with God. That time might be spent gardening or running or talking with a friend or making dinner. Prayer includes inviting God into whatever is going on in your life, and noticing God in the midst of your day.
These days of early spring, God is so clearly present in the quality of light in the mornings. God is present in the buds and flowers beginning to burst forth. God is in the noises of spring--from robins to peepers to turkeys and bats. And it is my prayer, and God's joy, when I notice these things.
This morning creating was singing forth God's beauty and so I took the long way to work on my bike. I got in an hour of prayer before I even set foot in the chapel.

When we are aware, we are at prayer. Thanks be to God.

A Nazarene, A Baptist, A Methodist, and An Episcopalian Walk Into A Bar

OK, so we didn't walk into a bar. We actually were the panelists for a forum on alcohol usage put on by Mount Vernon Nazarene University last night. Each of the four of us church leaders were chosen to give four different points of view on alcohol usage by faithful Christians. We panelist respected and enjoyed one another, and the students seemed engaged.

It was nice to have four different panelists, but for the most part we fell into two camps. All four of us agreed that although there are many biblical injunctions against drunkenness, there really is no biblical injunction against drinking alcohol. The Nazarene and Baptist ministers went on to explain their denomination's social choice to abstain from alcohol. UMC pastor Rod Buchanan and I talked about how alcohol could be a part of a faithful Christian's life.

Going into the chapel that evening, I was nervous about being put on the spot, about being judged, or about sticking my foot in my mouth. But none of that happened. The only even slight disagreement we panelists had was at the very end of our time together. MVNU students and staff sign a policy that they will not be in the presence of alcohol. Their chaplain explained the policy by saying he hoped his sons would never be the designated driver at a kegger. I responded from my own experience of being the designated driver in high school and much of college, and how I always make sure there is a designated driver when drinking is involved. I said that for me, being a designated driver was a form of ministry and that I hope my boys will be designated drivers regularly. The Nazarene minister respected my view, and said that if a friend called his son in need of a safe ride home, he hoped his son would drive the friend. But he restated his hope that his children will not expose themselves to any situations where they would need to be designated drivers.

I think the students enjoyed hearing a diversity of views from faithful Christians on the subject of alcohol usage. And I enjoyed being part of the panel. I would love to be part of a regular series that might include environmental concerns, premarital sex, homosexuality, and a variety of other topics on which faithful Christians differ in our understanding and belief.

I was charmed to see that one of the students tweeted a quote from me as I tried to explain what alcohol usage is like in our home, "Alcohol is just like peanut butter. We have it in the house, I try not to eat too much of it, but it is very good."

Liturgical Evangelism: Ashes to Go

This year Harcourt Parish decided to engage in some "Liturgical Evangelism" on Ash Wednesday. I (in my chasuble) and 2-3 lay folks opened the church doors and stood out on Kenyon's Middle Path in between classes around 10, 11, 12, 2, and 3 today. My hope was that we would talk to or give ashes to 20 people. The reality was much better! About 50 people came and asked for ashes and we spoke to about 50 other people. That's 100 people we had contact with on Middle Path today!

I thought Ashes to Go might impact the attendance at our services at 12:10, 5pm and 5:30. It did--but in a surprising way. Our noon service grew by 50% from last year, and our evening services held steady.

I believe Liturgical Evangelism is the way to go for the Episcopal church. Liturgy is something we do really well. It's something that most Episcopalians are comfortable with.
Ashes to Go was a great success. I'd love to come up with some other easy Liturgical Evangelism to do throughout the year.

Lenten Blessings!

A Busy Epiphany

During the last month one of the things that has been taking much of my time and thought is our parish's 2012 deficit budget. Our deficit is quite significant--one that can't be covered simply asking folks to increase their pledge.
The vestry, wardens, and I have been working diligently to create new fundraisers which may balance our budget. Our only other option would be to make cuts which would change our parish to the core.

Harcourt Parish HomeStay
Our first plan is to follow in the footsteps of Christ Church, Oberlin and begin a HomeStay program. Senior Warden Richard met with the Oberlin coordinator in early January and has provided strong leadership for this project. We have asked parishioners to offer rooms for rent to Kenyon visitors in exchange for a donation to the church. This program has been well-received and we are hopeful it will put a significant dent in our budget shortfall.

Spring Break Meals
Another major fundraiser the vestry has taken on is to provide lunches and dinners for the Swim Team during the two weeks of Kenyon's Spring Break. Because of this, I have had to cancel my participation in the Spring Break Service Trip to St. Louis so that I will be available to do a large portion of the organizing, cooking, and cleaning.
Our Junior Warden, Toma, has and will spend countless hours planning, shopping, prepping, recruiting, cooking, and cleaning. She and I are doing all we can, and there is still a need for many more hands.
In preparing for these meals, we have spoken with two different caterers who have done this in the past, and they both talked about the intensity and exhaustion involved. The parish has the opportunity to put a significant dent into our deficit. I hope that we find the intensity and exhaustion worth the price.

Other Ideas
Even these two significant fundraisers will not balance our budget this year. We also need to consider other fundraisers like our Camp Care Packages we have done in previous summers. Several things we are considering are a silent auction, wine tastings, and special fundraising dinners.
Overall, our parish is moving toward a more healthy financial future. Instead of relying on one or two major donors for 10% or more of our budget, we are transitioning to a parish where we all give both money and time to the budget of the parish. We're great at giving our time and money to outreach projects--we just need to turn part of that effort to keep up the institution that makes the outreach possible.

Tech-Free Friday Sabbaths

It's Thursday night, which means I'm getting in my last bit of computer time for the next 24-36 hours. Those of you who know me will remember that when I returned from Sabbatical last fall, I planned on taking my Fridays as "Tech-Free Sabbaths". I'm happy to report that they've stuck.

It took a while for me to understand the difference between the grace of tech-free sabbath and the law of tech-free sabbath. In the beginning, I was anxiously full of questions. Could I take a phone call? Could I make a phone call? Could I check the weather forecast on the computer? Could I watch a show with my family? After several weeks of this, I realized that I was getting so caught up in following the law of the sabbath that I was missing out on true sabbath. So I relaxed and did what made sense, what feels authentic, what seems faith-full.
So I do continue to use the grocery list on my iPhone. And I do check in for my airline flights. And I pick up calls from my kids' schools.
But I don't check or send e-mails. And I don't work on my sermon. And I don't shop or waste time with all the technology around me.

My Friday Sabbaths also include doing things in expansive time instead of in a hurry. Each Friday, I try to see my mom at the nursing home and have a long visit--not rushing off to get anywhere. I now normally do our week's grocery shopping on my sabbath and it is no longer a "chore" but it has become an act of loving service which I do for our family. I also plan our meals for the week and mix up a batch of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day which we'll use throughout the week. I take my kid to preschool. I'm home when the other one gets off the bus. I'm around for them to have fun with. And I thank God for all of it.

Sabbath blessings to you.