It is no secret that Grace Episcopal Church is in financial trouble. No secret to anyone willing to listen, that is. It seems that the Treasurer's bombshell--at least it was a bombshell to a number of folks in the parish--brought a few people up short. We're using half of our remaining endowment to balance this year's budget? Welcome to the real world, fellow members of Grace Episcopal Church!
Then started the questions and comments. How do we get more people to join and increase our pledges? You can't expect the current members to give more. Why aren't the groups for which we provide space paying more rent? If it costs that much money per week to keep the building open, they aren't paying their fair share.
Finally, I spoke up. I told about my experience of visiting another parish, signing the guest book, and receiving a box of pledge envelopes the Wednesday after my visit. I said that increasing membership in order to increase pledges is looking at the problem the wrong way around. I pointed out that Grace has always viewed itself as a congregation doing outreach to the community, and that the other congregations worshipping in the building have been part of that outreach. I continued that if we start to treat the parish as a business rather than a church, then we risk ceasing to be a Christian community. Finally, I pointed out that given the fact that we were using more than $280,000 from our endowment to balance the budget, we as a parish are not paying our fair share of the operating expenses either.
What they heard was me calling them unchristian.
At that point I said nothing more. Others in the congregation spoke up to tell them I had not called them unchristian. Nor had anyone asked them to give any more financially. Lois reminded the congregation that there have been ample opportunities for them to discuss the parish's uncertain future--the meagerly attended cottage meetings being one attempt by the leadership to engage everyone in the conversation.
I continued to be the recipient of dirty looks for the rest of the meeting and as the meeting broke up.
I am not going to apologize for being the truth teller. Nor am I going to apologize for having a vision of church, of Christian community, that is larger than what many at Grace Episcopal Church can see. Nor for being angry about the way so many have worn blinders for so long when it comes to the financial situation of the parish.
It becomes clearer with each passing day that many members of the parish still think in terms of church the way it was in the 1950s and 60s. Church will never be that way again. The more I see and read, the more I believe that Phyllis Tickle has it right. We are in the midst of a great upheaval in Christianity.
In the meantime, I will pray the prayer Lois now uses on every piece of parish communication:
What is God calling us to do in this place?And pray that other members of the parish will do the same and seriously listen.
Peace,
Jeff
It is never easy to tell the emperor he has no clothes. More to the point, it is not pleasant for the emperor to hear that, believing he is splendidly apparrelled, he is actually buck naked.
ReplyDeleteYou did right. Newlin also pointed out to me again last night that the congregation itself isn't paying, in fact isn't able to pay, their share of the hourly expense of keeping the building open.
I realized Sunday, after that meeting, that closing is what is going to happen. Barring a miracle, which would not be good for the souls of the people, there is no way to make up well over $200,000 in annual deficit.
I have a new take on the parable of the wiley steward, the one whose response to the landlord was to go to people and cut their bills in half. This parable could apply to Grace, if they would now, in response to this death sentence over their church, embrace the people who share the building with them.
The wiley steward said to himself that he would do this so he would be welcomed into people's homes when he was dismissed, and at the least, this is why Grace's people should embrace their neighbors now. But in the end, it could very well transform their souls, as maybe the wiley steward's soul was transformed by walking among the people for whom he had previously been the repo man.
Yesterday I reframed what we are doing with Mission Congregation and 8:00 Service. Grace doesn't have enough money left for those services to become the thriving new congregation rich enough in money to keep that building open. But continuing to worship, study, pray and work as we do there, we are building hope in ourselves for the life we will lead after the church closes.
You did good, Jeff. Don't apologize.
Not planning on apologizing!! Visioning, yes. Apologizing, no.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's time to start thinking more seriously about my Storefront Ministries ideas...