Dear Friends,
I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the summer months despite the heat. As Senior Warden, I am writing to offer a mid-year report on three issues your Vestry, clergy, and other parish leaders have been working on during the first half of 2021. Perhaps something I outline here will call you to respond. That would be wonderful.
It goes without saying that our parish, like others in the diocese, was slowly moving out of COVID restrictions and into new forms of regathering until the “delta variant” raised new concerns and the potential for pausing our various re-gatherings. As we move forward, however tentatively, many wonder what God is calling us to do and to be. Such is the larger context for many Vestry and clergy discussions and decisions. We are in a “liminal space” –somewhere between where we were in more settled times and where we will be in a year or so from now.
Within this period of uncertainty, I ask for your continued patience and willingness to stay together as a community. We may hold different views about how to deal with the challenges at hand, but we stand together as members of our beloved parish. I ask that we support one another as individuals knowing that with God’s help we will move through this uncertain time as one body in Christ committed to the work we are called to do.
My updates follow:
Personnel
One area of significant transition has been personnel. For nearly 20 years, Jan Sanders was our parish administrator. Jan left St. Martin’s in March and since that time Pamela, with support from the Vestry, has been considering how to configure the administrative staff despite a budget that is $30,000 lower than it was a year ago. New technologies and systems have created efficiencies and consequently require a rethinking of staffing needs.
Going forward we imagine a half-time operations manager and a part-time communications and technology person. We have been blessed by the willingness of our LEVN intern, Natalie Klopfenstein, to step in and assume many of the administrative responsibilities. Natalie is a caring, smart, efficient person and a valued member of our office team. We are fortunate to be able to continue Natalie’s employment into the future. This is very good news.
We have also been fortunate to be able to rely on Gabe Avila’s technical skills, organization abilities, and “can do” attitude, especially when we were doing nearly everything virtually. Gabe has made enormous contributions to our entire operation as a parish. Our Sunday services, as well as our various ministry and business meetings, are technically first rate. Since the recent break-in and with the loss of equipment, Gabe has carefully researched how we can best keep our church and technical equipment secure. He will report to the Vestry on August 8. We are blessed by both Natalie and Gabe.
I would be remiss not to acknowledge the enormous contributions of Janet Lane and Bob Holm who stepped up often during this transition period to cover the office and keep systems working. We are blessed by their willingness to serve our parish in so many ways. Thank you, both.
A second area of personnel transition relates to the curate position, previously held by the Rev. Alex Leach+. Even in his short tenure, Alex became a mainstay in guiding and supporting our youth formation ministries and in presiding and preaching at our Sunday services. He was also a trusted and valued member of our clergy team. Pamela, in consultation with the Vestry. is working with the diocese to secure the services of another curate. As of this date, there has been no decision.
Charitable Giving
Through the generosity of our parishioners, St. Martin’s Church maintains a robust commitment to charitable giving. Many consider this commitment part of our DNA: “It’s who we are and what we do.” The charitable giving program at St. Martin’s is multi-faceted, serving people in need through non-profit organizations inside and outside our community. One cornerstone program is the Matthew 25 Grant Program, which has been in place for nearly three decades, administered during this period by the Social Justice and Outreach Committee (SJO).
For the past couple of years, the Vestry has engaged members of SJO in discussions about the administration of the Matthew 25 grants. The focus of these discussions has been on patterns and levels of giving, criteria for selecting grantees, and ways of adapting the grant program to evolving and emerging needs (e.g., the pandemic, fires).
This April, the Vestry decided not solicit grant proposals for the 2021 funds and to instead distribute the funds using a different approach. This year’s funds will be allocated using a model that has been successfully employed for our 2020 Christmas and 2021 Eastertide Special Plates. Three people – one from the parish at-large, one from SJO and one from Vestry–will discern which organizations best meet the Vestry’s priorities and guidelines for giving in 2021. They will identify and evaluate organizations regarding clientele, their record of service, current need/s and financial status. The committee will then recommend to Vestry those organizations they believe should receive the available funds and provide a record of their deliberations.
The more streamlined approach above will provide time and space for the Vestry, SJO members, and interested parishioners to reassess our mission, goals, and processes for charitable giving beyond 2021. During the third quarter of this year the Vestry will convene a task force broadly representative of the St. Martin’s community to discern how Matthew 25 and the Linda Frost funds should be distributed in future years. A grants-based program is one way, but the group will be asked to examine and assess alternative models of charitable giving.
As with personnel, we trust that God and the Holy Spirit will guide us in this process.
Budget
We are blessed to be in overall good shape with respect to our 2021 budget. Our treasurer, Julie Knudson, reports that our financial pledges are on target, or even slightly above projections, and that we are able to meet our financial obligations. Fortunately, several of the expense categories are a bit lower than projected. Thank you, everyone, for your generosity and trust.
Yet, even with this overall good news, we cannot lose track of the fact that our 2021 revenue was down by from a year ago. This resulted in several tough decisions and reductions in key budget categories (e.g., personnel, capital replacement reserves).
The Vestry’s Stewardship Committee will gather for the first time in August to discern our goals and overall plan for our 2022 stewardship campaign. As you are aware, this campaign is a foundational element of the budget development process for our parish. In part, who we are and what we are able to do as a parish depends in no small measure on our financial resources and our ability to encourage generosity from every member of our community.
The Vestry is seeking one or two additional members of the parish to serve on the Stewardship Committee, along with two members of the Vestry who have already been identified. The committee is chaired by Josy Miller, who served most recently as Co-Senior Warden. Service on this committee will involve a good deal of thought and discernment about how to construct a stewardship campaign that both acknowledges certain built-in financial obligations for 2022 and imagines the possibilities for our beloved church in a time of uncertainty and new possibilities.
In closing, I want to thank all of you who have given so much of your heart, time, and financial resources to St. Martin’s during such a difficult year. The uncertainties of the present are, in my view, balanced by a realm of new possibilities and opportunities to serve God and God’s people.
In peace,
Bob Polkinghorn
Senior Warden
