Happy Easter to all!

What a rich Lent and Holy Week we had at the Fig, followed by our glorious Easter services. When you come year after year, you start to think it just happens – a little bit of angel magic. The reality is there are more people than can be named who give of their time and talent to help these services come to fruition and be done to the glory of God. The Vestry sends out our gratitude to clergy, staff, facilities staff, music, altar, flower and liturgical ministries for all their hard work and dedication. And those are just the bigger groups!

We also give a hearty thank you to all our parishioners and visitors who gave so generously at Easter. We will be able to send nearly $18,000 to two ministries that are truly deserving and will use your gifts to help those in need.

Your Vestry has remained hard at work this past month, brainstorming ways to begin work on the goals we have set forth, and hope to accomplish in five years. This has been accompanied by the realization that our desire for completion in five years may be just a bit too ambitious in a few areas, but the rest are being time lined for approach, steps and strategy.

Here is an update on the work of Vestry committees this month:

BGT (Building, Grounds and Technology): They continue the work of last year to create an Emergency Response plan for our campus. The goal is completion by June and presentation to the Parish Council, so these parish leaders may take the information back to their individual ministries. This plan will cover emergencies involving fire, tornado, water, hostile situations and evacuation routes, locations of safe spaces and appropriate responses. Plans will be in place around the campus in case of need. They have also approved the process to obtain bids for creation of a master plan for the campus. The master plan impacts many of our strategic goals, and is the linchpin in proceeding in a knowledgeable fashion.

M/M (Mission and Ministry): They continue work with the Altar Guild to create an inventory of our holy objects and art. They are figuring out the best ways to conduct a survey on facility usage – which will tie in with the master plan. An ad hoc committee has been formed to tackle the area of newcomer welcome and integration.

BFA (Budget, Finance and Administration): This committee is preparing to meet in early June to work on the forecasted 2018 budget, and also looking at ways to forecast budgets for the next two years. Obviously this is complicated by not knowing how pledging will go each year. But looking at the expense side helps immensely in planning staff transitions. They are also working in depth to reconfigure how we elect our church leaders. Much more on this will be forthcoming. But it is apparent that the church has need of specific talents and skill as we steward our large campus and nearly 2 million budget. The days of having just anyone be on a committee or the Vestry, whether they have much to contribute or not, is not helpful nor strategic. Our parish has a wealth of talent and we would like to nurture these people we need along a defined path, exposing these individuals to the running of the church through committees and then onto Vestry. Don’t start emailing your wardens yet to complain -The parish will still have input into who leads. Stay tuned for more information on this next month.

Our hardworking staff has partnered with the Vestry to find ways to reduce expenses for the year. One big initiative is to reduce mailings. Towards this goal, our lovely Illumine magazine, which is produced quarterly, will mostly be electronic. Fewer print copies will be made, which can be done in house at a lesser fee. And mailing costs will be slashed by asking those who desire print to pick their copy up at the welcome desk.

We are also launching a membership survey in two weeks. As I mentioned last month, our Vestry calls showed us our member rolls are not accurate. Not having accurate information means mailing to those no longer here, and missing those who have changed addresses but have forgotten to notify the church. It is hard to know how Stewardship goes if we don’t know the number of families we have. We also would like to know your background- if you are in the finance field, for example, maybe you would be a person to invite to be on the budget committee. And you can also opt in or out of paper mailings. So this will be happening soon, with of course more information to come in the bulletins and Friday emails.

Shea Gilliland, our new Curate, will be arriving first of June, and soon you will see notices to help with the welcome for his family. We extend a huge note of thanks to St Hilda’s and EMF for helping to underwrite part of his moving expenses. Chris Thomas, our fearless administrator, will also be leaving the end of May . He will begin his clinical chaplaincy for the summer, with a much hoped- for ordination in the fall. We are very sad to see him go, but thrilled that he is close to ordination. So, bear with the parish office when you call or need help- lots of new people will be here, still finding their way and learning names and roles.

You might be wondering how our first month of sharing at the Vestry meeting our Enthusiastic Episcopal Evangelists (EEE) moments went – not too bad. Like all spiritual disciplines it just takes practice and awareness to be alive to the moments when you can share the good news of Christ by word and example. Your Vestry is working hard to be good stewards of the plant and your money, but also working to be better Disciples of Christ. All are welcome to attend any Vestry meeting and see how we are blending these pursuits.