The 2025 Vestry Retreat is in the books, and your new Vestry is energized for a big year ahead!
With so much of 2024 focused on the maintenance of the church, the Vestry and staff of Transfiguration are ready to commit to a time of growth. We know everyone is excited to enjoy all the renovations to the inside and the outside of the church. It’s time to get beyond the walls in 2025 and turn our focus outward, seeking and serving Christ in our greater community. We are called to remember to serve our neighbors before ourselves, and neighbors are everyone.
Vestries spend many hours working and meeting together in service of the parish, so we began our retreat on Friday night by getting to know each other better. We engaged in vulnerable conversations about what excites us, what irks us, and what scares as members of Transfiguration and as Christians trying to do all the good we can. Father Shobe led us to study a story of Jesus setting off in a boat with the apostles and arriving to crowds awaiting on the farther shore (Mark 6:30-34). We were challenged to remember to take respite with Christ in that boat, enjoying the peace and solitude of the water, and to have great compassion for those who need us, just like Jesus.
We ended the evening in the Holy Cross Chapel, with one of the first worship events in the new space. It was emotional to sing, read the Word, and pray in our holy space once again. Singing sounds amazing in there!
On Saturday, for the meat of our retreat, we enjoyed wonderful hospitality at the Bridwell Library at SMU. We dove deeply into our plans for growing the church, recognizing that this is more than a short-term goal, but something we want to pursue for years to come. Senior Warden Mike Mignardi led us in a recap of the last decade of Vestry goals, and we used them as a springboard to set our work for 2025.
We expect to grow, yes, in terms of stewardship and attendance (the fancy studies call it “ASA”), but also in outreach and connections beyond the church. The Vestry and staff know that Transfiguration returns the effort we put into it ten-fold, which is why want to draw the whole congregation into ministry and service. We want to get everyone plugged into the vibrant life of the parish by helping them find a ministry to support. Our goal is to build a community where everyone feels a sense of ownership and contributes to our shared mission. Our faith is one of action, and interaction, with one another.
On Saturday afternoon, Anthony Elia, the library’s director and a friend of Transfiguration, opened the rare book collection for us. We also got to explore a Bible written in pure gold as well as some artistic expressions of book and paper making. SMU is committed to honoring the tradition of printing and in innovating the art of paper making.
After that, we moved to one of the highlights of the retreat every year, when we take time to pray for and with one other person. This year, each member of the Vestry was paired with a member of the staff, helping grow bonds of friendship and love in our leadership.
Sunday’s work began with a tour of the Parish Episcopal School’s Midway Campus, a beautiful facility we should be very proud to support. We were delighted to see – and sit on! – the Fig’s former pews in the school’s chapel, where we celebrated the Eucharist together.
Our Sunday session refined our brainstorming into goals for the upcoming year. The Vestry, among several other items, commits to collaborating with Parish Council to expand our witness into the communities, beyond our walls, and to fomenting our welcoming ministry to integrate newcomers within their first 60 days on a sustainable basis with particular focus on families with children.
As members of Transfiguration, you get it. You feel it: there is an energy, a warmth in our church brought through unyielding dedication to a welcoming, inclusive community committed to following the Gospel as though Jesus really meant it! I hope that you will seek out your Vestry this year and give us your ideas on how we can fulfill our Great Commission of Growth, living out our faith, with God’s help.
Michael Durrance