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My dear Saint Markans,
I have heard from a number of you in response to my email last week detailing some of our staffing opportunities and challenges. Some of you were surprised at the level of directness and transparency in my communication. Others shared concerns about the need to maintain a balanced budget. Still others were excited at my invitation to support our staff more directly and compassionately. I hear your concerns, your relief, and your surprise. Wherever you find yourself along this spectrum, I welcome your feedback, and I’d love to explore with you how you can contribute to the flourishing of our common life.
If we are to rebuild our foundations, we absolutely must address our financial position. Thanks to wise stewards including, but not limited to, our Finance Chair Jacob Buchen, our current and former Treasurers Janet Balej and Brian Myers, and the Vestries of the last several years, we are in a stable financial position. That is good news. The challenge is that, as regards our finances, we don’t have any room to maneuver. Our income almost exactly meets our expenses.
There are no silver bullets to address this situation. We know that we must raise revenue and continue to keep our expenses to a reasonable level while paying off the debt we have accrued in the last several years. We also know that the Holy Spirit is calling us to grow in love of one another and our neighbor, and that to do so effectively we will need to hire more staff, expand our outreach and other ministries, and address ongoing equity issues.
That may sound like an impossible situation. The Good News is that with God nothing is impossible. At my last parish we saw an increase in pledging, a growth in membership, and a tripling of our financial resources over four years. While we made strategic decisions about our financial life and began to think creatively about the resources available to us, those changes rested primarily on a reinvigoration of the life of the Spirit within and among us. When we are living out our authentic identity in Christ, we will give enthusiastically, because we will be excited about what our community is up to. Others will be drawn to our enthusiasm and our authenticity, will join our community, and will also give. And outside funders will likewise want to support the good work in which we are engaged. Christian mission and identity should drive our budget.
If we are to flourish, we must also all contribute financially to the life of this community to a level that might be uncomfortable for us. We need to cultivate an understanding of stewardship that is sacrificial. Giving should cost us, and not only financially. When we recognize and accept the costs of giving to our community, stewardship becomes a spiritual practice rooted in gratitude and expressed in sacrifice. After all, this is exactly how God loves us.
None of these spiritual underpinnings obviate the need for sound financial practices. The Vestry and I are exploring possibilities to lower expenses and raise revenue in both the short and long term. As we do so, we may dream up some radically new possibilities. We don’t know the kinds of creative and challenging opportunities to which God may invite us in reimagining our financial life. After all, God’s dream for us is nothing less than the total freedom to lay down our lives in love. That’s pretty radical. If we are to live into that vision, we must be willing to let go of what no longer serves us and to step boldly into God’s future.
I do not know the particulars that future holds, but I do trust that if God is calling us, God will also be faithful to us. I encourage you to trust God, to dream with me, and to give thanks for all who have sustained the life of this community in generations past and all who continue to do so today.
Your brother in Christ,
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