Remarking on my previous post regarding the recognition of Holy Family Episcopal Church as a parish, a reader observed that the resolution does in fact call for concrete action. Reclassifying a church from a mission to a parish may not be a difficult action, but it is a real action.
She's right, of course. Not all things worth doing are difficult, and we should be grateful for those easy things we can do that make a difference.
Furthermore, it occurs to me that being a parish rather than a mission does have budget implications, and positive ones at that. Because it means that Holy Family has grown to a point in numbers and in developing a culture of financial stewardship that it can support itself and offer material and spiritual gifts to the wider church and community.
So I'm re-scoring the resolution:
- Is the resolution likely to pass unanimously? Of course. -1
- Does the resolution call for someone in the church to do something concrete? No. +1
- Might the resolution call for the person who proposed it to do something concrete? No. +1
- Does the resolution contain an escape hatch? No. +1
- If the resolution calls for an allocation from the diocesan budget, is it clear how the funding would happen? It passes on questions 2, 3, and 4, AND requires no additional budget allocation, so +2
Final score: a very respectable 4. I'm still allocating 2 bonus points because this is such good news it deserves to get the maximum possible score of 6.
Hi Brendan! As vicar, soon to be rector, of a congregation about to petition for parish status in the Diocese of Arizona, I would say it does call for concrete action on our part! And we're part of the church, so I think we get points for questions 2 AND 3. We performed many concrete actions in the past to get where we are - evangelism, community outreach, solid ministries in many areas - and we are committing to continued solid ministry in the future. And most of all, this is a financial and stewardship commitment on our part. We are committing to being and remaining fully self-supporting and paying full diocesan assessment, now and permanently. We are becoming a separate legal entity that cannot ever expect any kind of diocesan bailout (not without reverting to mission status). It's more than a change in name. It's a major step of faith. Give Holy Family a +10 and a rousing standing ovation!
ReplyDeleteSusan+ - Congratulations and blessings as your parish takes this big step. Such wonderful news!
ReplyDeleteHoly Family deserves much more recognition than I've been able to give it here. It's in a far-flung suburb of Indianapolis, far enough out that I've never been there. But we have a candidate for the diaconate in our parish who did her shadowing/intern work there and kept us at All Saints apprised of the wonderful work they do. Most recently that includes the youth of their parish stepping up to do a big publicity and fundraising project for the shelter for homeless families that sits next door to my church. A wonderful example of churches in our diocese working together. +10 it is!