Rector's Annual Report 2010 - Christ Church

   The Rector’s Annual Report, 2010
                                                      Have Love, Make Peace

     Some years ago on a visit to London, I worshiped at St. James, Piccadilly. There was a capital campaign underway, but it was clear that the renovations going on were not only physical but spiritual as well. They were re-thinking their mission from top to bottom in a dialogue between their storied past and a complex future they were trying to discern. A banner which hung over the entrance defined what they hoped this dialogue would accomplish: It said:  “A vision without task is a dream; A task without vision is drudgery; A vision and a task is the hope of the world.”
    As I report to you, I ask you to keep this mission “formula” in mind. We’re not here right now to dig deeply into it but at least to begin thinking together about what this formula has meant and might mean for Christ Church. I don’t have a brand new, grand vision for what we are called to as a community, but I do see some things differently than I did last May, and that perspective effects my sense both of what tasks are most urgent and which ones are always important.
    A couple of weeks ago when I began working on this report, a question kept popping into my head: during the past year, have we been “successful” as a church? Is that even a valid question to ask? Isn’t “faithfulness” a more appropriate question to ask? Or perhaps prayerfulness? Probably yes on both counts, but I haven’t been able to banish the “success” question. We are a culture which ascribes value and worth based on some definition or other of success. We all want to be “successful” and to be part of successful groups, teams, and organizations. Just think back to the evening of February 7!
In some areas of life, success is pretty easy to measure: did the company make a profit last year? Was a new market developed or a popular new product introduced? Who won the Super Bowl? The World Series? Was a dividend returned to shareholders? All of which is to say that the meaning or measure of any institution’s success is bound up with its purpose, with why it exists. If it does what it was created to do, then that is success and, if not, that is falling short or even failure. So as Christ Church, when we report to the Diocese or each other or the world, how should we describe “success”?
First and most obvious, we can talk about the things that make up our parochial report, mostly quantitative things like income and expenditures, attendance, number of services and the like. These are not inconsequential, and happily our numbers for 2009 represent growth from 2008, and so far 2010 is growing as well.
1. Our overall membership has not changed materially in the past year, but we are up 10% in communicants. We are currently 1500+ members, 700 communicants-in-good standing, and 550 families. Communicants under 16 are up 24% and non-Episcopalian, regular worshipers are up 10%. Baptisms and Confirmations are 50% higher than last year, and we will present 14 adults to Bishop Brown next Sunday. Sunday school registration is not materially higher but regular attendance is up between 10 and 15%.
2. On the financial side, 2009 pledges were 5% higher than 2008 and 2010 pledges, to date, are 9% higher than 2009 -- the economy notwithstanding. And you are paying your pledges! Thank you! Please don’t forget us over the summer. In addition, regular non-pledge giving has increased significantly and held steady through April, which is when cash flow gets tight. Thank you for that. If we sustain these giving levels through this year, our 2010 income will be 10-15% over 2009 -- a proud accomplishment at this time in our country’s economic life. We are undertaking a full, independent audit this year. It is costly but absolutely necessary in a church, through which almost $900,000 moves annually. Our number of pledges in 2010 is up 15% from 2009, and the pledged amount has increased by 13.5%. All in all, I’m proud of us.
3. With respect to worship, our average Sunday attendance rose 10% from 2008 to 2009 to about 320 per Sunday but has not increased this spring beyond that. Christmas 2008 and 2009 were both just over 800, but Easter 2009 was 40% up from 2008, and 2010 was 20% higher than 2009. We are not where we should be and can be Sunday to Sunday to do things we want to do as people of God in this place. Our average Sunday attendance needs to be between 350 and 400 and that is certainly my goal. We have trained new Eucharistic visitors and administered the Holy Eucharist 100 times for shut-ins and the hospitalized. Thanks to Carolyn, we have weathered the musical storm of Lorraine Alfaro’s death, welcomed two new musicians, created a songbook; we’ve enjoyed the liturgical and pastoral presence of a splendid new priest; and we’ve regularized and standardized chapel worship weekly for all children at Christ School. Thanks to Sherry Beale and Barbara Sears who make that work. Eucharist and Bible Study continue weekly at Christwood, usually attended by about 25-30 residents and guests. I believe our worship on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Day had as much integrity as any Holy Week I’ve ever known, and I am deeply thankful for that and privileged to have shared it with you.
But having said all that, have we answered the question of what church “success” looks like? Surely not. A parish may have a balanced budget, but that doesn’t assure that it has fulfilled its mission. A church may keep its buildings in good repair, but churches don’t exist primarily to maintain buildings, however beautiful. The parish may provide many gracious occasions for fellowship, but we are called to be far more than a congenial place to gather.
So, what is the standard of success for this church, or any church? In last Sunday’s and this morning’s gospel readings, Jesus gives us a straight, simple -- simple, not easy -- answer. Teaching his disciples on the night before his death, he says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another….And this Sunday: Do not let your hearts be troubled ….Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.”(John 13, 14) Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “if you feel love, but if you have love”; that is, if you have a persistent and heightened awareness of trying to live as we know God intends for us to live; if you are consistently grateful for the gifts God has given you and committed to using them to be all God intends for you to be; if you are as compassionate toward those hungry for bread or acceptance as God has been compassionate to you; if you are able to accept that God accepts you as who you are and live with a confidence in your worth that empowers you to make use of your talents and gifts. And then, if you --- if we --- have this love, this power, which comes from God alone, are we using it to make peace and bring peace to the bedroom, the classroom, the workplace, the community?
    So then, back to the question: What is the standard for a “successful” church? We have succeeded as a church when we have helped one another grow in love for God, for one another, and for our neighbors; and then used our love to make peace wherever and whenever we find ourselves.
To be sure this is not a standard which is easy to apply exactly or lends itself to precise measurement. A graph can’t portray how well people have loved their neighbors or built a deeper peace in their cities. However, that doesn’t mean it is a meaningless standard, though more felt or seen than proven. There are visible signs when the people of a church ---individually and corporately --- “have love” and “make peace.” There are quite public ways in which we can bear witness to Jesus’ command to love God and make peace with friend and stranger alike. You can see the evidence. Let us always be looking for that evidence, and let us commit ourselves to this standard, this vision: HAVE LOVE, MAKE PEACE. If that is the vision, what are the tasks? As I consider the life of this parish today, its challenges and its opportunities, there are three tasks I want us especially to attend to:
1. HOSPITALITY: We are fortunate that some one or some family visits this church almost every week. All of us, from the youngest to the oldest, must be ready and alert to welcome them, ask about their needs and connect them to our ministries and programs. If we aren’t growing, we are dying. You members of Christ Church are our best ambassadors for showing people a community which has love and makes peace. If you see a stranger on Sunday morning, make a point of greeting them, remembering that all of us have been, and will be again, strangers somewhere, sometime.
2. HERITAGE: Last year I spoke about the centrality of this place in Covington to our heritage as a parish. God has planted us here. This year my perspective is from a different angle. A more recent part of our heritage has to do with the vision and courage of the lay ordained leaders who acquired all those acres out in the piney woods near what is now the intersection of I-12 and La.21. What a gift they gave us in Christwood and Christ School, and what an opportunity to show the world Christians have love and make peace.
As the economy improves, delayed development plans that touch our partners-in-mission are coming off the shelf. To be responsible stewards of our heritage, Christ Church, our school, and Christwood must be sharp, prepared, strategic and, whenever possible, make common cause to protect our heritage and strengthen it as the community grows steadily in that direction. That will mean spending some energy and money to insure our place at the development table. It will mean we in this parish must make the Christ School high school expansion a parish priority. It will also mean worship services sooner rather than later on Sundays at Christwood Blvd. as well as New Hampshire Street.
3. Finally, HARVEST: If we invite and welcome people into this outpost of God’s Kingdom and if we are committed to strengthening our mission partners, this parish will grow and thrive. But right here in Covington every Sunday morning, we already see so many of God’s beloved “little ones,” the children. I believe God has called us as a church at this time to minister to every child who comes to us and every child we can reach out to with joy, courage, and effectiveness. I believe this is why God has put me here at this time in the history of Christ Church. Children need to know God, to show God, and experience themselves as beloved of God. If we help that happen, we will reap a rich harvest of love and peace, strengthen our heritage, and share God’s saving hospitality with others of all ages, stages, and colors.