The Loose Canon

Holy Week and Easter are the best time to invite newcomers to church as many spiritual seekers are most receptive to an invitation at this time of year. Here are seven ways you can prepare to welcome more people this Easter and then to follow up with them after the Holy Day:

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The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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There are 42 verses in the New Testament which speak to how we are to treat one another (listed here). How we treat one another is bound together with our faith in Christ who taught us to love our neighbor as ourself. This mutuality is at the heart of the Christian community and it should be a part of how the Rector (or Vicar, Interim etc.), Wardens and Vestry go about leading the church. 

The Letters of Agreement for clergy of the Diocese of Georgia now state “The Rector [or Vicar, etc.] will establish a regular and ongoing time of mutual reflection and review of their work and ministry together. Annually, they will engage in a disciplined and intential Mutual Ministry Review using a form established by the Diocese of Georgia.”

To assist in this, I will offer some brief information on a Mutual Ministry Review, links to more detailed information, and finally offer as models the complete set of forms in use at Church of the Good Shepherd, Augusta.

What Is A Mutual Ministry Review?
This is a disciplined time of reflection on how the life of a congregation is going, including look at the goals for the congregation and the roles and responsibilities of those working toward those goals. The main purpose is to clarify objectives and consider how best to make changes that will lead to more effective ministry aimed at those shared goals. This is not a time for beating up one another over what has gone wrong in order to assess blame. The Mutual Ministry review is an honest look at what is working well together with considering means of improving in areas that are less effective. As such, the review looks at the church leadership as a system and gathers information from key people including both a self review and review of others. 

One word of warning: A review is not meant to offer a means of attack, but an open dialogue. Therefore, a time of crisis will not be the time for a constructive review. If your congregation is conflicted, you will need to find ways to deal with the situation openly, but the Mutual Ministry Review is not the right tool. A Mutual Ministry Review offers a means of assessment for healthy congregations to improve. 

Additional Links and Sample Forms
Some good Episcopal sites for information are: The Diocese of Texas’ Mutual Ministry Info and The Diocese of Washington’s Mutual Ministry Review Page with links to a lot of good resources.

Below you will find the forms in use at Good Shepherd, Augusta. While many of their forms will not be needed by smaller congregations, they offer a worthy model, field tested by that parish.

Overall
Mutual Ministry Review Overview
Sample letter that goes with forms 

Self-Assessment
Sample form for vestry member self-assessment
Sample form for rector self-assessment
Sample form for staff member self-assessment

Reviews
Sample form for vestry review by a staff member
Sample form for review of a staff member by the rector
Sample form for review of a staff member by a vestry member
Sample form for staff member review of staff
Sample form for review of rector by vestry
Sample form for review of rector by a staff member

 The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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Three weeks ago in my Loose Canon column, I asserted that maintaining the status quo for our churches into the next generation or two will require one of a few changes:

1. Younger members of the church will have to increase giving to match older members, or
2. More members will be needed, or
3. Cut backs will be required, perhaps drastic actions on staffing and building costs.

Two weeks ago, I took on the third and seemingly least attractive option. Last week, I considered increased giving and finally this week, I will consider increasing attendance.

Options for Increasing Attendance
Many churches will need to increase attendance in the coming two generations to maintain the status quo in terms of staff and buildings. This will be true unless giving goes up or costs are cut. I write this not to add stress to churches in towns where population is stagnant or declining, but to simply be honest about the changes which seem to be on the horizon. If numeric growth seems very unlikely, you may want to concentrate on the other two areas listed above. For most of our congregations, however, there is little to prevent significant growth in percentage in your Average Sunday Attendance. Here are several ways to connect more people to your congregation:

Personal Invitation
Those who attend your church now making a personal invitation to friends and co-workers are the best way for you to connect with new people. But this is most true for those who are new to your church. Newcomers know a whole new group of people to invite who may not yet have heard of your church. Teaching in newcomer classes on the importance of invitation and talking through ways to do this, combine this together with teaching the five-minute rule (that those who attend the church should give the first five minutes after church to meeting new people, before turning to talk to those they already know). Doing this raises the awareness with those new to your congregation and in so doing extends the reach of your church. In support of this, creating an attractive brochure to share, or printed invitations to Christmas and Easter services make the invite even easier.

Printed Invitations
Sending out invitations to those with changes of address is a great way to reach those most likely to be looking for a new church. There are mailing services found online that will sell changes of address information. Real Estate agents shoudl have access to this information for free. Sending out a card with an invitation to join you for worship is a way to make a direct connection with those who may be shopping for a church.

St. Michael and All Angels in Savannah has the children working on doorhangers to invite those who live close to the church to their Easter services including an Easter egg hunt on Easter. These hand-made invitations on doors of those in the neighborhood are a great way to get the word out about a church.

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But no matter what you do to invite people to your church, it is hospitality and newcomer incorporation which connect people to your congregation. Get the invitation right and this wrong and your church will not grow. Skip all of the above and get this right and you can still grow. Put it all together and you set the stage for numeric growth in attendance. I have found that when we do all we can to prepare to welcome new people, the Holy Spirit speaks to hearts and minds and new people start showing up. For in the end, all we are discussing is not about the church alone, but about the church as a means of connecting people more closely to God through the local church, and this is not something we do alone, but an activity in which we join with what God is already doing in the lives of the people we want to reach.

Celebrating the Gift of Hospitality
This means that we will need to identify people with a real gift for hospitality. I know I get more credit for growing King of Peace than I deserve. It was the genuine welcome provided by people like Gil White, Carol Ludwigson, and many others with a real God-given knack for welcoming, that did more than I could ever have accomplished to connect folks to the church. I met with the congregation of St. Barnabas in Valdosta and asked for stories of people coming to the church and in the process uncovered the role Lavan Robinson had played in wlecoming every person who connected with the church. In your congregation, you have people who are good at this already. They need to be encouraged and the work they do in looking out for and speaking to visitors needs to be elevated and set as a model to others. This will not be a gift shared by all in your church, so make sure those who are good at greeting know their abilities are valued and encourage them in this vocation.

Incorporating Visitors
Once newcomers have arrived, have those who greet them encourage signing in the guestbook. This will get a physical address and an email address and phone number. It is a best practice for each visitor to get a letter from the Vicar or Rector within a few days of the visit. One other contact is also a best practice. For some congregations, this means “mugging” the newcomer by having a couple of people on a hospitality committee drop by with a coffee mug in a bag with a brochure and the most recent newsletter. Other congregations take fresh baked bread. Still others rely on a phone call. Whatever you choose to do, make sure it is a low impact contact. Whether dropping something by or making a call, it should only be a brief visit in which it is clear that something is being dropped off with no expectation. We want to balance being in contact, with seeming to attack.

Newcomers who come back a couple of times should be encouraged toward a newcomers’ class or meeting. Whatever your church uses to do this, it should be made clear how someone can get more involved in your church in a way meaningful to them.

The Good News
If you want to maintain the status quo in your church in terms of buildings and staffing, it will likely require more giving by future generations than they now give, or you will need more people all supporting the church at a lower level. But this is not raise as a matter for worry. Worry about giving and giving will decrease. Worry about attendance and that too will lessen. Instead, try lifting up the virtue of taking on these practices because that is how Christians are to behave and leave the results to God.

The Good News is that every congregation should already be doing all it knows how to do to reach out to others and invite them in. This is what we are to do, not for the sake of growing a churchor even maintaining the status quo. We are to invite and welcome for the sake of the Gospel. There will be few, if any, people in your community looking for an Episcopal Church. But everywhere you go, everyone you meet needs, deeply needs, a relationship with God as found in Jesus Christ. For some in your community, that will only happen with integrity when they find their way to come and worship with your congregation. Making the invitation, being hospitable to those who come and incorporating them into the Body of Christ is simply living into who we are to be as followers of Christ.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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Two week’s ago in my Loose Canon column, I asserted that maintaining the status quo for our churches into the next generation or two will require one of a few changes:

1. Younger members of the church will have to increase giving to match older members, or
2. More members will be needed, or
3. Cut backs will be required, perhaps drastic actions on staffing and building costs.

Last week, I took on the third and seemingly least attractive option. This week, I will consider increased giving and finally next week, I will look at increasing attendance.

Generations and Giving
Younger generations tend to give less money to churches than there parents and grandparents. In some ways, this is nothing new. While getting established in a career and raising children, there is always less money coming in at all and less that comes under the heading of discretionary spending. Yet, many also observe that the pattern goes deeper than this and have suggested that those who are 40 and under today may never give to their churches the way earlier generations did. The truth is we will not truly find out the answer to the question until enough of the older members die and we see whether the younger members step up in giving to make up the difference. As one born in 1963, I am counted by some a member of the so-called Generation X, and I tithe and I am not alone. So the picture is far from clear, yet there is cause for concern.

The Truth about Tithing
The other factor is that average pledge to a congregation in the Diocese of Georgia in 2008 was $2,837, but we can guess that the average household income for our families is more than than $30,000, which is the long way of saying what we already know: no generation of members is, in the majority, meeting our stated standard of the tithe. While many of us do tithe and will continue, tithing is a conversion of understanding. That conversion toward giving the first ten percent back to God in thanks is more a work of the Holy Spirit than anything else. But there are things we can do to set the stage.

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First, we do need to be able to have transparency around finances in the church so that all can trust how we handle money and all know where the money goes and how that is overseen. Second, we should be wise stewards of the money that is entrusted to our care, showing some return on that money dedicated to God by getting as much accomplished as we can with what we have. And finally, we need to teach by word and example. Give those who give faithfully a forum for sharing this with others, talking about how they came to tithe and what it has meant for their lives. Those who do give generously to their church share a feeling that it is a blessing rather than a chore or mere obligation. Others need to hear that there truly is joy in giving.

Share what your pattern of giving is for the church’s ordained and lay leadership so that you may lead by example. Often vestries do this by committing to a tithe and stating publically that the whole vestry is committed to the tithe. Honesty may make it necessary to name that the whole vestry is giving proportionally and moving toward the tithe.

The Good News
There is Good News in what appears to be diminishing giving among generations as it gives us the proding we need to do the teaching we should be doing anyway. As those who have been converted to a fuller understanding of stewardship, of which the monetary offerings to our church are just a part, the need helps reveal how more teaching and leading by example is needed.

If you want to maintain the status quo in your church in terms of buildings and staffing, it will likely require more giving by future generations than they now give. Helping facilitate this will give churches the impetus for doing the teaching we should have been doing all along. After all, Jesus readily spoke of money quite often. We need to do so as well, not for the sake of the church budget, but for the sake of teaching new generations the blessings of giving back to God in this way.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

The photos above are of a Christ Church Valdosta Youth Group Car Wash.

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In last week’s Loose Canon column (see below), I asserted that maintaining the status quo into the next generation or two will require one of a few changes:

1. Younger members of the church will have to increase giving to match older members, or
2. More members will be needed, or
3. Cut backs will be required, perhaps drastic actions on staffing and building costs.

In this column, I want to take on the third and seemingly least attractive option. Next week, I will consider increased giving and then the following week, I will look at increasing attendance.

What Is a Vital Church?
While we all want the churches in the Diocese of Georgia to be vital churches, what this means will be different in varying contexts. Speaking with The Rev. Liam Collins, who is the Vicar of St. Luke’s in the growing suburb of Savannah, says that looking at that context, it is impossible not to see the area and what is happening there and not look to St. Luke’s growing numerically in attendance and giving to become a parish with full-time clergy and other staff. Yet, this is not the only way to define vitality. To borrow from the language of the Prayer Book’s collect for a Diocese, the church is vital where the Word is truly preached and truly heard and the Sacraments are faithfully administered and faithfully recieved. We are confident that where that occurs, lives will be fashioned according to Christ’s example and other lives will be touched. In other words, when we get being the Church right, it changes the lives of those in the congregation and those changed folk touch the lives of others with the love of God. That is vital, whether the pews are packed and the bank accounts overflow or not.

Churches without Walls
Taking this idea that a church can be a vital center of faith in Christ, changing lives and making a difference in its community without growing to a size to support staff, and looking at the assertions about change needed in the coming generations, how do these fit? Some have been taking church to a new extreme. I have friends who have started new churches with no buildings and no plans of getting one. St. Lydia’s is a “dinner church” and Transmission is a house church. Each are seeking to be faithful communities of faith in New York City. Building costs make starting a brick and mortar church prohibitive, but that was not the prime motivating factor. The founders wanted something different anyway, a church that fits more with 20 and 30 year old New Yorkers who want to explore Christianity anew. Both are decidedly liturgical churches and neither has the setting one thinks of when imagining liturgy. I mention these examples to demonstrate that there are ways to be a vital congregation that involve dramtically lower expenses.

Other Patterns for Priests
If you experience soft tadalafil fatigue frequently and don’t recognise, then you definitely need to consult an expert. Now, we have got the other kind ordering levitra online cute-n-tiny.com of drugs, you may find it a little bit costly. Most of cialis österreich these medical professionals are specialized in specific areas within their field. A common question that arises in the minds of citizens, becoming “famous.” http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/silky-anteater/ prices viagra Here is a short acting selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Many congregations in the Diocese of Georgia have no staff, but fill out Sunday to Sunday with a priest once or twice a month with Morning Prayer on the other weeks. This pattern is an old one, which held in place for decades when our Diocese was founded. Yet we have configured ourselves differently in the more recent past, such as when Good Shepherd Swainsboro, Grace Sandersville and St. Mary Magdalene Louisville formed a single parish with a common vestry and shared priest in The Rev. Ron Southerland. In other diocese, there are patterns such as two priests serving five congregations together. Such radical realignment of how we think of priests serving congregations is yet another way to respond to the changing demographics in parts of south Georgia. It is possible that congregations could look at the map of the Diocese and find ways to share ministry and by forming alliances become increasingly healthy and dynamic through changing how they go about being the Body of Christ in their communities.

Let me be clear, the Diocese is not proposing and would never impose a realignment, yoking congregations or otherwise suggesting sharing clergy. Any such change would not come from the top down. But if leaders in our mission congregations propose such a pattern of congregational life, the Bishop could consider that request.

What Is Your Church Like at Its Most Vital?
One way to look at your church anew is rather than looking to other congregations, seeing what they offer and feeling bad about what we lack (I’m looking at you First Baptist), instead look to the gifts you do have. What makes your congregation a unique place to come worship God now? Ask what your particular congregation might be like, not if it was more like First Methodist, but if you were a more vital version of yourself. Then consider what it will take to get there. I have offered the examples above to show that some very different ways of being the Body of Christ can all be life-giving, joy-filled responses to the love of God found in relationship with Jesus Christ. What will that be for your church?

The Good News
The New Testament teaches that the Body of Christ needs people of varying gifts to use those gifts for the building up of the Body. These gifts for teaching, evangelism and so on were not to be lived out not by the apostles and deacons only, but by all Christians according to the gifts given them. In responding to the coming changes, congregations can maintain vitality by encouraging the gifts of the laity. Lifting up, encouraging and supporting the members of the congregation to serve Christ through serving others in the congregation and community should happen no matter the context. In places where the budget is challenged and full-time, professional clergy can not be sustained, this tends to happen naturally. Equipping the person in the pew to serve Christ is what we are to do whether in plenty or in want. So the changes in demographics can result in greater faithfulness, which is good news.

Next week, we will consider changes in giving patterns over the next generation.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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If you want to maintain the status quo at your church in the coming decades, one of three changes will have to occur:

1. Younger members of the church will have to increase giving to match older members, or
2. More members will be needed, or
3. Cut backs will be required, perhaps drastic actions on staffing and building costs.

This is true for the vast majority (if not all) of mainline churches across the country. No matter the denomination from Baptist to Episcopalians, the cost of running a church is going up, while the givers who have supported the budget at its accustomed levels are dying off and younger members are giving at lower percentages. This widespread fact of church life is forcing change even on congregations that just want to maintain the status quo.

Pick any two
Prior to seminary, my wife and I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail together. We went on to write magazine articles and a number of books related to hiking and backpacking. A truism for backpacking gear was that gear was potentially 1) relatively inexpensive, 2) small, and 3) lightweight. The problem was, you had to pick any two of those three. If the gear was lightweight and small, it would be expensive, If the gear was relatively inexpensive and lightweight, it would be bulky.

So even if you miss it give it away and take a new dose. http://secretworldchronicle.com/tag/john-murdock/page/3/ cheap viagra It is a fact that viagra on line http://secretworldchronicle.com/2019/04/11/ victims of ED remain silent because of unavailability of budget-friendly cure. Buying online generic overnight viagra is a smart decision as this works nice to enhance one’s sex life and libido with consistent use. Also, if you want to get hardness without having to pay for it, the states are interested in sexual health or men’s health here are a few products you can look forward to on these types of sites, here are a few samples: ordine cialis on line http://secretworldchronicle.com/2017/08/ is used to treat impotence in men. Similarly, your church needs to pick at least one of the changes above: 1) increased giving, 2) more members, or 3) cost cut backs. Your congregation can stay the same size in terms of attendance, but to do so and to keep whatever staff you have, whether full time priest or supply clergy, you will need increased giving. Or you can keep the same level of giving from each person in the congregation, but you’ll need to increase attendance.

What is likely true
None of us knows what the future holds, except that God holds that future. Yet, we do know that it is likely that churches will need to increase attendance in order to maintain their current level of staff and care for the building and grounds. It was once possible to maintain a vital church with a full-time priest and part time secretary and musician with 80 or fewer attendance on a typical Sunday. That remains true around the Diocese of Georgia now, with some churches able to maintain this staffing with 50 or fewer on Sunday. However, with the decline in giving of younger members and some increased costs, it will become increasingly difficult to maintain this level of staffing with fewer than 120 in attendance on an average Sunday.

The Good News
The good news in this is that we can see the problem coming and we can prepare. The even better news is that the change we need in order to maintain the status quo is a good and Godly change that we should consider whether financial reality was pushing us this direction or not. In next week’s Loose Canon, I will discuss this issue further and begin laying out how your congregation might change in order to meet the challenge of the next generation.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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Churches always seem to have more needs that dollars to meet the needs. Even when finances are doing well, there is always more that can be done than any congregation can do. Unfortunately, buildings tend to suffer for it. It is rare to speak up for the roof, or the heating and air system until somewhere just before or during a crisis. Yet, there is no need for surprises. Setting up and funding maintenance reserves can assist a congregation in avoiding most surprises.

The vestry needs to be assured that the money will be on hand to replace the air handler, water heater and so on when they go out. As these and other pieces of equipment come with typical life expectancies, it is possible to plan for the future and set aside money at a steady rate, rather than dealing with issues arising when maintenance has been differed.

This was brought home for me last week when visiting Grace Church, Waycross. That congregation has a roof leak that will cost more than $18,000 to repair. Putting off repairs would be even more costly. Fortunately, there is more than $22,000 in the roof fund. There is no crisis. Just a bidding process, contracting the work and overseeing that it is done rightly.

Not just does it works the same route as india sildenafil, however it is discovered to be more efficient and is a worth for cash item. It builds up lots of cheapest price for viagra stress and anxiety. These slings are popularly known for their ordine cialis on line reliability. Exploring Erotica Even if you are not only playing around an oblong track such as the past, you are racing with the dessert, racing against police cars, racing against jetskis and spinning generic viagra prices around on ice. Vestries can plan for eventual maintenance issues with a maintenance reserve study. Set up a task force of 2-3 people headed by the Junior Warden to tour the building, making note of areas of possible concern including the parking lot and the building from roof to foundation with all significant electrical and plumbing issues in between. Seek input from professionals (often available in the parish) who can estimate the remaining life and replacement costs at the time action is needed. Then budget to set aside a little money each month toward the maintenance reserve fund. Then when the water heater tank ruptures or the heat pump dies, funds will be ready to apply toward their purchase. Revisit the study each year and adjust the maintenance reserve line item as a apart of the budget process.

This practice keeps maintenance of your building a small, routine line item in the budget, which is as it should be. I know there is no money for this lying around waiting to be allocated to a future need. But considering the high cost of leaving an old roof in place, you can’t afford not to set aside a little each month toward this eventual need. If Jesus does not return first, your congregational WILL face these maintenance issues. If Jesus does come before the heating and air system gives up the ghost, imagine how pleased our Lord will be to see you had prepared to care so well for his house.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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When people who live in your community, that do not attend your church, hear your congregation named, what comes to mind? Is it your food bank or soup kitchen? Perhaps it is your Scout troops. Maybe it is the people they know who go to your church that are involved in community boards and active in many ways beyond the church itself. Perhaps they have never heard of you.

There are two ways I want to suggest that you can get your name out in a positive way. Either or neither may suit your church, but I offer them for prayerful consideration:

Something for Nothing
Lots of churches sell food or drinks at a city event. Some congregations have decided that it is better to give away cold water as a way to show hospitality. At King of Peace we gave away “America Bless God” bumper stickers after 911 whose only connection to our church was a small www.kingofpeeace.org in the bottom right corner. It was not prominent on a car, but easy to read when picking up the free sticker. King of Peace Episcopal Day School also paid for free pony and train rides for the church’s Trunk or Treat as the school’s single advertising expenditure. Whatever it is that works for your church, offering someone something they want with no strings attached is a great sign of the unearned grace of God and a way to connect your congregation to a positive first impression.

The Place Where the Community Gathers
Erectile dysfunction can affect a man at any age and stage of a man’s life. best tadalafil prices If we look tadalafil order at the online gambling industry for example you’ll easily notice using yahoo site explorer that the top ranking results have literally hundreds of thousands if not millions of incoming links. In my mind, she was still sleeping with her former lover. sildenafil 10mg The sudden fluctuation in the blood pressure level and can successively protect your heart and body activities. cheap viagra The recently retired dean of the Southeast Convocation, The Very Rev. Dave Tonge, was a big proponent of the idea of the church as a place where the community gathers. He taught me by example as Grace Church, Waycross offered itself to many community events as a place for planning meets, concerts and more. As King of Peace hosted events, such as a tenth anniversary dinner for Habitat for Humanity, I saw first hand the benefits of this approach. We have underutilized buildings and we want the community to know where we are and to know that we care. By putting this resource (our buildings) together with this need (space for community meetings) we can lower the threshold for newcomers to church by inviting them into our space first for a community meeting. That makes a return visit for worship easier. This is why an attractive church brochure telling about the congregation and giving details like worship times, ministries and a web address should be prominently offered at all such events.

Grace Church, Sandersville, was important to that community as the one place where whites and blacks could and would meet together. While racial tensions are not so overt as to require church space for meetings, it is still a wonderful gifts of hospitality when you reach out and offer room for free. St. Matthews’ Savannah is near the start of Savannah’s Martin Luther King Day Parade. Next year, they will host the parade start, creating a positive impression for the community and inviting people inside its doors who might not otherwise cross the threshold.

Whether these two ideas fit your congregation or not, it is worth considering what impression you are making on your naighbors and whether their is anything you can offer with no expectation of return. It will likely help you put your church’s name out in a positive way. In any case, it is a chance to show care of your congregation for its community.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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I frequently hear congregations say “If we could just get some of the folks who used to attend coming back, we’d be all right” or other words to that effect. The idea is that lapsed members will be the easiest to coax to church and so the best way to grow a congregation.

While there are always exceptions, the truth is quite the opposite. People who left your congregation for some cause are the least likely folks to pack the pews once more. It’s better to come to terms with the fact that they know what your church has to offer and they are not interested. This is not to say that one should scratch those who do not attend off your list and do nothing to let lapsed members know what is going on. Instead, I want to make clear that this group is not your primary target for invitation. Communicate with lapsed members, but do not base a strategy for growth around bringing them back.

The easiest group to reach are those who are involved in some activity at the church who do not yet attend. These include Food Pantry or Girl Scout volunteers, those who take part in a Mothers’ Morning Out and so on. These programs offer side door to the church. They are accustomed to coming to your building, now you just need to find intentional ways to make the invitation. This can be a Scout Sunday service, a cookout with volunteers invited to attend, or a straightforward invitation to the Christmas or Easter services.

The next easiest group to reach is the family, friends and co-workers of current members. Those who do not now have a church, who discover someone they know goes to the church and likes it, are likely to give the congregation a try.
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A final group to mention is the importance of making an invitation to those who are new to the area and shopping for a church. These can be reached by direct mail to new changes of address or door hangers (an example is pictured at right) on newly sold homes.

Every congregation should think about how to encourage those who now attend to invite new people to come share the joy of worshipping. Instead of wishing the old faithful would return, try reaching out to new people. Not only is it more likely to work, finding new folks is also a part of fulfilling our Lord’s Great Commission to go to all the world and make disciples.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries 

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A camel is a horse designed by a committee, or so goes the saying oft used to point out that all of us can sometimes be less clever than any of us. Yet, one the greatest works of English lituerature was the work of a committee. The King James Bible remains perhaps our church’s greatest gifts to the English speaking world and it was the end result of committee work.

 The simple fact is that the Rector, Wardens, and Vestry should not consider every detail of church life in their meetings. Except in very specific and limited circumstances, vestries ought not function as a committee-of-the-whole. Committees are the better places to look at details. Hours devoted to fact-finding followed by thoughtful discussion including hearing varying viewpoints and weighing the alternatives can be handled there, so that the recommendation to the vestry will carry more weight and need less detail work. Functioning in this way makes vestry meeting time more productive.  

As a parish priest, I loved many (perhaps all) things much more than a committee meeting. However, the work accomplished in our Finance Committee or Memorial Garden Committee and the work of so many other event-oriented committees and groups not only allowed us to function better as a vestry, but they also offered a way in to church leadership for members who gifts were needed by the church, but who either did not care to run for vestry or who, by virture of not having had a place to exercise leadership in the parish, were not yet likely to be elected. Asking someone to serve on a committee whose work really matters to the congregation is a great way to encourage someone into more involvement. The key is for the committee members to see a return on investment in that the time spent in the committee meeting matters to the church.
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This week’s convention will demonstrate the power of committees. Without the advance work by the Diocesan Council, the Committee on Constitution and Canons, the Finance Committee and others, the work of the convention would take far longer. But by having fully worked through the key legislation over the past year, we are now at the point to consider the matters before us more productively. We know that our work will not result in something so wonderful as the King James translation. But, we also know that the matters tended to in advance by our committees will make it possible for the Diocese as a whole to tend to the issues that will make spiritual and numeric growth of the Diocese not only possible, but more likely. This is a great return on investment for those who gave of their time to prepare for our meeting.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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A favorite past-time of churches is re-inventing the wheel. Its not intentional, but each congregation sets about solving a local issue and in so doing follows the path of others who have faced the same issue. While there are significant differences in our varying contexts, there is much we can learn from one another.

Here are some examples of some practices shared in this space, (and elsewhere in the Diocese) followed by a call for more ideas. Tell me what has worked in your congregation and community so that others can read about it and decide if it will work for them:

Vestry Meetings in Tifton
The Rev. Lonnie Lacy shared an idea for a better agenda for vestry meetings which follow the pattern of Formation, Information, Discussion and Decision. I have heard positive feedback from clergy who have tried this change of agenda. More info is online here: Build a Better Vestry Meeting.

Replenish an Renewal Exercises in Augusta
The Rev. Robert Fain shared an ongoing project at Good Shepherd, Augusta in which that parish has been reassessing its mission and ministry. This has sparked interest around the Diocese and some concrete progress in our congregations toward looking anew at how we are the church. More info is online here: Replenish and Renewal at Good Shepherd and also at a blog for the project: Beneath the Cross of Jesus.

Community Blessing of the Animals in Kingsland
This idea is first being shared in this space now, but conversation in Pooler has already sparked a new event for St. Patrick’s this fall. King of Peace, Kingsland, did a stand alone Blessing of the Animals for a couple of years and had good participation from the congregation. 7 years ago, the congregation approached the Humane Society of Camden County about doing the Blessing at the shelter. That raised the profile of the event. Then it was moved to the annual Rock Shrimp Festival in St. Marys and was done together with Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, which had been blessing animals with a greyhound rescue group in previous years. The new public blessing sponsored by the Humane Society at a city festival made the animal blessing a true community event. St. Patrick’s, Pooler, learned of this and has arranged to hold its Blessing of the Animals at a city festival there this October.

What Are You Doing That Needs to be Shared?
Around the Diocese, there are great ideas that need to be shared. We have From the Field just to share what you are doing and The Loose Canon can share ideas that are not events, but best practices for vestry, newcomer assimilation or whatever else you think others should hear. Do not be shy. It is not self promotion to share, but promoting the building up of the Body of Christ. Write to me at the diocese by clicking on my name below and letting me know what”s working in your congregation.

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The Diocese of Georgia boasts the founding of a cornerstone of church programs around the world, for it was while working in the colony that The Rev. John Wesley created the first Sunday School. From an unheard of novelty, the Sunday School program has grown to be so ubiquitous that when it is not present, many will complain that the church is doing nothing for its children. The problem is that the graded Sunday School so popular as Baby Boomers had children of their own is difficult if not impossible to sustain across much of this diocese. Classes of similar-aged children all working on lessons from a curriculum week by week works in fewer and fewer congregations each year. The problem is both with keeping a group of motivated teachers and with interesting children (and more importantly parents) enough in the program so that attendance is routine.

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Rather than mourning the loss of one of the Diocese of Georgia’s greatest gifts to the Church, this problem presents an opportunity to rethink how we go about forming our children in the faith. This is not to say that the fact that Sunday School isn’t working means we can drop teaching the children of the congregation. Instead, we need to find new ways to teach the timeless truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I will briefly one alternative and I ask that anyone with successful alternatives let me know so that I may share them in this space.

By adopting this model at King of Peace, Kingsland, we found that we could better maintain volunteers for the once a month commitment. Parents were also more inclined to schedule around that one Sunday a month. While not allowing us to go as far as a weekly Sunday School, it did offer an engaging alternative. Coupling this with an annual Kids in the Kingdom Week made room for significant teaching through the year. One side note is that King of Peace also offers a children’s church that meets from the opening hymn to the peace for those who do not wish to remain in worship. This lectionary-based offering also added to Christian education for children.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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Christian community is inherently grace-filled. Our congregations are places that can share one anothers joy and bear one anothers burdens. But there are also problems that creap in to any human organization and the hurt caused is particularly bad when it happens in a church. Some people are turned away from God by the way fellow Christians treat them. If vestries and other committees prohibit two common ways of communicating-anonymous complaints and triangulation.-a world of hurt can be avoided. 

The first is self-explanatory. No vestry member should ever say “people are saying” or “I hear that.” A Christian community should be able to air its concerns openly. Either, get the person with the issue to come state their complaints to the vestry, or gain their permission to use their name in presenting the problem. If there is a good, pastoral reason why the name need not be shared with the whole group then the Rector or Vicar should know the person’s name and why the name should not go forward to the vestry with the issue. Failing that, the Senior Warden should know. Otherwise, the anonymous information should not be presented.

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As congregations of the Diocese of Georgia our mission is to be the physical manifestation of God’s salvation of humanity. We know that wherever the Gospel is truly preached and the sacraments rightly administered that this bears fruit. The fruit born will vary in differing circumstances, but we believe that the Word does not return empty. Yet, if one is about the work of living out the Gospel as the Body of Christ in such a way that lives will be changed for the better, how do you know if you are getting it right?

The ABCs of Measuring Churches
Despite what we may say, the Church as an institution counts the ABCs—attendance, buildings and contributions. Where these are growing, we say there is health. Where these are stagnant and declining we generally say nothing.

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Preserving and sharing your church’s history can be a way to find a vision for the future. For God can and will call a church to something new, but this too is in continuity with the past. Often, there are seeds of future possibilities buried in the past. The examples above from the diocesan archives show how the problems of today neighbors who wonder if Episcopalians are Christian and the need to share the Gospel in everything we do-were faced here in the 1920s and 1950s and will continue to be part of what it means to be an Episcopalian in South Georgia. Yet, in those times, our church grew by finding authentic ways to share the love of God with our communities.

Uncovering History
Tasking a group to record and share your congregation’s history can be an important way to share earlier challenges and how they were faced. The work can and should include a mix of pouring over historic records, including vestry minutes and newsletters. The diocesan office has parochial reports and convention records that can fill in part of your official record. Any history project should also include interviewing the keepers of the flame, those long term members who know the history beyond the documents. The goal is to find not just the official record, but the people and personalities who shaped that history.

Recording the Church Now
A church should also make a record of itself today for the sake of generations to come. This can include taped or preferably video taped interviews where the stories of the church, good and bad are told. Recording the ideas that didn’r work out, or the hard times faced, is equally important. As the Prayer Book says on page 836, “We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.”

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Led by Bishop Harry Shipps and historian Janet Stone, the Diocese is undertaking a history project to fill in since Henry Malone’s The Episcopal Church in Georgia was published in 1957. Filling in your congregation’s part of the diocesan story in these years is a great reason to set up a group of interested persons to pour over documents and interview parishioners. As the information starts to come together, share it with the whole church. One good example of this is found in Christ Church Valdosta’s newsletter, The Vineyard, which features history every month. You can see copies of that newsletter here: The Vineyard.

The Future
Sharing these stories of the past offer wonderful grist for the mill, which the Holy Spirit can use in bubbling up fresh expressions for living into the Gospel today. Your congregation’s past is the foundation on which Christ seeks to build the future in which your church is even more vital to its community, especially the lost and left out. Coming to know more about how you got to this point in your common life can be helpful in moving forward.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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“You’ve got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mister In-Between”

~Johnny Mercer (1909-1976), singer, songwriter,
and communicant of Christ Church Episcopal, Savannah

What ever one chooses to focus on will tend to grow. Yet, groups tend to focus on what is not working, or what is irritating. Focus on that enough and even a healthy group can start to seem out of whack.

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is the name given to one way of focusing on what is positive, what is working, or thriving. This is a process of discovery in which a congregation considers questions like “When was this church at its best in terms of both the congregation and its impact on the surrounding community?” “What did we do to make that happen?”

Moving to the present and a desired future, one asks, “What would be possible if we were to play on our strengths?” Appreciative Inquiry then moves beyond this toward definite steps to take toward the goal. The work is not done until there is not simply a plan, but the steps are taken, change is put into place and a group gathers to consider how it is going.

This is a greatly simplified view of a longer process with more steps. AI does not ignore the problems or challenges. Instead those are faced, but in the context of seeing your church’s strengths. If you find appealing the concept that appreciating what your congregation can and does do well can lead toward some definite steps toward a desired vision of the future, then exploring this tool further is the next step.

Appreciative Inquiry Resources Online
The Alban Institute’s Congregational Resource Guide has some helpful resources for those who want to learn more than can be shared in this brief article:

• Stories of using Appreciative Inquiry in a congregation are here: Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change.
• You can find concrete steps alongside the principles at: The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change.
• More on the theory is at: “Claiming the Light: Appreciative Inquiry.”

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Both the theory and practice of Appreciative Inquiry come back to Johnny Mercer’s sage advice to accentuate the positive. While that will not actually eliminate the all the negatives, it is a way to build on the proven strengths of a congregation in working toward a new vision of the future.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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People in your community who do not typically attend church are looking for a Christmas service. How will they find yours?
Have you updated your answering machine to include the Christ Mass schedule? Is your website up to date with the Christ Mass services clearly listed on the home page to be seen by any first time visitors at your site? Are there photos there to give them a feel for Christmas at your church? Have you used every free and low cost means to get out your service times for Christmas, such as community bulletin boards, a church page listing in the paper, and a notice in nearby community association newsletters? A small (real estate size) sign or larger banner visible to cars passing by can also let those who drive by your church know what time your services will be.

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As mentioned recently, Christmas is a great time to invite friends, family and coworkers to church. But beyond this invitation, there are others who will be looking for a Christmas service. Now is the time to make it easy for them to find yours. The Episcopal Church Foundation’s Vital Practices website offers some great suggestions at Prepare the Way…for visitors.

Once you have put out the welcome mat for the Christ Mass, remember to make it easy for them to find out more. On Christmas Eve, have the most recent newsletter or a brochure where a first time visitor will easily find them. Have your best greeters on duty in larger number than usual to make sure that all who God sends to your door this Christmas are greeted as Christ. This is not something we do just to grow a congregation. We do this as hospitality is part of who we are to be as Christians.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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Anyone who has followed the church in the news knows that stories of funds given by the faithful to the glory of God being embezzled or misused are a staple. This news breeds distrust, especially among those who are already concerned that the church just wants them for their money. Breaking down the wall of excuses that keeps someone from getting involved in a church means building up their trust about the way finances are handled. Keeping all the processes around money open and transparent is not only something we should all expect of the church, doing so will also help build this trust and can remove an obstacle to growth.

This means that not only should a congregation have in place good practices about how money is handled from the offering to the bank and out from the bank to pay for expenses, with proper controls all around. Good practice also means publishing this periodically so all who are interested may know the policies. A good guide to best practices is published by The Episcopal Church and available online free at this link: Business Methods Manual

Letting everyone know how the money is counted and deposited and how expenses are approved and paid may seem like something only vestry need to know, but it is difficult to build trust if everything seems to be handled by a few who know everything. Publishing the policies and building confidence that they are followed matters to all who give to the church.
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As stewardship season is drawing to a close and annual meetings are approving budgets, now is a good time to publish in your newsletter a brief overview of how the church handles its funds. While this may seem to have nothing to do with evangelism, making sure someone finding their way back to God knows that they can trust the church with the money entrusted to them may be exactly what is needed to break down that last barrier.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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