Vision: An Act of Stewardship

During this year's visioning discussion, some common themes have already become clear. First, many in the Congregation want to continue expanding our programs and our community outreach, while repairing / preserving our Sanctuary and (to a lesser extent) our other buildings. Second, many of our leaders and volunteers recognize that our resources are stretched thin; that we have not yet found sufficient funds to repair/sustain our buildings; and that staff and volunteers are feeling the burden of managing growing, vibrant programs without enough people (staff and volunteers) available to help them do so. Third, many are concerned about losing the intimacy and fellowship we enjoy in our community if we were to pursue a vision founded on growth in numbers.

These problems are common to changing church communities - which is to say that they are common to all church communities. There are many ways to solve them, including (but not limited to):

• Partnering with outside agencies/other churches to facilitate community outreach and engagement.
  
  
• Seeking outside funding to assist in building repairs. We have made significant progress - having received four grants this year.
  
  
• Increasing annual giving both through pledge increases and by encouraging those who have yet to make a pledge to do so. We have significantly increased pledge support in the past ten years. In 1996 - 1997, fifty-four individuals / families pledged $32,160 to the annual operating fund. In 2006 - 2007, 114 individuals / families pledged $142,025.
  
  
• Conducting a capital fund drive over three to five years to raise money to repair our steeple. It is possible we could find an outside agency to match the funds we raise; making this very doable.
  
  
• Hiring more staff to help with the increasing demands on all of us to manage a myriad of programs.
  
  
• Encouraging membership growth to bring in new people with fresh ideas, great talent, more time, and additional financial resources.

There are many other ideas that are, even now, being explored by members of the committees who organize and manage our programs and our ministry. Common to all of these problems and ideas, however, is the clear need to align our goals with the resources we are willing to provide to achieve them. In other words, we need to expand our resource base to meet growing needs or reign in our goals to align them with limited resources. While evaluating these alternatives, it is important to understand that our resource base isn't simply a reflection of numbers of people. It includes our own time, talent, and finances; the inherent value of our properties; the time and talent available to us from our staff (including our minister); and resources available to us from the outside community.

As our shared ministry and our programs have grown over the last ten years, as our buildings have continued to deteriorate, as our staff and volunteers have become more challenged and taxed, goals and resources have become increasingly misaligned. The decision that confronts us, therefore (in this "Year of Decision") is where and how do we want to realign goals with resources? How important is meeting the needs and desires expressed in the first Focus Discussion on November 9th? Which of these needs and desires have higher priority? How much money, how much time, and how much talent are we prepared to commit? How much bigger are we prepared to see the Congregation get? How much effort are we willing to put into conducting a capital campaign, increasing the number of pledges, seeking outside support? How far do we want to go in realizing our dreams?

The vision we develop this year will help us answer these questions, because it will be an expression of what goals we want to achieve and an expression of our commitment of time, talent, and treasure to achieving them. It will empower all of us, as a community, to move forward in a direction that will make Channing the place we want it to be for ourselves and for those who come after us. We can perform no greater act of stewardship than setting a course that will sustain Channing as a vibrant community grounded in the values that brought us all into this community in the first place.

On Saturday, February 3rd, 10am to 1pm, we will continue our congregation-wide effort to craft a vision by exploring the meaning of Congregational growth and the need to align goals with resources. This will set the stage for making some decisions in upcoming Focus Discussions. I urge you to come and participate.  Further, I urge you to take the time to read the information we have provided on our web site to help you get ready for this discussion. This information can be found at the "Education Resources" link at www.channingchurch.org.

-- Tom Beall, President