Saint Mary's Church

India Update #4

2010-01-22T09:35:00.003-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

For the better part of this past week, we have been sequested in the beauty, austere silence, and radical simplicity of the Ashram of Kurimasalu high in the Western Ghats of Kerala. Our retreat was with the community of monks who live in community at the ashram, on their large acreage which supports an active dairy farm. It is a fully sustainable farm, and most of what the monks subsist on comes from their own production. It was wonderful to see how, in this small microcosm, humans can live in close harmony with their natural surroundings. Living within a Bendictine rule, the monks are committed to a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but unlike my previous experiences in the States and Europe with "modern" monastic life, this was an introduction and immersion into something quite different, rigorous in its adherence to the simple life proclaimed in the Gospel. Jeannette and I stayed in separate quarters with the strict separation between the monks and nuns who live at Kurimusala. This segragation extended to our meals, which we ate sitting on the floor, side by side in a row, our prayers at the various offices and masses of the day, and at other times during the day of work, rest, and contemplation.

The diet was strictly vegetarian, simple but deliciously prepared, and consisted mostly of produce from the monk's extensive gardens, composted and fertilized by the dung of the cattle, toether with rice, that is the basis of the diet here.

What was extraordinary was the silence. Here in India, in the cacophony that marks so much of life, we were drawn into a quiet that was as startling as it is was blissful. The liturgy of the monks draws from the very ancient practices of the Syrian church, dating back to the time of the primiitve CHristian community. Combined with this, the liturgy integrated Hindu practices, such as meditation and the ubiquitous use of incense, candle ceremony, flower ceremony, and the like. Much of what we experienced was as strange to us as the Hindu practices we have seen in the local temples, but it was equally alluring in its exaltation of the creative power and wonder of the Creator of all that is. Indeed, in so much of what we experienced in Kerala, we have been impressed by the ways in which widely divergent faiths, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, have melded into a common appreciation and worship of God.

We left Kurimasala deeply grateful and heartened by the simple witness and grace of this community, their vigilant attention to the care of the natrual world as part and parcel of their creed, and the gift of being welcomed into their fellowship to learn at a more basic and immediate level the kind of freedom and joy that comes from living simply.

Being away from the outside world, the news about Haiti, as I know it has been for all of you, was devestating to us. It struck me hard that in the Indian papers, the story found itself buried in the middle of the paper. But as we left for Tamil Nadu, and into the stark human condition that marks so much of life in India, as in Haiti, it became clearer why this is so. Witnessing the vast numbers that live so close to death here, in a population where on a daily basis well over 200,000 die, many in deplorable and tragic conditions, brings us closer to the world as it is, brimming with contradiction, where life and death, joy and sadness, beauty and blight, poverty and grace exist as a seamless garment.

The monks of Kurimasala reminded us that in this world, there is ample reason to entrust our hearts and purposes to the One who creates, restores, and sustains all things, and to measure our own existence by how well the least as well as the greatest of our fellow pilgrims journey through life.

Now it is on to Tamil Nadu, and even deeper into the heart of this strange, beautiful, maddening and enthralling land.

Blessings and Peace,

Steve

India Update #3

2010-01-22T09:33:00.005-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

"Bring your mind to stillness. Be here and now. Be aware of your breathing. Be aware of your body sensations. Relax. Relax. Relax."

Back when our daughter Colleen was a teenager, and we got into the inevitable tiffs that comes with that territory, and just as I was about to explode, she would look at me with her big blue eyes, and say: "Dad, breath. Just breath."

It has taken me a long time to absorb this simple instruction, all the way to this time in India, where for this past week, here in Kuttikkanam at the retreat of Matthew Joseph we have been immersed in a practice of yoga, relaxation, meditation, and ayuvedic massage. Each day, Matthew has given yoga instruction to his guests. For Jeannette, who has practiced yoga for many years now, this has been a refresher, but for me, whose body is tighter that a fine tuned violin, this has been a revelation. Matthew teaches Hadha Yoga, which integrates meditaion into the practice, and it has given opportunity to step into this ancient spiiritual discipline in the milieu in which it orginated. Ayuvedic medicine is another anicent Indian practice, which sees the body holistically, and in nearby Catholic hospital we have been the beneficiaries of this wonderfully restorative healing art. You could think of it as Canyon Ranch on a beer budget, but I am doubtful Canyon Ranch can replicate the simplicity, the intentionality, and pure grace we have experienced here. It all seems a fitting prepartation for the start of our retreat at the Ashram Kurisulama, which begins today, as we leave Mundax, for this Benedictine monastery an hour away. Kurisulama was the community in which Bede Griffith, the renown Benedictine, began his vocation, integrating Indian meditation into the traditional prayer forms of Western monasticism. We are looking forward to our five days at the ashram and entering into the silence, the prayer, and simple practice of this community of monks.

Next week, we will travel to Tamil Nadu, the state and home of the oldest and most venerable of cultures of India, the Dravidians, dating to the time of the Romans and even earlier. We will spend time in Madural, the location of the Sri Meenakshi Temple and a riot of Dravidian sculpture. It will be yet another journey into a world in this dazzling universe of culture and religion.

We think of you often and send our prayers and blessings to you!

Peace and Joy,

Steve and Jeannette

India Update #2

2010-01-22T09:28:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

We have been in India nearly a week, and feel like we have made a good adjustment to our surroundings. We had a wonderful experience with Martin and Lindsey in North Kerala in Kannur, and were sad to leave a place we all have said we would like to return to. One of the highligths was attending a Theyyam, or an ancient sacred dance, that is common among Hindus here in Kerala. Dating to a time long before written accounts, the dance involves actors dressing in elaborate costumes signifying legendary figures from the past raised up by the Gods as saintly figures as well as Gods themselves. Held in sacred groves or in the temples themselves, the actors are members of the lower classes who on this special occasion once
a year are possessed by the divinities. This inverts the caste system
for this occasion and the Brahmin or high caste members of the community are required to acknowledge in reverence those they oversee in ordinary life. In the theyyam we attended, the young man was dressed as a goddess with elaborate bright red costuming and make-up and long flowing hair. Drawn into an ecstatic dance by the five drummers and horn player who accompanied him, the theyyam dancer whirled in ecstacy while attendants whirled firetorches and incense . It was truly a spectacle far from the comparatively staid liturgical practices we are used to, and plumbed a kind of worship that was both primal and alluring. It stirred many things in us, I think, not the least of which was the realization we had arrived in a world that lives close to the elemental experience of this natural world, its wonders, its terrors, and its mysteries.

Yesterday, we travelled for 10 hours by train and car to our next destination in South Kerala in the Western Ghats, or mountains 2 hours west of Cochin. Here we are staying in the retreat of Matthew Joseph, a Christian. South Kerala is predominately Christian, and there are churches, monasteries, and other sacred sites in great evidence here, several of which that are Anglican. There is also the most popular national park in South India, the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Earlier today, we took a guided hike through the preserve, saw many birds, and smaller animals, and on several occasions came upon places recently visited by mountain elephants. It is no smal spiritual practice, I think, to be quiet and still enough to take in such magnificent creatures through the senses of smell and hearing, if not sight itself.

There is a large Hindu pilgrimmage underway here and thousands of pilgrims are now walking barefoot and with their bedrolls on their heads to the holy temple, some as far as 150 kilometers over very hard terrain. It brings on a level of humility and awe to witness this level of piety.

As we anticipated, our first week here has been a stirring awakening of our senses, and we feel acutely aware our own existence as we are confronted with the dazzling reality of the world that is India. Though we are far in distance, we feel your closeness, and we send prayers and blessings to you all.

Steve

News from India 01/04/10

2010-01-04T10:49:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

After a long, but uneventful trip to India, we have arrived safely in Kerala in Kannur at the beautful homestay of Nazir and Rosie and their two children, meeting up with Martin and Lindsey on Saturday. The last two days have been spent luxuriating in the natural beauty of the ocean which is right outside our door. We are surrounded by waterways, rice paddies, and coconut groves. The Keralan people are extraordinaryly gracious and friendly, and we have all felt embraced by their hospitality. We are slowly getting our heads above the fog of jet lag to recognize in the prism of paradox of India the great complexity in simplicity of things here, the richness in having little to distract, the novelty in ancient practice and culture. We feel blessed to be here and offer our prayers and love to you from halfway around the world. We feel buoyed by your affection and well wishes.

Blessings and Peace,

Steve

The Feast of St. Francis

2009-10-19T09:03:00.000-04:00

18 Pentecost: 10/4/2009
We do love our pets, don’t we? There isn’t an Episcopal Church in all of America today that isn’t brimming over with creatures great and small on this, the Feast of St. Francis. After Christmas and Easter, I dare say, this is easily the most popular celebration in the church.

For we love our pets, don’t we? Especially at St. Mary’s. We pray earnestly for those furry companions who live under our roofs. They show up in our pictorial directory as members of our extended family. And as far as I can tell, we are the only church around who has a full fledged animal ministry!

Yes indeed, friends, we love our pets. And we do well on this day to ask God’s blessing on them and us as we seek the wisdom and strength to see to their welfare. After all, we are one of the first generations in human history to have this kind of relationship with the creatures who share this world with us. It was only a mere four centuries ago, the word pet was first used, coming from the word petty, meaning trifling, small, insignificant.. For most of time, you see, these wonderful animals in the pews next to you were considered even less than petty. And in the 2 million years our species has been on the planet, it has only been the last 15000, or 1000th of one percent of this time, when we have been on friendly terms with domesticated animals. Today, there is nothing petty about our pets. They are the world to us, and we do love them so. It is right and good, therefore, that we mark this occasion as a sacred rite in the church. For as much as we may love our fellow creatures, God loves them all the more.

We are creatures, like them. We are only a little lower than the angels, our scripture says today. We are all of us, equally, children of a loving Creator God. One of the remarkable things about this profound and complex relationship we have with our pets is that they mirror our own relationship with God. Our pets come to love us, and to trust us, implicitly, unconditionally. They come to depend on us, for we are the only ones who can take care of them, who can provide for them, who can bring them warmth, and love, and satisfaction. And isn’t this just the way we relate to God?

Yes, we truly love our pets. We love them so much it seems that we are prepared to devote incredible amounts of our resources and energy on them. Last year alone in this country, we spent $75 billion dollars on our pets. That’s 5 times the amount that the United States spends on non-military foreign aid. That’s more than twice as much as we spend on domestic charities. Friends, this enormous sum represents a higher amount than the GDP of 100 of the 180 countries on planet earth, our island home. We spend more on our pets than almost anything else we can name. The great irony of course is as much as we love our pets, we cannot love them all, and 4 million of our dogs and cats each year are euthanized.

We love our pets, but at the same time, today a full quarter of their direct and distant cousins are threatened with extinction. As we nurture and pamper our beloved pets, we are destroying natural habitats of their wild relatives on a scale that is morally reprehensible and ultimately unsustainable for all living things, including ourselves.

So on this day when we come to bless our animals, our purpose is not to go away from here with a warm, fuzzy feeling, like giving ourselves a milkbone for some cute trick we have performed. No, we are invited on this St. Francis Day to the kind of radical obedience and dedication that Francis and Clare themselves embodied in their own time and place. St. Francis, remember, called our fellow creatures his brothers and sisters, and so they are. Their source and being, like ours, is in God. Their origin and destiny, like ours, is from God. We are intimately related, and we cannot live without each other, or without each other’s mutual welfare in mind. Thus, our pets are not idols to adore. They are not things to mistreat or denigrate. They are rather icons who lead us back into relationship with all living things who share this planet with us.

Two weeks ago, on my last morning on Monhegan, I took a long walk around the island. It was a sunny morning and on the far side cliffs I saw a fogbank approaching. I scaled down half way and sat on a promontory to watch, and there below me were two minke whales as near as I could throw a stone. Then in the distance a pod of bottlenose porpoises frolicked. And within minutes harbor seals rose in the surf for their morning breakfast.

In an instant, what has always been appeared like it was meant to always be. And what is always meant to be in this wondrous world God creates can happen, it can only happen if you and I and all of us take to heart these words of Jesus in our Gospel today that the only way for us to receive the peaceable Kingdom of God, finally, is as a little child.

One of the great images of this can be found in the famous Peaceable Kingdom paintings of the Quaker artist Edward Hicks in the early 19th Century. The paintings depict the vision of Isaiah where the lion lies down with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid, and calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The best known of Hicks paintings is his last, no doubt each of us has seen a copy of it at one time or another. In it, half the painting is luminous sky, and all the creatures, the lions and cattle and the little child are saturated in its light. It is as if, one commentator has put it, the painting is made of diamonds, where the light is not only emanating from the sky but from each of the creatures who now live at peace with each other. It is as if the world is made of one, perfect diamond.

Is this not a picture of our true destiny? To be suffused with celestial light and to be at peace with the world and each other. This is our crowning glory and honor. We are given a commission beyond the angels. To live in this world. To delight in it. To care for it. And ultimately, this is the true measure of our love for our pets, that we love this world God has created, in which they and we have a common past, a common present, and a common future.

Book Recommendations by Marian Ferguson

2009-09-30T09:52:00.000-04:00

Recommended by Marian Ferguson
Listening below the Noise: A Meditation on the Practice of Silence* by Anne D, LeClaire
Local author's experiment with silent Mondays grows to a way of life, a spiritual journey. Poetic version of Sue Mink Kidd's When the Heart Waits

In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God* by Gene Robinson
A celebration of faith, affirmation of God's love for all people. A welcome opportunity to hear Robinson's own voice apart from the cacophony surrounding his position as Bishop. Read in conjunction with DVD For the Bible Tells Me So, an insightful documentary about the contemporary face of the conflict between Christian fundamentalists and gay and lesbian people. This deconstruction of thin arguments that the Bible actually condemns homosexuality focuses on four families including Robinsons's.

A Right and a Reponsibility - 14 Pentecost, 2009

2009-09-16T13:09:00.002-04:00

A Sermon Preached by the Reverend Stephen V. Smith

Folks, I am going throw caution to the wind today, and wade into the turbulent waters of our nation’s health care debate. For this crisis teeters now on becoming a catastrophe. And the facts are inescapable:

- 47 million of our fellow citizens do not have health insurance
- we are the only wealthy, industrialized country that does not have a universal care system
- over 15% of our GNP goes toward health expenses
- the US spends twice as much on health care per capita as any other country and spending continues to increase
- from 2000 to 2006, overall inflation increased 3.5%, wages increased 3.8%, and health care premiums increased 87%
- on the other hand, the US ranks 43rd in infant mortality, 47th in life expectancy, and half of the bankruptcy filings in the US are due to medical expenses.

We know all of this, we know it is outrageous. But the only people who seem to be outraged are those who want to keep everything just the way it is. And the rest of us choose to keep our heads in the sand, even though this threatens us and the generations to come.

So, I venture into these turbulent waters not to review what we already know. I do so because our lessons today present us, I believe, with a provocative counterpoint to the way in which this issue has been framed thus far. If not for us as Americans, then certainly for us as Christians. And in case you are worried that you are going to get a partisan opinion from the pulpit , I want to assure you there is in our Epistle and Gospel today both a liberal and conservative view.

First the liberal viewpoint. The Letter of James has had a long history of provoking people. Martin Luther himself called it an Epistle of Straw because it suggested that works or actions are as important as faith. James, you see, insists that Christians have to practice what they preach. If they are simply talking the talk and not walking the walk, he says, their faith is as good as dead. Today, in our lesson, James does not shy away from the class conflict that was afflicting the early church. And he speaks of the human tendency to show partiality to those who are rich, and well heeled, and powerful in this world. Yet to do so, to favor the rich over the poor, the powerful over the weak, in the eyes of God, James says, is to transgress, it is to sin. For God chooses the poor in the world to be rich in faith. And to dishonor the poor is to blaspheme the name of God.

In this light, for us to see a brother or sister who naked, or who lacks food, and to say to them: Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill, and yet do not supply their bodily needs, this is an affront to God and a sin against humanity. But this is precisely what we are doing by maintaining the status quo of health care in this country. We are saying to those who cannot afford health care or who are disenfranchised: Go in peace, be healthy and well, without supplying a system to meet their bodily needs. We are saying to them be well, but do this without access to medical care. Be healthy, but do this without the kind of medical coverage we ourselves enjoy. And in doing this, our Epistle claims, we are sinning against God and our neighbor.

Our lesson from the Gospel of Mark is equally provocative but in a far different way. And here is the conservative viewpoint. In our Gospel, we see Jesus venturing way out of his territory, and far from his comfort zone. Mark tells us he leaves his homeland to find some respite in the region of Tyre, which is in present day Lebanon. He goes there to get away from the crowds, but word gets out that Jesus, the great miracle worker, was in town.

Jesus was not the only miracle worker in that day. There were many then who had these healing powers, and their powers it seems had as much to do with the faith of those who came to them for healing that they would be made whole again. This, indeed, was the case with the Syrophonecian woman who came to Jesus that day. She believed that Jesus could heal her little girl who was oppressed by a demon. There was just one problem. She was a Gentile, one who was considered unclean by the Jews. Thus approaching this Jewish rabbi in and of itself would have required extraordinary faith, and an extraordinary sense of personal responsibility.

But approach him, she did. And in doing so, she left record for all of time the most disturbing account in the Gospels. In petitioning Jesus for help, Jesus turns his back on her. He recognizes she is a Gentile, and worse still, he calls her a dog. Undeterred, she says these famous words: Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.

What happens next cannot be overstated. Jesus changes his mind. Jesus has a change of heart. It is the only time we hear this happening in the entirety of the Gospels.

There are two things to glean, I believe in this story to help us out of the health care quandary we are in. The first is this woman’s faith and her sense of personal responsibility. It has been said often in the current debate that health care should be a right for all people. How could we not affirm such a claim in a nation that embraces a constitution that sees to the life, liberty, happiness of all its citizens? But the claim that health should be a right does not go far enough. Health care should not only be a right, it should be a responsibility. This means that all of us, the insured and uninsured, rich and poor, the healthy and the diseased must in good faith become vigilant about our own self care. We must face the fact that what is driving up much of the cost of health care, in spiraling increases in diabetes and obesity and heart disease and substance abuse, is due to our wanton and unsustainable lifestyles. We must attend to healthy lifestyles and nutrition in all the ways we care for our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. In short, we must embrace the conservative value of personal responsibility in how we approach our health as individuals and as a country.

There is also in our Gospel the record of Jesus collaborating with this woman seeking the healing of her daughter. I have a strong sense this should guide our own actions on this issue. For our health care crisis will not be solved until we have a similar change of heart. We know healing and health is a national priority. Now wherever we are on this issue, whether we are liberal or conservative, rich or poor, insured or uninsured, it is time to join together to see that the health of all our citizens is both a right and a responsibility.

What is the Heart? 13 Pentecost 2009

2009-09-03T10:19:00.002-04:00

13 Pentecost: 8/30/2009
The Reverand Steve Smith

“Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name.”

A few months ago, I had a very close encounter with my heart. On a routine doctor’s visit, my EKG showed I had an anomaly in one of my cardiac quadrants. And so, I was rather unceremoniously sent over to the heart center in Hyannis for further study. Boy, did I get the royal treatment! Stress test, ultrasound, echo cardiagram, you name it. As it turns out, nothing was wrong, and after three days of anxiety, all I got in the bargain was elevated blood pressure!

This little medical excursion, however, got me thinking. About my heart, and what the heart really is in all of its wonder and mystery. At the heart center, each time I looked on with cardiologist and med techs at the screen at that pulsating, breathing muscle in my chest, I thought about all the ways my heart functions in my life: as the source of my physical body, as the seat of my emotions, as most of all, as the spring of my will and spiritual being.

For this, ultimately, is what the heart is and has always been in human memory: the innermost fountain of our life, that part of us that plumbs the mystery of our lives and the life of the divine.

And, this, I think, is where our lessons from the Letter of James and the Gospel of Mark are taking us today. In the direction of our hearts: to that place inside us where we wrestle with our inner demons and our better angels. To those recesses in us where we harbor our deepest thoughts and plans and attitudes, and feelings and hopes and fears.

Holy Scripture, itself, references the heart frequently. In fact, it is one of the most common words we find in the entirety of the Bible, mentioned 925 times in all. In the great commandment, we are told to love the Lord our God with our heart and mind and soul. Jesus said “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Religion, for Jesus, is a matter of the heart. And this explains his argument with the Pharisees in our Gospel today. The Pharisees, you see, were not bad people. To the contrary, they lived exemplary lives, much like you and me. But their tendency was to base their goodness on their exterior behavior. As long as they were living by the letter of the law, they were abiding by its spirit. As long as they gave the appearance of being good, they could stand above those they considered to be evil. And so they took umbrage at the disciples of Jesus who did not wash their hands before they ate. They took offence that they would have the audacity to not practice religion as it is meant to be practiced.

Over against this, Jesus recited these ancient words of the prophet Isaiah: “The people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” And these words of Isaiah were based on the even older, familiar ones of I Samuel that “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh upon the heart.”

Nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, Jesus says. Rather it is the things that are in a person, in their hearts, these are the things that defile a person.

The Letter of James makes the same point. Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, the Letter commands. For it is the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. Those who only hear and do not do are like those who look into a mirror and immediately forget what they look like. They practice false religion.

The province of true religion, James said, is internal. It is in knowing our hearts that we come into full possession of our souls. And this involves ridding our hearts of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness. It involves welcoming with meekness the movement of God in our hearts.

In his Beatitudes, Jesus said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Many centuries later, the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote: “Purity of heart is to will one thing.”

Our lessons today come to us as an invitation to examine our own hearts. And when we turn in our hearts, what is it that we find there? Are our hearts divided? Are they conflicted? Are they burdened by resentment or fear or anxiety? Are our hearts hard and brittle from being broken or beaten down or neglected? Can we invite into our hearts the healing balm that God desires for us? Can we really have our hearts transformed to will one thing? Can our hearts be pure again?

If we have doubts about this, if we think it is too late, or we are too far from God’s grace, or even if we are simply content to live with our broken, divided hearts, even if we would rather remain bitter and stunted and self-absorbed in our hearts, then I would ask you, in closing, to consider one last time the person who we all had to come to terms with this past week, whether you were one of his big fans in this life, or one of his detractors. I would ask you to consider the heart of Teddy Kennedy.

For Teddy Kennedy had a heart just like you and me. It was a heart containing light and darkness, peace and conflict, just like yours and mine. And Lord knows Teddy Kennedy wrestled hard with his heart on his earthly sojourn. He had a heart broken so many times in so many places, it defies comprehension. The flaws his heart contained caused him to do some things that were reprehensible, yet who of us here today is blameless in this regard?. Late in his life, something happened to Teddy Kennedy. He began to look into his own heart, and he began to face the darkness and pain and sordidness that lurked in those recesses of his inner being. I believe in that very self-recognition he began to see the divine spark that is within each of us. I believe he began to will one thing. I believe, at the time of his death, his heart was pure.

And what about you? Here’s what I believe: if our hearts are truly open and receptive, they too can become pure and whole again. For in the end, this is all God asks of us: God asks for our hearts, so that love can be grafted there, and there, in our hearts, the implanted word will save our souls.

Book Recommendations

2009-08-13T11:32:00.000-04:00

Book Recommendations from Michael Everett-Patriquin

“Girl Meets God” by Lauren F. Winner
This spiritual memoir follows a young woman’s conversion to Orthodox Judaism and her subsequent path to Christianity. A remarkable story which highlights the many similarities and differences between the faiths.

“Wrestling with Angels: Adventures in Faith and Doubt” by Carolyn Arends
Christian singer-songwriter Carolyn Arends documents many of her meetings with the mystery of God in this endearing collection.

“Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith” by Anne Lamott
This both amusing and moving collection of essays covers Anne Lamott’s journey through alcoholism into Christianity and single-motherhood.

“The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness” by Karen Armstrong
Fascinating and challenging memoir follows “a History of God” author Karen Armstrong from her youth in a convent, through life at Oxford, illness and the eventual realization of her own spirituality.

These four books are all now available in the St. Mary’s library.

Book Recommendations

2009-07-30T13:28:00.001-04:00

Recommended by Marian Ferguson

"Listening below the Noise: A Meditation on the Practice of Silence"
by Anne D, LeClaire
Local author's experiment with silent Mondays grows to a way of life, a spiritual journey. Poetic version of Sue Mink Kidd's When the Heart Waits

"In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God"
by Gene Robinson
A celebration of faith, affirmation of God's love for all people. A welcome opportunity to hear Robinson's own voice apart from the cacophony surrounding his position as Bishop. Read in conjunction with DVD "For the Bible Tells Me So," an insightful documentary about the contemporary face of the conflict between Christian fundamentalists and gay and lesbian people. This deconstruction of thin arguments that the Bible actually condemns homosexuality focuses on four families including Robinsons's.

Saint Mary's Garden--Daffodils in bloom!

2008-04-21T18:44:00.005-04:00

~Photos by Kris
~Click on any picture to enlarge it

Friday in Slidell

2008-04-21T18:40:00.001-04:00

~By Ann Canedy

It was our last day on the job and everyone worked double time to finish the roof and clean the work site for the next team. Our Americorps volunteer foremen B-Man and Brandon posed for photos, accepted Cape Cod T-shirts and a good-natured poem written by Linda Gadkowski. They told us that we are the best team they have ever had (and we believed it!). We gathered around in a group huddle with our clasped hands extended to the middle. Ernie Charette gave us instructions for the “desired response”, then asks “Are we the best darn group Habitat has ever sent to Slidell?” OHHHH Yeah!

We left the site early so we could drive into New Orleans. We wanted to tour the 9th Ward again and to work with a street preacher named Charlie. We picked up Ryan, a missionary’s son from Las Vegas who is working with the homeless through the Slidell Faith Church before he enlists in the Air Force. We stopped at a place called Carpenter 2, a multi-purpose center in transition. There is already a successful Carpenter 1 functioning in another part of the 9th Ward. The building is stuffed to the rafters with donated clothing, bedding, food and other supplies. The vision is that the center will eventually have a place for overnight stays, a kitchen, meal service, and processing and storage of goods.

We stood in an assembly line with some young student volunteers and began packing bags. The bags contain donated bread which the volunteers have to accept as pig feed because it is too old for the grocery stores to give to people for consumption. We checked each loaf for mold. If acceptable, the bread went into the bag with bottled ice tea, pudding, canned meat, peanut butter and bananas.

On the way into the center of the city, we stopped at a crumbling old church, its interior still in shambles and covered in mold. We also stopped at a house that stood alone in an area, which used to be a block of closely built bungalows. The door was open and tattered curtains hung in windows without glass. We looked in the windows and saw a crib in pieces and toddler clothes still hanging in the closet.

We drove into New Orleans to an area under the I-10. There was a literal “tent city” with rows of pitched tents and old mattresses, shopping carts, dirty clothes and linens. We handed out the bags of groceries we had packed to the people in the tents. Some people expressed appreciation: others demanded their share. There was not enough to give to everyone under the freeway.

I had mixed feelings about what I was doing. It was so blatantly wrong that any responsible city official would allow a camp like this to exist. There were people of all races and degrees of sobriety and sanity living in absolute squalor. The stench was overwhelming. It made me angry and it made me sad. Understanding that I was giving these people food they needed to last the weekend, I also felt as if I was being an enabler or putting a band-aid on a problem that the city chose to ignore. Michael Sweeney had a more optimistic view than most of us. He felt it was like one starfish among many on the shore. Throw one back into the sea and although it won’t make much difference to the starfish left behind, it may make a big difference to the starfish which has been given another chance.

We are ready to come home. I reflect on how advanced and humane the Cape is in the treatment of its homeless population. New Orleans seems to continue to lag behind neighborhoods like Slidell in rebuild efforts. I feel that our involvement in Slidell with Habitat was a positive experience. We were not offering a band-aid .We were helping people to help themselves and changing an entire neighborhood for the better.

Thursday in Slidell

2008-04-21T18:36:00.001-04:00

~By Ann Canedy

Everyone you meet here has a story to tell. Last night most of the St. Mary’s group went to a neighborhood restaurant for dinner. Some of us had on T-shirts that identified us as Habitat workers. As one of our team left the rest room, a woman who introduced herself as Gerry, approached her. “I just want to tell y’all thank you”, she said. We ended up spending part of the evening with Gerry and her husband-new friends.

Every morning our group and other volunteers meet at the local Habitat office. This morning there were two people passing through in their RV, a group from an investment company in New York, and a large contingent from Centerville, Ohio. The latter group represents their town, which pays for their travel expenses. They have formed a partnership with a local school called Our Lady of Lourdes and they are regular volunteers in the Gulf. Our volunteer coordinator Lindsay asked the group if they wanted to share their experiences. At first no one came forward. Then Judy Scarafile told the story of meeting Gerry. Other people from other groups began sharing their stories of the Gerrys they had met. Lindsay said, that if it were not for volunteers like us from outside, the 75 houses Habitat has built would not have been possible. There is just not enough local support.

Not that Habitat is not appreciated by the local population –it really is. People are just unable to give the many hours of work that rebuilding requires, because they are rebuilding their own lives. On the jobsite today we met Jessica Talamo, a young married woman with three small children originally from Chalmette. Habitat requires that in addition to a financial commitment, the potential homeowner has to put in 50 hours of “sweat equity”. Jessica earned hers today. She picked up a paintbrush and she joined me, Andie, Jane, Linda and Bruce in painting the shed. The shed was finally finished with a prime coat. We dubbed it “the petite chateau d’amour” (love shack!) and laughingly took a group photo in front of it. We exchange email addresses with Jessica and promised to send her kids Red Sox shirts.

We all worked extremely hard today –the men (and Jeannie) put up the roof and finished off the porch. The women hammered metal strips along the perimeter of the house as fortification against wind, readied the kitchen for the cabinet installation, and sprayed the floors. Our Lincoln Street house is becoming a home.

After eight hours on the job in heat and humidity and dealing with delightful creatures called fire ants (they bite!), we went to Our Lady of Lourdes to put in a couple more hours of volunteering. The church steeple had collapsed into the church building and both the school and chapel were condemned. The gymnasium still stands and houses all the supplies that have been donated. It is incredible to see cinder block walls cracked and gaping, large holes in the floors where the foundation was so undermined by the flood waters that parts of the interior collapsed from underneath and the I beam was torked. The school was completely gutted.

The facility manager told us a story about her secretary whose house was flooded. Her family retreated to the attic. Realizing that they could not get out through the attic to the roof, they had to swim under water to their front door and out into the street. Relatives in powerboats found them clinging to the sides of the house while the wind blew at 150 mph.

Symbolizing what I have found to be the spirit of Slidell, the church remained open throughout the storm and continued giving mass, even though the church was under 7 feet of water for days. The church operated initially with one round plastic table and a cell phone. Now children dressed in uniform pour out of the trailers at the end of a school day and there is a banner across the first trailer announcing “2008 Cheerleading Champions ”

Tomorrow we work a half-day at our jobsite and travel into New Orleans. We will pack and deliver 100 bags of groceries for the displaced who still live under the I-10. There are still too many houses to build.

Wednesday in Slidell

2008-04-21T18:31:00.002-04:00

~By Ann Canedy

Every one here has a Katrina story, because everyone was affected. We are told that a mandatory evacuation was called for all of St. Tammany Parish two days before the storm. Residents I have met admit that many ignored the order, having ridden out many hurricanes before. When Katrina made landfall, the Slidell Airport Weather Center recorded 200 mph gusts of wind. The storm was then classified as a Category Three, but some believe that Katrina gained momentum over Lake Pontchartrain, the large lake north of New Orleans. Slidell sits on the northeastern shore of this lake. Lake Charlotte and the Gulf lie to its east and the city is surrounded by bayous.

The eye of the storm passed directly over the city. There was a 28-foot storm surge, a tsunami, which reached up to five miles inland. Communication was immediately lost. There were no telephones, electricity or water. Cell phones did not work because the towers were down. Cell phone use was only partially restored after four days - text messaging worked after midnight. Evacuees were not allowed into the city until four days after the storm, when entry was allowed only during daylight hours. No one was admitted without identification and no one could stay overnight. Twelve days after the storm, the all clear was given for residents to move back into Slidell. Eighty five percent of the city was demolished. Only Home Depot and Sam’s Club were able to open for business. Many could not return to their jobs because their places of business no longer existed. Once grocery stores reopened many did not have money to buy food. MREs (military food packets) were handed out as food supplements for two months and many of Slidell’s residents went on Food Stamps. News was limited to out of town coverage and power did not return to parts of Slidell until a month after the storm.

We have seen Slidell’s devastation and feel a small part in its rebirth. Slidell has really gotten its act together. On Wednesday, after a full day of work, all 14 of us piled into our rented van and headed south to New Orleans. We wanted to see the rest of the story.

As I looked out the car window, I found it hard to visualize the underlying beauty of the landscape when so much of it is covered with urban sprawl and still evident scars of Katrina. We passed an abandoned Six Flags amusement park, the roller coaster stark against the horizon. In the once upscale community of Eden Isles where pre-Katrina houses were packed so tightly you could not see the canal, only bare pilings remain. These homes sustained 4-8 feet of water and thousands of pounds of debris washed in from damaged or destroyed homes. Boats, appliances, cars, seaweed and dead animal life replaced the homes. In some areas, piles of debris still remain.

The homes along Lakeshore Drive (also known as Rat’s Nest Road) felt the first impact of the storm. A 28-foot storm surge destroyed 300 houses in this area. FEMA trailers also dot the landscape. Meant to be a temporary housing solution, many families still live in them because they have not received their insurance settlements.

We crossed over the bridge between Slidell and Chalmette, located in St. Bernard’s Parish just outside New Orleans. The original twin span collapsed during the storm and it is gratifying to see that the new bridge will be 30 feet higher. Chalmette is surrounded by wetlands, including Bayou Savage, a protected sanctuary for many of Louisiana’s wildlife. Chalmette received 10-12 feet of water. Wetlands are normally a natural “speed bump” for hurricanes but 217 miles of wetlands were lost during Katrina.

We passed the Murphy’s Oil Company Refinery. During Katrina, a large barge had traveled so far inland that it ran into the storage tanks, cracking one container and leaking thousands of gallons of oil into the surging water. Only five homes survived in this area and each of those had to be gutted. Here we saw the various stages of rebuild. Some homes have been refurbished, but many are still abandoned. Some still bear the X left by responders after the storm. On the top of the X, the date the house was inspected is recorded, to the left the group that inspected, to the right the number of dead animals and at the bottom of the X, the number of dead people. Some homes bore multiple Xs indicating the number of times the home was searched for survivors.

Just before the bridge into the 9th Ward, we see evidence of the 17th Street Canal break in the levee that caused so much devastation to that area. What was once a crowded neighborhood is now a vacant green patch. New cement levees are being rebuilt by the Army Corps of Engineers.

As we crossed into the 9th Ward, we saw remnants of a former FEMA Park where many residents were forced to live if they could not tap into resources on their own property. These parks were closed last month. The trailers were pulled in order to be tested for the possibility that inhabitants were being over exposed to formaldehyde. The trailers were also removed at the request of the local government. Compared to Slidell, and I am told, Gulfport and Biloxi, New Orleans has been slow to recuperate from Katrina. I was struck by how little rebuilding there seems to be. What has been rebuilt has been built as it was before the storm-at or below sea level. Interestingly, when you ask about the local city government, the response is always how corrupt and inefficient it is and sadly, the people here seem to accept that assessment as the norm.

The 9th Ward shows little sign of progress. An evacuee told me that it is not much different there than it was before Katrina. It is a depressing area of squalor, broken windows, debris laden yards, rusting automobiles. We pass a sign reading “No Dumping”, the debris around it almost obscuring the words.

A lone bright spot is the Musician’s Village, which is a couple of blocks of brightly colored houses. This is a project sponsored by Harry Connick Jr. and others and being built by Habitat volunteers. Almost every house has an Obama sign out front. The symbolism in this simple landscape is palpable.

The business district along the river did not receive too much direct damage. However, because the city was without electricity for weeks, many of the high-rise offices became so moldy they had to be gutted.

As we went into the French Quarter I was intrigued by the contrasts. The architecture is beautiful-old iron lace grilled doors and windows, flowers hanging from balconies. There is music on every street corner and drifting from the bars .The streets were crowded with revelers. This is not appealing to me –there is an overwhelming sense of decadence. It seems so self indulgent and incongruous to the rest of our week.

A poem

2008-04-15T10:24:00.001-04:00

Habitat for Humanity

On April 6th, fourteen did arrive,
And into house building they did dive.
Michael, Pete, and Ernie built the roof and shed,
And then Ann had the big hammer on her head.
Jeff, Walter, Steve, and Bruce made sure that no nail was loose,
Jane, Jeannie, Linda and Andie became quite handy.
They nailed, sawed and drilled so every house part was filled.
Judy became the insulation queen.
And sweet Suzanne made the entire house clear.
Brandon and B-man ran the show.
They taught us very well all we know.
We are mighty proud of the site
And with God’s help we got it right.

~Linda Gadkowski, April 11, 2008

Bruce's perspective

2008-04-14T12:42:00.001-04:00

~By Bruce Johnson

April 12

The town of Slidell sits at the edge of Lake Pontchartrain some twenty miles north of New Orleans. It is also below sea level. When Hurricane Katrina hit, Slidell was inundated with a 28 foot wave of water from Lake Pontchartrain which is averagely only 12 feet deep. High watermarks on walls fifteen feet or more above the doorsills of many houses were common.

It was into this community that our 14 person church group from St. Mary’s in Barnstable came to build houses with the Habitat for Humanity organization. We were assigned to the East St. Tammany Parish where the homes of poor people were especially hard hit.

The schedule we followed for the week was rigorous. Up at 6:00 AM, on the bus at 6:30, report to the work site ready to build at 7:00 AM. Lunch at noon, clean up and back to the Holiday Inn at 3:30PM for shower and rest. On to dinner at 5:30, sometimes locally and sometimes driving 45 minutes into New Orleans for the special cuisine of that city.

The work itself was both hard and rewarding. Of the fourteen in the group we had a mix of highly skilled craftsmen and some who could barely manage a hammer. Somehow our two foremen, both young men doing tours as “paid” volunteers, sorted us out into work groups according to our abilities. Pounding nails, moving scaffolding, painting, picking up trash by itself is just hard work; building a house for a family that has lived in a trailer for almost three years is rewarding. We met several owners and prospective owners, all of whom had their stories to tell and were most grateful for the efforts of the volunteers. Hearing their stories made the work easier.

On Friday we knocked off early to do a food distribution for Katrina victims in New Orleans still homeless and living in tents under Interstate 10. Thos was followed by a tour of the most devastated part of the city, the Lower Ninth Ward. As much as I had read about it nothing prepared me for the utter destruction of those neighborhoods. Block after block of concrete pads where houses once stood. Other blocks of houses with large red X’s painted on indicating that they were condemned. Perhaps most poignantly were the red symbols painted on the front doors that showed: date of inspection, number of people found, number of dead people found, number of dead pets found. You cannot see these symbols and not be moved.

I am waiting at the New Orleans airport for our flight back to Boston and on to Cape Cod. I am tired, a bit nicked up from a misdirected hammer and with a bag full of dirty clothes; but I am also refreshed with the satisfaction of having participated in something extraordinarily worthwhile.

On the ground in Slidell~ Day 2

2008-04-14T12:27:00.006-04:00

~By Judy Walden Scarafile

We assembled at Morning Circle at 7am and were assigned to our houses on Lincoln Rd for the rest of the week. Our site supervisors, Brendan and B-Man were great to work with and we had already learned a lot about house building on Day 1.

We gathered at our “house” and formed our own circle as Brendan gave us instructions and Rev Steve led us in prayer. It was a perfect way to start the day, on this our second day on site.

Today we continued hammering and attaching the hurricane straps, this time to the base of the house. Between the straps by the ceiling and now these on the first floor, this house was certainly not going to blow down in an average storm. I asked if these straps were used “up north” and the answer was clearly, “you wouldn’t need them”.

Once the plywood walls had been nailed down, it was ready for a review of all area like filling in where nails had been missed or finding areas that needed to be done over. This involved taking out nails that were crooked, adding foam-in insulation in areas that had dead air, and patching up holes where you could see daylight through “solid” wall.

This bright orange foam insulation looked like cheese doodles and was fun to work with. But one had to remember how much it expanded…..even after several hours. In one area that required the foam insulation, I drilled holes through the two-by-four and squirted the silly foam inside. I let it expand and in an hour I added more. By afternoon I had a forgotten about it, thinking it looked pretty good and we could go to the next step. Then I heard someone roar with laughter outside the house. The foam, under pressure to find another outlet had expanded so much it squeezed through every crack and nail hole in the plywood. On the outside of the house were three huge globs of tangerine colored gook that looked like orange tennis balls stuck on the outside walls. In the meantime the trusses and plywood were going up on the back of the house to create the roof. Time to wear a hard hat with flying nails and occasional debris.

Seems like the word spread quickly to the local wasps, insects that love the rafters of a roof. Several large southern variety wasps started flying around. I knew a hard hat would not help here, so we got off the ladders in the back of the house and found another spot to do more hammering

The East St. Tammany school buses drive by at 2:55, signifying “cleanup and quitting time”. We scurried around and put things away. After a quick drive back to the hotel and a quick shower, we were in the van heading into New Orleans for a tour of Chalmette, St Bernard’s Parish and the devastated and depressed Ninth Ward.

The work goes on~more from our team in Slidell

2008-04-11T20:21:00.012-04:00

~Starting the day at the Habitat office with a circle of prayer

~The painting crew in front of the finished petite chateau d'amore (LOVE SHACK)

~Steve. "If I had a hammer..."

~Jessica, an applicant for a Habitat home, earning sweat equity

~Jeannie on the roof

~Making progress!

Tuesday in Slidell

2008-04-10T09:58:00.003-04:00

Written by Ann Canedy for the Barnstable Patriot, used by permission

In her distinctive Louisiana accent, Debbie, a Habitat for Humanity director and Katrina survivor, told us that she would never have imagined that her life would be like “some old country song”. Hurricane Katrina is a reminder to us that some of the basic things in life should not be taken for granted. Debbie had a refrigerator in her front yard and a FEMA trailer in her driveway for three months. She remembers waiting in line for ice for hours and discovering that duct tape had many uses. She has learned to be grateful for garbage trucks, electricity, Walmart, mail delivery and Habitat volunteers.

The St. Mary’s team has been assigned two houses side by side on Lincoln Street. “Our house” has the walls up, the floor in and not much else. It stands 10 feet above sea level on cinder blocks. While waiting for our assignments, I started picking up debris scattered in the periphery of the lot. It was disconcerting to find so many sea shells this far from the water. I was told by one of our foremen that Slidell experienced a tidal surge of 28 feet. Partially buried in the sandy soil, I found a silly plastic bust- the kind you buy at cheap souvenir shops. This one was inscribed “I Wuv You”. It seemed symbolic somehow that something so small and insignificant had survived such a powerful storm. At one time it must have had meaning to someone. We have placed the statue to the left of the front door; just to let the new owners, whoever they will be, know that this home will be one of love.

Ernie, Peter and Michael completed the shed today. Someone who had worked on the project before had scribbled “Love Shack” over the door. It was the first finished project on the property. Led by Walter who knows the words to every oldie, we all sang “Love Shack” to celebrate.

Ernie and Peter were dispatched to other sites to work on sheds. Andie Albies , a registered nurse, joined with Judy Scarafile, Linda, Jane and me in nailing storm brackets along the perimeter of the house and along the roof in the interior. This house is ready for wind. Michael, Jeff, and our two foremen B-Man and Brendon (Americorps volunteers) worked on the roof. Walter and Bruce Johnson, our wine connoisseur, worked on the exterior panels. Suzanne Moyer, an interior designer and commercial artist, manages to work as hard as the rest of us yet look like she stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. She swept the entire interior, getting after us all for “tracking in dirt”. We are all getting a little proprietary about “our house.

Our volunteer coordinator Lindsey Grove tells us that Lincoln Park used to be a rough neighborhood. Habitat has built quite a few houses here. The neighborhood is integrated and is starting to change in a positive way. Interestingly, the root meaning of “Katrina” is cleansing. I think the community of Slidell is on its way back.

More on Monday

2008-04-10T09:50:00.002-04:00

Written by Ann Canedy for the Barnstable Patriot, used by permission

Our first day in Slidell began in the early morning fog. The Cape contingent, outfitted in our Cape Cod T-Shirts donated by Cuffey’s, stood in a circle with volunteers from other groups and places ad learned about Habitat for Humanity’s philosophy, safety first tips and where we would spend the next week. All 14 Cape Codders decided to stay together and we were assigned a house on Lincoln Street in an area that was under 10-15 feet of water after Katrina hit. Although it has not rained here for a couple of weeks, there are standing puddles of water and mud everywhere.

Ernie Charette and Peter Scarafile are commissioned to complete the garden shed. Ernie is the Director of Facilities and services at WHOI. His wife Jane is a retired teacher and is currently a jobs coach through CapeAbilities. Both have been to New Orleans before, working in the 9th Ward and with Habitat on Cape Cod. Peter Scarafile, a pharmacist at Cape Cod Hospital, also knows what he is doing.

The rest of us are assigned to pounding in nails at 4-inch intervals across the siding of the main house. This we do from 7:45 am until 12 noon. Linda Gadkowski, a certified financial planner, juggles calls from clients and her skills as a left handed hammerer. Michael Sweeney, a surfer who works with Hyannis Assistance Corp, drifts away to help Peter and Ernie finish off the shed. Jeannie Stokinger, who I have decided must be a closet construction worker, has more energy than all of us put together. She kept me going.

The magic noon hours bring us Louisiana rice and beans and an excuse to sit down. Walter Gadkowski, a retired anesthesiologist, regales us with epic length jokes. The fog has long burned off and the Louisiana sun is hot. Someone says it is 39 degrees in Boston and we stop complaining.

By 3:00 we are ready to go. Jeff Albies, a retired collegiate baseball coach, remarks that we all have a new respect for construction workers. Muscles we never knew we had ache. I believe I will be wielding a hammer in my sleep tonight.

Tonight most of us went to the dedication of two completed Habitat for Humanity homes. This was a very special occasion, of course for the new owners, but also for the volunteers who worked on them. Habitat buys the house lot and clears the land for $15,000. The “bricks and sticks” cost $60,000 and each house may take three months to build. The new homeowner purchases the home for $75,000 and Habitat holds the mortgage. These homes are assessed at $120,000 and the money Habitat makes holding the mortgage is folded back into the funds. Habitat currently has 30 houses under construction in this area.

The first homeowner Demetrius Thornton is a single mom with three children. Her home was sponsored by a local artist Tami Ellis whose “Hope Floats” painting, depicting the Louisiana spirit after Katrina, drew $2,600 at an eBay auction. That sale, along with sales of poster prints and special events, combined to total over $25,000, which Ellis has donated to Habitat for Humanity for rebuilding efforts.

The second homeowner Jennifer Jochum, also a single parent, worked side by side earning her “sweat equity” with her partner team from Bridgeport Connecticut . We formed quite a crowd in support as the candle was lit, housewarming gifts were given and the formal incantation of the litany of dedication was given.

During the ceremony, I remembered what the Rev. Steve Smith said to me earlier on the plane: Discontent is when you see something tragic, remark something should be done, and change the channel. Holy discontent is when you watch the same event, put down the remote control and feel an urgency to respond.

It was our first day “on the job”, yet we had a glimpse of the full circle. It occurred to us that in a few months another crowd would gather in front of the house we were building. Because of our collective holy discontent, another family would be welcomed home.

Day 2~A picture is worth a thousand words

2008-04-09T11:44:00.012-04:00

~Found in the mud, this little knick knack became the group's mascot.

~Jeannie starts the day with yoga

~Suzanne

~Judy

Day 1~Hard at work with Habitat

2008-04-08T23:38:00.000-04:00

~Saint Mary's Disaster Relief Ministry Team report by Judy Walden Scarafile

We began our first full day in Louisiana bright and early. We met at 6:30 in the lobby of the Slidell Holiday Inn and then all 14 of us piled into the 15-passanger van. It was a quick drive to the First Baptist Church in Slidell where the Habitat trailer was located. Lindsay Grove, the Americore Volunteer Coordinator for East St Tammany Habitat for Humanity greeted the new crop of volunteers. There were about 40 people from all parts of the USA, but this time, mostly from the East and Midwest. Our group from St Mary’s was by far the largest.

We gathered outside, literally in a circle for what is called “Morning Circle”. This was a welcome and a time for reflection. We also had a 15-minute safety talk. It seems just like common senses, but in fact is probably where the most of minor injuries occur…not paying strict attention to the rules of “Safety First”.

Cathy Wood from Habitat read a meaningful reflection and shared her experience as a Katrina survivor in Slidell and how incredibly grateful residents are for the outpouring of help they have received from volunteers. With that warm welcome, we received our assignment for the day.

The St Mary’s team would be driving to the Lincoln Park area of Slidell to work on two houses, side -by -side on Lincoln Rd. We arrived on site to find one house with walls up and waiting for a roof and the other was rough framed.

Ernie, Peter and Michael were quickly assigned to work on a shed in the back “yard” which had a hand written sign over the doorway, “Love Shack”. They worked all day on the shed, doing siding, creating scaffolding and ultimately putting on the roof. It was the first finished project on the property and was a source of pride. Certainly the song “Love Shack” would hold a new meaning for all of us when we would next hear it on an oldies station.

The rest of the 11 of us began the long project of nailing. Everything needed to be nailed, it seemed, so with hammers selected from the tool trailer, we began. We hammered nails into plywood sides to reinforce the walls, hammered steel braces between the plates and joists to reinforce the roof. Hammer, hammer, hammer. All 11 people hammering all day long. I knew there would be some sore muscles and wrists on Day 2 but this was worth it. We could see our progress and that was really meaningful.

At 2:30 we started the clean up process to put all the tools away and pick up any scraps. Suzanne swept the rooms in the house as thought she lived here and she teased people to “take off their muddy shoes” before coming into the house.

Back into the van with lots of stories to share we drove the 5-minute ride back to the Holiday Inn, our home base. Fourteen hot showers awaited us and we could not wait …..for the showers or Day 2 on our job site.

Disaster Relief Ministry Team hard at work in Slidell

2008-04-08T12:06:00.008-04:00

Click on any picture to enlarge it

Top to bottom:
~Natasha Thornton at the dedication of her new home
~The team hard at work
~Walt
~Bruce
~Steve
~Jeannie
~The whole gang after a hard day's work

Saint Mary's Mission Trip to Slidell LA~1st report

2008-04-05T22:43:00.004-04:00

From Ann Canedy~orignally printed in the Barnstable Patriot and used
with permission

Last year. I mentioned in these pages my trip of a lifetime to the Galapagos Islands. I am about to embark on another trip of a lifetime of a different sort.

Last fall, Judy and Peter Scarafile, two members of my parish at St Mary's Episcopal Church in Barnstable, embarked on a working trip to Slidell LA. Both are enthusiastically immersed in baseball--Judy as the head of the Cape Cod Baseball League and Peter as director of the Hyannis Mets-- so one would think October would find them at the World Series cheering on our Red Sox. Instead, they spent their evenings elbow to elbow with Yankee fans watching big screen TV in a hotel bar in Slidell. Their days were spent shoulder to shoulder with workers around the country doing what they could to rebuild devastated Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

Judy Scarafile first went to Louisiana in 2005 immediately after Katrina as a pharmacist from the local Medical Reserve Corp to work on a Mobile Medical Team. Disorganization and bureaucracy almost deep-sixed that effort as the group of 80 volunteers sat in an Army camp for threedays before being assigned. Communication was so lacking that Judy would be dispatched to the local Laundromat to do her laundry in hopes she could overhear state officials discussing the plan. It was apparent that Louisiana officials were resistant to accept help from outside. Once the work began, however, there was an obvious need and plenty to do keeping all eight mobile medical teams very busy.

Judy returned to the area with Peter last fall with the Madison, CT affiliate of Habitat for Humanity called Madison Cares. Their operation was based in Slidell. Before Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, Slidell, was considered a quaint and thriving bedroom community of New Orleans and nearby Metaire, and was home to 35,000 people. Katrina severely damaged or destroyed 85 percent of Slidell's homes, churches and businesses. The community experienced an influx of population to 90,000, unlike other communities that experienced a decrease, largely due to evacuation from New Orleans.

The contrast in organization from the Scarafile's first trip to their second was remarkable. Their group of 12 from Connecticut and Massachusetts worked on three houses in three stages of build and became so skilled that they modestly referred to themselves as the Vinyl Siding Specialists of New England. The Scarafiles returned from that experience not only knowing that the Red Sox had prevailed but that the volunteers had been a small part of the progress that is indeed being made in Louisiana. Their enthusiasm was so contagious that St. Mary's rector. the Rev. Steve Smith, asked them to consider organizing a group of parishioners for a return trip.

So we are going-a total of 14 of us - with varying levels of skill sets, experiences and expectations to the East St. Tammany Parish and Slidell LA. It may indeed be a trip of a lifetime.

26th Presiding Bishop Elected

2006-06-18T18:12:00.000-04:00

The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada, was elected today as the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church on the fifth ballot cast by the House of Bishops. Her election was confirmed by the House of Deputies, as is required by church canons.

More info about Bishop Jefferts Schori here.

General Convention Updates

2006-06-13T10:21:00.000-04:00

General Convention begins today, June13, in Columbus OH. Here are some links to keep you up to date on what is happening:

Reports from Massachusetts Delegate Becky Alden, from St. Barnabas' Blog

The officical General Convention website, updated daily

Coverage from Witness Magazine

The Daily Episcopalian, a blog by Jim Naughton, seasoned reporter and delegate from the Diocese of Washington

Preludium, a blog by Deleware delegate Mark Harris

Saint Mary's LRP--Background and Intro

2006-05-03T22:43:00.000-04:00

St. Mary's Long Range Plan
2006-2008

Background and Introduction:

In 2005 four major activities occurred leading to the development of this three year long range plan for St. Mary's Episcopal Church and its congregation:

In January Stephen V. Smith became Rector of St. Mary's after the congregation had been without a permanent rector for over two years.
The Vestry in concert with the new rector developed and adopted an updated mission statement.
The Vestry and the Rector agreed to develop and implement a three-year plan for our St. Mary's.
A comprehensive survey was conducted among all members of the congregation in concert with an Âevery memberÂ visitation program.

The Mission Statement:

St. Mary's is a community of faith striving to live intentionally as the Body of Christ in the world. We express our faith through worship, spiritual formation, care for others and responsible stewardship of all of our resources.

We base our worship on the richness and diversity of Anglican liturgy and music.
We provide opportunities and resources to guide the spiritual development of our multigenerational congregation.
We reach out to help fulfill the material needs of those in our local community and beyond.
We invite everyone to participate in the life of our community through sharing their time, talents and tangible resources.

The Parish Survey

In June 2005 St. Mary's polled 400 families in a Questionnaire designed to determine their levels of activity, areas of interest and feelings about the church, and to update our data base. From our 200 responses we determined that 60% of our parish is retired, 70% attend at least weekly, and people with a history of active involvement outnumber those seeking to serve. There was considerable interest in Dinner Groups, Current Events Forums, and Adult Bible Study. When asked about St. Mary's, most indicated that caring people, spiritual home, sense of belonging, appreciation of clergy, liturgy, sermons and music were most important to them. 95% had met Steve with enthusiasm. The survey was the foundation for a visitation program which reached families; both will help in planning going forward and the refinement of our record keeping.

The Long Range Plan

Why a Long Range Plan?

Carry out our mission as a congregation
Uncover problems and opportunities within Parish.
Set priorities for the work of the clergy, vestry and the congregation as a whole
Insure that spiritual, fiscal, and community goals are established and met
Guideline for management over three- year period. 2006-09

Parameters Used To create the plan:

With the Mission Statement in place and after reviewing the results of the Parish survey several interactive sessions were held to review and assess the current and future needs of the parish. The Vestry and Rector Smith agreed to develop plan organized around eight focal areas of development. A team leader(s) was identified for each area to manage the effort from plan to implementation.

Parish growth and participation (Marian Ferguson)

Spiritual Growth ( Phyllis Bradley and Kris Lewis)

Stewardship (Sharon Donegan)

Communications (Patrick Ramage)

Christian education (Liz Rabideau and Kris Lewis)

Outreach (Lisa Barr)

Buildings/Grounds and Property Management ( Matt Palmer)

Music (Bruce Johnson)

The Vestry recognizes the responsibility of continuing to evolve the rich spiritual life and traditions of St. MaryÂs. It also wishes to protect and improve the magnificent physical plant and gardens that are part of our heritage.

The long range plan assumes that in the next three years St. MaryÂs parish will not seek to expand in a manner that would require significant additions to the physical plant or professional staff.

The plan will insure the short and long term economic stability of the Parish.

We will establish specific and quantitative goals within each area of the plan and a process to be managed by the Vestry to insure that goals are met on a timely basis and with relevance to overall objectives.

We will make every effort to communicate this plan to our entire congregation in the hope that we will have both their support and active participation.

Long Range Plan Goals

Overall

Insure that our mission is fulfilled by making our parish a focal point in the lives of our congregation.
Create and implement the means for the Parish to be self supporting for ongoing expenses and insure that capital income is devoted to capital expenses and other special projects.
Insure that an organizational structure and process is in place to carry out and manage the goals of the strategic plan.
Insure that the elements of the strategic plan are adequately communicated, integrated, evaluated and evolved as needed.

Parish Growth and Participation

Retain and engage current membership to achieve 70% involvement in parish life-attend, pledge, church school or volunteer.
Maintain an active membership list of 400 families by 2008.
Cultivate new leadership and succession plans for all key parish activities.

Spiritual Formation

Broaden St. Mary's offerings of opportunities for spiritual formation in terms of variety, time and location so that programs meet needs of all parishioners.
More effectively communicate availability of offerings and other resources in area,

Stewardship

Increase number and level of pledges over the next three years to fund operating budget and discontinue use of capital funds and interest income for operating expenses.
Increase St. MaryÂs endowment principal and increase sources of income.
Develop a more formalized planned giving program.

Communications

Develop and implement an integrated communications plan for St. MaryÂs that reflects needs of all key constituencies and employs most effective and relevant channels of distribution.
Identify and implement means to have ongoing and effective dialogue among parish clergy, vestry and members.
Consistently reinforce mission in all communications.

Christian Formation: Children and Youth

Strengthen existing Church School program to nourish our children in faith as they grow.
Develop a comprehensive Youth program to meet educational and spiritual needs of this age segment.
Work with Spiritual formation to provide opportunities for development across life span.

Outreach

Define the mission and scope of the Outreach activities at St. Mary's
Integrate and coordinate all outreach and charitable giving within the Parish.
Increase participation in outreach activities.

Buildings, Grounds and Property Management

Identify, prioritize, and estimate costs for property and grounds projects requiring capital funding in the next three years.
Insure the continued maintenance of St. MaryÂs Garden .
Create an energy efficient physical plant and develop on-site renewable energy sources to demonstrate environmental stewardship and realize cost savings.
Develop set of policies and guidelines for use of Parish physical assets.

Music

Increase the size of the adult choir to 20 full time members and 12 additional voices for special services.
Add paid section leaders to the bass and soprano sections.
Add a part time assistant director.

Parish Growth and Development LRP

2006-05-03T22:38:00.000-04:00

Long Range Plan For Parish Growth and Development
Chair: Marian Ferguson
508-362-8225

LONG RANGE PLAN - PARISH GROWTH draft 4/24/06

I. WHERE WE ARE

A. Membership
St. Mary’s currently has about 600 resident members representing 350 separate families. In addition our rolls include 30 non-resident families and about 300 inactive members. We are considering an active resident family to be one who attends church, and/or pledges or gives, and/or has at least one family member who is active in the life of the parish and who makes the Cape their primary home.

From January 2004 – December 2005 (20 months) 38 active new families joined the parish. These are families who came to St. Mary’s in the last year of our interim and Steve’s first year; they represent about 11% of our total number of parish families. There was little or no outreach to increase membership in that period.

Our current membership has 62 families with members over 80 year of age. This represents 17% of our total resident membership. Some of these folks are not currently active due to age.

Our current families reside from Sagamore to Brewster with the following
geographic distribution.
24% Barnstable
17% Yarmouth Port
20% Hyannis/Hyannisport/Centerville
20% to the west of these areas
19% to the east of these areas

The tenure of the family membership of our current congregation is as follows
11% <> twenty years

Another measure of parish growth and development is attendance at services.
2000 - 22,138
2001 - 22,788
2002 - 20,391
2003 - 18,379
2004 - 13,130
2005 - 14,369 (Note- we dropped from four to three weekend services)

B. Congregation involvement/participation

216 families pledged to give to St. Mary’s in 2005. The pattern in years past is also significant. Our decline during interim years reached it bottom in 2004, inched up with a new rector; we hope to see continued increase in the number of pledges in our current drive for 2006.

1997 - 305 pledges
1998 - 285 pledges
1999 - 278 pledges
2000 - 279 pledges
2001 - 264 pledges
2002 - 267 pledges
2003 - 242 pledges
2004 - 205 pledges
2005 - 222 pledges (63% of resident families); an additional 38 families give without pledging, bringing our financial involvement to 74%

Another measure of congregational growth and development is participation in the life of the church. The following is based on family units, not individuals (hence a family of 4 will be counted the same as a single person household.)

204/350 or 58% of resident families attend church

119/350 or 43% of families serve in a church service related activity*

138/350 or 39% of families have at least one member who volunteers in a weekday activity.*

* There is significant overlap in these two groups. The numbers and percentages could change as we check with more group leaders and refine the lists.

73 students are enrolled in Church school representing 42 or 12% of parish families

215/380 or 55% of resident and non resident members participated in our Parish-wide Questionnaire in Summer 2005

From January 2004-September 2005, we identified 43 families as newcomers. From this group we have identified 33 new active families, of which 1/3 are involved with church school. This represents a retention rate of over 75% of those newcomers who walk in the door. Of these 28 new families:

23 are active volunteers
9 are involved with church school
23 have pledged
7 have made gifts
2 are clergy

C. Summary of where we are:

Having completed a parish wide-survey and visitation program in the spring-summer of 2005, we now have a fairly reliable sense of how many families are active within the church. There are still some issues to be resolved in record keeping, especially with regard to:

-counting active members (i.e. baptized children of inactive members who have not attended since they were baptized?)
-how do “good prospects” morph into active members?

Based on the Questionnaire returns, it’s clear that many people who had been active are no longer physically able to be. The challenge to the parish now is to develop a comparable corps of active members and leaders to build upon the efforts of those who’ve preceded us.

II. OBJECTIVES: WHERE WE WANT TO BE

GOALS
A. Retain and engage current membership – seek at least 70% to be involved parish life attend, pledge, church school, or volunteer.
B. Maintain an active membership list of about 400 families by 2008/2009. This means adding a net of 12-15 new families each year
C. Cultivate new leadership

A. Retain and Engage Current Membership

Our goals must be to focus on and organize the program and involvement desired by our current members. We have come through a long period without addressing needs in this area. The stable infrastructure will be essential to future growth in numbers and program. While some may argue that we need a larger pool of people from which to draw additional volunteers or pledges, it is not clear that we have done all we can to enlist the aid and involvement of current members. At this point, it seems wiser to spend at least a year (2006) to allocate resources in this direction while being mindful of newcomers, rather than mount a campaign to increase membership by an arbitrary percent. Note the diversity of skills the questionnaire revealed waiting to be tapped in the parish. These lists should be systematically mined for new base of volunteers, and we should develop a system of recording and tapping into skills of people new to the parish. As well we need to develop the data base capacity to keep track of these skills and interests and create a central “clearing house” for volunteers and volunteer opportunities

B. Grow to 350 Active Families by 2008-2009

Attract, welcome and incorporate new families (aim for 20 families, per year) into the life of St. Mary’s in order to sustain sufficient levels of congregation size to support both the Christian mission and practical needs of our parish (figuring attrition 20-25 individuals through death and moving each year.) In the absence of a membership drive, there is much to do to cultivate membership within those who walk in our doors; based on performance in the past 18 months, it seems reasonable to expect we may offset natural attrition in this manner. In early 2007 we should review of numbers to consider the need for a membership drive

C. Cultivate New Leadership

A third goal in parish development is the need to cultivate new leadership. Many have commented on the number of small number people who continue to carry the leadership load at St. Mary’s. We need to lighten the load on our heroes and to allow additional lights to shine. This represents a cultural shift at St. Mary’s; it won’t happen overnight. It should be discussed and modeled from the clergy, vestry, ECW on down. Aim might be to (1) identify all such leadership roles in first 6 months, (2) prepare job descriptions of each within twelve months, and (3) within the next 18 months identify second in command who will accept future leadership.

III. STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

A. Identify and recruit team to develop and execute plan over next 3-5 years; determine meeting expectations
1. Leslyn Thorne – Newcomer Events
2. Linda Hutton, Connie Phillips - Shepherds
3. Jim Cranitch – parish volunteers, data base management
4. Janis Umschlag, Evangelism committee
5. To be determined, Fellowship Committee
6. Ann Canedy, ECW
7. Link with Communications Task Force

B. Communicate to the parish the current state of membership, and goals for growth to seek their involvement in organizing increased participation,attracting new parishioners, and identifying new leadership.
1. Present overview of needs/goals to congregation via newsletter
2. Focus on responsibility of everyone to attract newcomers- “bring
a friend to church”
3. Conduct open meeting to explain status and recruit help (4/30)
4. Publish and circulate parish membership directory (done 12/05);
publish semi annual supplements of newcomers and updates
5. Publish packet for newcomers (green brochure done 10/05))

C. Identify and promote “affinity” activities within parish community to engage new and old members
1. Implement programs around movers to area, people engaged in outreach programs in general community
2. Dinners for 7 – consider making the part of a revived Fellowship Committee, responsible for church wide hospitality
3. Programs suggested by Questionnaire and visitation research (Adult bible study, current event forums, elder care, etc.)
4. Emphasize a “rebirth” leveraging new ministerial resources, re-energized commitment around Strategic Plan needs for volunteerism
5. Include targeted messages to appeal to individual needs: spiritual, educational, outreach to elderly/shut ins

D. Insure that visitors to services, church programs etc. are actively met and given information about our parish and its benefits.
1. Renew commitment to tours of facility (Russ Fales), use of pew cards, updated nametag board
2. Newcomers tri-fold to be installed at front door
3. Clergy visits with newcomers packet
4. Shepherd follow-up; program maintenance
5. Newcomer coffees/events; develop parish wide responsibility to greet newcomers every Sunday
6. Vestry greeter rotation (in place 11/05)
7. Include newcomers on dinners for 7 lists as space is available
8. Develop system to record newcomers’ interests re volunteering

E. Work with current leaders to identify second-in-command
1. Codify and publish job descriptions
2. Identify potential leaders parish-wide
3. Make volunteer lists available to leaders; update quarterly

IV. RESOURCES NEEDED

A. Clergy time for newcomer visits, program development (and leadership)
B. Data base maintenance; record keeping, identifying and thanking
volunteers
C. Shepherd program maintenance
D. Communications support: Cross Currents, Annual reports; Sunday
Bulletin; Newcomer’s packet, Directory of members
E. Volunteer time (shepherds, office, etc. etc.)
F. Parish-wide support of endeavor – “buy-in”.

V. OPEN ISSUES

A. Record keeping- Definition of “member”: How/when do you move from Good Prospect to Active Member? Related issues of member categories.

B. Optimum congregation size: 350 active resident families?

C. How to identify and enlist potential leaders? Build a climate of ownership and wider base of those taking responsibility for the parish body and programs. How to evaluate progress and feedback?

St. Mary’s Church Strategic Plan
Parish Growth and Development - Goal Tracking

A. Retain and Engage Current Membership

-Identify and Recruit Team Qrtr 1 ‘06
-Present goals/roles to in CC Qrtr 3 ’06 (Sept)
-Parish LRP meeting Qrtr 2 ’06 (Apr)
-Parish membership directory Done
-Dinners for 7 Done; update lists
- Revive Fellowship Com Qrtr 3 ’06 (August)
- Emphasize “rebirth” and Qrtr 3 ’06 (Oct)
- Introduce programs suggested by Qrtr 3 ’06 Oct)
Letters to those who expressed interest
-Target programs for individual needs Qrtr 4 ‘06

B. Grow parish to 400 active families 2009-2010

- Vestry greeters collect pew cards Done
- Update name tags Quarterly
- Newcomers’ tri-fold at front door Done
-Newcomers’ packet, clergy visits Done
-Publish newcomers names in CC Monthly
-Shepherd assignment, follow-up Monthly
-Shepherd team meeting April; Oct.
-Newcomer coffee/event; facility tours Quarterly
-Review membership list, data Quarterly
-Reconsider need for membership drive Qrtr 1 ’07, 08

C. Grow new leadership

-Generate list of current positions and teams Qrtr 2 ’06 -Maintain list of potential leaders/ workers Ongoing
-Generate job descriptions/function notebooks Qrtr 3 ’06
-All of the above to have “second in command” Qrtr 1 ’07

Communications LRP

2006-05-03T22:34:00.000-04:00

LONG RANGE PLAN FOR

PARISH COMMUNICATIONS

CHAIR: PATRICK RAMAGE
508-362-2052

LONG RANGE PLAN-COMMUNICATIONS DRAFT 3/09/06

WHERE WE ARE

St. Mary’s currently uses a number of vehicles to communicate with parishioners:
• Crosscurrents –a monthly bulletin to all active members
• Sunday Bulletin-used to communicate announcements
• Web site- has key information and church calendar
• Periodic announcements-sent to whole parish for special events, stewardship etc.
• Annual Report
• Members Directory
• Newcomers Packet
We also have channels of communication to the community at large.
• Public relations announcement
• Service advertising

While we believe we have many current vehicles for communication we believe there is an opportunity to have a more consistent and integrated process for communication. We also need to understand whether we are meeting the communication needs of the parish.
We also believe we could leverage external messaging opportunities to promote ST. Mary’s and its activities.

(Any other comments or info we received from the survey??)

Comments about change in leadership

GOALS
• . Develop and implement an integrated communications plan for St. Mary’s that reflects needs of all key constituencies and employs most effective and relevant channels of distribution.
• Consistently reinforce mission in all communications.
• Continue to promote St. Mary’s and its activities to the community at large.

STRATEGIES AND TACTICS
A. Integrated Communications plan (Channels)
• Complete audit of all communications vehicles being used for internal and external audiences.
• Contact all key constituencies to assess needs for communications in and out of parish (Clergy, Vestry, Committee Heads etc)
• Develop annualized plan to detail all planned communications.
• Improve current communications tools and add others as needed to insure that effective and two-way dialogue is facilitated. Develop point of view regarding current and additional vehicles for communication.
• Develop and implement a plan to more effectively make use of our web site and e-mail as communications tools.
• Recruit communications team to support goals.

B. Consistently reinforce mission in all communications (Content)

• Insure that there is an articulated and consistent messaging throughout communications process which reinforces overall mission and our goal to engage more members in St. Mary’s.

C. Promote St. Mary’s to Community at large (Public Relations)
• Develop comprehensive PR plan
• Assess and address communication requirements for all other areas of focus in long range plan.

Building and Grounds LRP

2006-05-03T22:32:00.000-04:00

LONG RANGE PLAN

BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS

CHAIRMAN: MATT PALMER
508-362-3839

LONG RANGE PLAN: Buildings Grounds and Gardens Draft 3/10/06

Current Status:

The congregation of St. Mary’s has the blessing of a beautiful church, extensive facilities and renowned and beautiful surrounding gardens. The physical plant is valued at several million dollars and portions of this facility are over 100 years old with a new addition built in the 1960’s. We also have the burden of maintaining a facility with significant demands for upkeep and improvement:

• Our church is located in a low wet area with a stream running through the property. Drainage and periodic flooding are continual problems-particularly in the library area of the building.
• Our beautiful and extensive gardens require significant maintenance and our current volunteer base is ageing.
• Historically, we have not allocated adequate resources for ongoing maintenance of our facilities.
• We need to demonstrate environmental stewardship of our physical plant

For a number of years, little capital maintenance or improvements were performed at the church, primarily due to lack of funding. In the past ten years some of the backlog of deferred maintenance has been completed. While funding has come from the capital growth of the endowment or bequests to the church, there is no annual budget set for these needs and it has been done on an ad hoc basis. Ideally we would create an annual capital allocation for buildings and grounds so that a more structured planning process could be implemented.

In the last few years we have completed the following projects:
• Significant renovation of the rectory including a new roof.
• Replacement of roof on church
• Re-shingling of the main church and classroom wing.
• Replacement of all doors and windows in classroom wing.
• Renovation of bathrooms in basement area.

Goals

• Identify, prioritize, and estimate costs for property and grounds projects requiring capital funding in the next three years.
• Insure the continued maintenance of St. Mary’s Garden
• Create an energy efficient physical plant and develop on-site renewable energy sources to demonstrate environmental stewardship and realize cost savings.
• Insure process, personnel and funding for on-going maintenance needs.
• Engage other members of Parish to participate and utilize their talents to assist in the upkeep and improvement of buildings and grounds. This should include a succession plan for key areas such as garden maintenance.

Strategies

• Develop a prioritized list of required upgrades and maintenance for physical plant including rough cost estimates.
• Develop and implement a process to deal with drainage issues.
• Develop a plan to increase resources for grounds maintenance including the recruitment of new volunteers and use of other church organizations such as the Youth Group.
• Initiate energy audits to identify opportunities for cost savings and better environmental stewardship and implement recommendations.
• Work with Stewardship and Long-Range Planning to continue exploring opportunities for bequests and other gifts in support of major capital projects.

Tactics

(To be completed as long term planning committee for this area is established.)

OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS

• There is a great opportunity to better leverage the talents and time of our parishioners in the maintenance and improvement of our physical plant and gardens. The recent parish survey will help us identify those who may be willing and able to assist us.
• There is a continued concern that we our able to have our available funding keep pace with the maintenance needs of our ageing plant. Our ability to be proactive in the area of capital maintenance rather than reactive will be less costly in the long run.

MILESTONES

• Work with the Finance committee to identify and retain resource for ongoing capital maintenance of physical plant (4th Qtr 06.)
• Complete prioritized list of required capital improvements with cost estimates. (4th Qtr 06)
• Complete energy audits (3rd Qtr 06)
• Actively recruit parish members for both ongoing committee participation as well as support for specific maintenance and development projects. (2nd Qtr)
• Create and implement drainage system maintenance plan (3rd Qtr 06)
• Develop and implement a plan for ongoing grounds maintenance (4th Qtr 06)
• Identify new volunteers to assist in ongoing gardens maintenance (1st Qtr 07)

Spiritual Formation LRP

2006-05-03T22:30:00.000-04:00

LONG RANGE PLAN
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

CHAIRS: REV.DR. KRIS LEWIS 508-362-3977
PHYLLIS BRADLEY 508-385-7081

Spiritual Formation
Long Range Plan

I. Where We Are Now
The Spiritual Formation Committee was convened in Fall 2005 to expand on work previously done by the Evangelism Committee. Formation encompasses all that we do to shape our lives as Christ followers—our personal practices of prayer, our corporate worship, our study of scripture, faith and traditions. While most if not all of the activities that take place at St. Mary’s fall under the broad heading of “formation”, the Spiritual Formation Committee has as its purview oversight of a variety of programs that provide opportunities for spiritual growth and development, such as:
• Adult forums and other educational opportunities
• Catechesis and Confirmation Preparation, Inquirers’ classes
• Retreats and quiet days
• Special seasonal offerings (e.g., Lenten programs)

II. Goals
In addition to St. Mary’s Mission Statement which emphasizes spiritual formation as one way we strive to live intentionally, we have as a guiding principle that in all things, our actions are guided by prayer and by our commitment to deepening our relationship with God.
In that light, our goals are :

1. To broaden St. Mary’s offerings of opportunities for spiritual formation in terms of variety, time (frequency, days and times offered), and location so that programs are accessible to all parishioners.

2. To explore new opportunities for spiritual development for parishioners across the lifespan.

3. To more effectively communicate the availability of our offerings and other resources in the area.

III. Strategies and Tactics
1. Assess needs and interests of parishioners using data gathered in 2005 survey, and if necessary, additional questionnaires or surveys. (on-going; Spiritual Formation Committee, clergy).

2. Work with other groups in the Parish to coordinate seasonal offerings.(On-going; Spiritual Formation Committee, Children and Youth Coordinators, clergy, staff).

3. Explore new program opportunities (e.g., Via Media, DOCC, EFM, small groups, sermon discussion group). (On-going; Via Media Regional Training to be hosted at St. Mary’s March 17, 2006; will consider program for Fall 2006; Clergy, Spiritual Formation Committee).

4. With other groups plan Annual Parish Retreat beginning Fall 2007. (Spiritual Formation Committee, Christian Formation for children and youth directors, clergy, staff).

5. Inform the parish community on a regular basis about offerings at St. Mary’s and in the local community, the Deanery, and the Diocese. (on-going; Spiritual Formation Committee, Communication Committee, staff).

IV. Issues:
St. Mary’s mission statement emphasizes spiritual formation as one of four major components of our living as the Body of Christ in the world. Because formation encompasses so much of what we do at St. Mary’s, there is a great need to consider it holistically. In particular there needs to be coordination of the Spiritual Formation Committee with the directors of Christian Formation: Children and Youth, and with clergy and staff. This might be best facilitated by having in place an organizational structure that brings together these various constituencies on a regular basis. Such a structure should include the co-coordinators of programs for children and youth, members of the Spiritual Formation Committee, and clergy. It might meet quarterly (or on an as-need basis) to coordinate programming and planning.

Outreach LRP

2006-05-03T22:22:00.000-04:00

ST. MARY’S LONG RANGE PLAN

OUTREACH

CHAIR: LISA BARR

508-362-3839

The Outreach Committee

V. Outreach

A. Where we are
1. Committee structure
a) The Outreach Committee consists of six active members who participate regularly in meetings and activities. Traditionally, the committee has met on a monthly basis, although meetings have been somewhat sporadic and informal. We are considering meeting in alternate months, with meeting dates linked to upcoming Days of Hospitality. In addition to committee members, there are approximately 35 parishioners who participate regularly in events and activities sponsored by, or funded through, the Outreach Committee’s annual budget.
b) For several years, the chair position has been vacant, although Lisa Barr recently agreed to assume the role.
2. Budget and funding
a) Each year, the Vestry designates a specified percentage of the church’s investment income toward the St. Mary’s Charities Fund. That fund, however, is not synonymous with the budget of the Outreach Committee, as not all expenses typically included within the Committee’s budget are really within the control of the Committee. Examples include the Deanery, Rector’s Discretionary Fund, and dues for the Cape Cod Council of Churches. In the proposed budget for 2006, however, the Committee has requested that the Committee budget include only those expenses within its control.
b) For many years, the Committee was level-funded. In recent years, however, financial constraints have reduced the contribution of the church’s investment income toward St. Mary’s Charities Fund. The Outreach Committee was directed to “spend down” its carryover balance to meet its expenses.
3. Activities
a) The single most important activity of the Outreach Committee is the Days of Hospitality program. The Committee also sponsors the NOAH Shelter sandwich program, the recently-reinstated Overnights of Hospitality program, and (occasionally, on an as-needed basis) Safe Harbor. Additionally, the Outreach Committee funds Miracle Kitchen, although its participants have essentially spun off into a separate group which has little communication with the Committee. The Committee also supports the grocery certificate program. Outreach formerly sponsored the return of bottles and cans, which was designed as a church school outreach activity and funded the Heifer Project, although no one from the church school community was able to take on the project after a long- term volunteer resigned from that position.
b) The Committee has also sponsored a variety of other programs, including Angel Tree, Cape Aids Ministry, Adopted Family, Housing with Love Walk, Housing Assistance Corporation’s Annual Cape Walk, Dress a Live Doll, Baby Center.
c) In addition to activities sponsored directly by the Outreach Committee, there are other significant outreach activities, most notably by the ECW, which budgets approximately $3500 annually for charity and parish community needs. Additionally, the Youth Group has been organizing its own outreach activities.
d) Finally, St. Mary’s provides community outreach by offering the use of its facilities to the Fatherhood Program at the Barnstable District Court, for AA meetings and the like.

B. Objectives: Where we want to be
1. Define the mission of the Outreach Committee
a) Focus on discerning a call: outreach efforts should be truly an expression of faith
b) Develop a policy for allocation of resources (emergency relief and planned programs; local and direct services, advocacy and international relief)
2. Coordinate activities and charitable giving with other committees and groups within the parish (e.g., ECW, Miracle Kitchen, Youth Group)
3. Increase parish participation in outreach activities

C. Strategies and tactics
1. To define mission:
a) Meet with clergy for spiritual guidance and to establish a Steering Committee
b) Conduct a needs assessment and select needs we want
to address
c) Determine how to direct solicitation requests from nonprofit agencies
d) Determine how requests for personal assistance from the local community and from within the parish should be directed and addressed—e.g., define role of emergency relief funds and how they differ from Rector’s Discretionary Fund
2. To coordinate activities and charitable giving within the parish:
a) Delineate missions and activities of each committee
b) Partner with ECW to coordinate charitable giving (possibilities include having an Outreach Committee member attend ECW board meeting, having an ECW liaison to the Outreach Committee, exchanging reports and minutes between the two groups)
c) Partner with Youth Group for outreach activities and charitable projects
d) Improve communication with Miracle Kitchen volunteers; solicit a volunteer to sit on the 3. To increase parish participation in outreach activities:
a) Increase clergy involvement and support. As clergy involvement becomes more visible, parish participation will undoubtedly increase.
b) Create an Outreach Opportunities notebook with description of existing programs and contact information. Include service and advocacy opportunities.
b) Use parish resources—e.g., questionnaire—to identify available time, talent and skills
c) Publicize activities and meetings; cultivate new committee members

D. Resources needed
1. Clergy time for discerning mission of Outreach Committee, developing policies
2. Communications support: Cross Currents, weekly Bulletin, annual reports
3. Volunteer time: maintaining existing activities, directing solicitations for funds, responding to requests for services in local community, maintaining and updating bulletin board

E. Open issues
1. Delineate role of ECW vis-à-vis Outreach Committee
2. Bring Miracle Kitchen program within the purview of the Outreach Committee
3. Designate a vestry liaison to the Outreach Committee

Milestones

1st Quarter 2006
• Through the leadership of Ann Canedy, ECW President, and the ECW board, we have already accomplished a significant goal contemplated in our strategic plan: On January 9, 2006, the Board of the ECW voted to contribute $6,000 to fund the Outreach Committee. Although we should continue to delineate our respective roles in this new partnership, we have begun exchanging information—e.g., sharing minutes, budgets and the like.
• Identify a vestry liaison to the Outreach Committee
• Launch a coordinated effort to boost participation in grocery certificate program

2d Quarter 2006
• Establish a Steering Committee to define mission and develop policies. The Committee should include: Outreach Committee chair, ECW designee and a member of the clergy, and should also include a designee from the Miracle Kitchen volunteers and the vestry liaison to the Outreach Committee.
• Create an Outreach Spotlight feature for the monthly editions of Cross Currents.
• Create an Outreach Opportunities notebook with clear descriptions of existing programs and contact information. Include unmet needs in the community and opportunities for advocacy.

3d Quarter 2006
• Complete mission and policy development.
• Conduct a needs assessment of the local community.
• Meet with ECW Board to assess continued support and develop a budget designed to further mission and policies.

4th Quarter 2006
• Evaluate existing Outreach programs vis-à-vis mission, policy statement and needs assessment.
• Determine what additional services are needed and how we can fulfill these unmet needs.
• Plan budget accordingly.

Christian Formation: Children and Youth LRP

2006-05-03T22:20:00.000-04:00

ST. MARY’S LONG RANGE PLAN

CHRISTIAN FORMATION
CHILDREN AND YOUTH

CHAIRS: LIZ RABIDEAU 508-362-0344
REV. KRIS LEWIS 508-362-3977

St. Mary Church
Christian Formation: Children and Youth
Long Range Plan Development

Where We Are:
The Church School Program and Youth Group are led by Connie Sullivan and Barbara Hersey. These programs were formerly under the auspices of the (now defunct) Christian Education Committee, but may be thought of as one component of spiritual formation, as referred to in St. Mary’s Mission Statement. Seen in that way, Christian Formation for children and youth includes not only church school and youth groups, but also Junior Choir (under the direction of Janet Armstrong) and Acolytes (under the direction of Kris Lewis).

Current offerings include:

Nursery
Church School
Pre-K thru 3rd grade: Godly Play
Grades 4 & 5: Share the Joy
Youth Groups
Middle School group
High School group
Confirmation preparation (not planned for this year)
Acolyte Program
Junior Choir Program
Vacation Bible School
Special programs (e.g., Christmas Pageant, Halloween party, participation in Blessing of the Animals)

Attendance:
There are 33 families with 60 children registered for Church School. Seven babies and toddlers are cared for in the Nursery. Our goal for attendance is 70% which averages to every child missing church school nearly once a month.

Church School:

Church School meets on Sunday mornings at 9:45 am. Children and teachers join the congregation at the passing of the Peace (approximately 10:30).

Teachers in Godly Play classrooms must be trained in the Godly Play curriculum. For Godly Play there are 8 regular teachers and 2 substitutes. (Training session for Godly Play teachers took place Nov 19th; 5 attended.)For Share The Joy there are 4 regular teachers and 2 substitutes. We are currently evaluating this program.

Teachers currently work on a rotating schedule, and teach once or twice a month, at their request, in order to share the teaching load. While reducing the drain on individuals, this rotating schedule limits the forming of deeper relationships between children and teachers. Because at this time the teachers are drawn almost entirely from the parents of church school children, and because most have taught for several years, the burnout rate is high. We hope to address this problem by recruiting additional teachers who are not parents. Ideally teachers would commit to being in the classroom every week to provide consistency for the children, and the pool of prospective teachers would be large enough that teachers could work one-year-on, one-year-off (for example).

The Nursery/Toddler group does not have a regular teacher at present time. One of the Church School Co-coordinators takes a lead role presently, assisted by parents and youth, but the Nursery should have a part-time paid attendant to ensure safe and consistent care for infants and toddlers. For the toddlers, a very simple form of Godly Play which includes basic classroom behavior instruction helps them to be ready to enter into the Church School classes in later years.

Youth Group: The Middle School Youth meet on alternate Sundays after church. This group is currently a combination church school class and youth group and uses the 7 Things Christians Do & Believe curriculum). The Middle School Youth have 2 teachers and 1 substitute. Another substitute is needed. The High School Youth Group meets on opposite Sundays at 5:30 pm. At the present time, no church school class or other educational offerings are available for the High School youth. This group currently has 2 adult leaders, assisted by one clergy person (Kris Lewis), and 1 substitute. The addition of a male leader/teacher for this age group as well as for the Middle School youth would be highly desirable. All teachers/leaders are currently female. Plans are currently being formulated to evaluate the program for both Middle School and High School youth.

Acolyte Program: Twenty-one youth from 2nd grade through High School currently comprise the Acolyte corps. Acolytes serve at the 10 am service and at special services (e.g., Christmas Eve, Choral Evensong) as requested. During Fall 2005, acolytes have undergone retraining with a new definition of responsibilities to compensate for the loss of the verger. At the present time, Kris Lewis is overseeing the scheduling and training of acolytes

Junior Choir
Lead by Janet and Jim Armstrong

9 children are registered – 2 have not participated this fall
Regular attendance ranges from 5-7
Rehearsals are 5:00 Wednesday evenings. The Junior Choir participates in each 10 am service. On the first Sunday of each month, the Junior Choir processes in with the Senior Choir, remains for the entire service, and performs anthems and other special offerings.

[Janet has been away, not sure if she would have any other input here].

Vacation Bible School
VBS takes place in summer, usually in August and is led by Lead by Connie Sullivan, Barbara Hersey, and Carrie MacDonald. In 2005 28 children and adults participated, and three children joined the Church School as a direct result of their participation.

Planning for summer 2006 will begin in February.

Takes place in August. 2005 attendance included 28 children and adults. Three new children are attending the regular Sunday school as a direct result of participation in VBS this summer.

Budget:

NOTE: Summary not available 12/-/05 – Will update when figures available

Summary of where we are:

Over the last few years, the programs for children and youth have undergone a period of transition mirroring the church’s transition. A restructuring of the Youth Director’s responsibilities as well as a major change in curriculum in the form of Godly Play in the last year has set a strong foundation for growth in the church school. Participation and attendance are within the goals set by the program directors.

The main challenge that the programs for children and youth face is the recruiting, educating, supporting and valuing the teachers and leaders of the youth programs. To be truly successful, St. Mary’s children and youth need the support of the entire congregation. This includes recruiting teachers and youth leaders from a broader pool rather than relying almost entirely on the parents. We need to work towards building a pool of teachers who can provide the stability and consistency our children need and deserve. It also includes the hiring of a paid attendant to staff the nursery to ensure safe and consistent care for the infants of both parishioners and visitors.

A second challenge is to develop a schedule that respects and meets the need for families to come to church and participate in their spiritual formation together as a family. The current schedule of programming splits families and generations apart by offering church school during the main Sunday service rather than before or after that service.

Objectives: Where we want to be

1. Strengthen our existing Church School program to nourish our children in faith as they grow.

• Retain and engage our current families and children and incorporate new members

• Recruit, train and engage Sunday school teachers and youth leaders that more broadly represent the makeup of the congregation, including parents and those without children at home..
--To provide more consistency for children, develop pool of teachers who are willing to make year-long commitment (At current enrollment levels, Goal is 8 full time, fully trained, fully committed teachers to serve the whole year)

• Establish St. Mary’s as a Godly Play Regional Training Center

2. Strengthen our existing Youth Programs to support our youth and incorporate them fully into the life of the Parish as they move into young adulthood.

• Develop a comprehensive Youth Program to meet the educational and spiritual needs of the youth.
--explore new programming (e.g., J2A, Rite 13)
--seek connections with youth outside the parish at the local, Deanery, and Diocesan levels
--develop program of Confirmation Preparation consistent with Diocesan guidelines

3. Work with Spiritual Formation Committee to provide opportunities for spiritual development across the life span.

• Develop intergenerational programming for seasonal events (e.g., Advent Evenings)

• Establish an annual Family Parish Retreats (target beginning date of Fall of ’07).

• Integrate Youth more fully into the regular Sunday services (e.g., as acolytes, Eucharistic ministers, lectors, ushers).

Strategies and Tactics:

Church School:

1. Recruit and train pool of teachers who are not parents—at least two by Fall 2006 with goal of increasing numbers each year (Youth coordinators and clergy).

2. Explore ways to nourish teachers to decrease burn-out. (on-going; Youth coordinators and clergy)

2. Staff nursery with paid attendant to provide safe consistent care (Youth coordinators, Vestry, personnel committee; target date no later than Fall 2007).

3. Work with Spiritual Formation Committee to establish Annual Parish Retreat beginning Fall 2007.

4. Host Northeast Regional Godly Play Accreditation at St. Mary’s. (May, 2006; B. Hersey and staff). Determine other steps necessary to become Godly Play Training Center.

Youth:

1. Form Discernment Committee for Youth to explore options for youth programming (e.g., Journey to Adulthood, Rite 13)—January 2006 (Clergy, Youth Coordinators)

2. Develop comprehensive youth program (Youth Group for Middle School and High School ages, possible church school/education program, confirmation program consistent with diocesan policies) to be in place for Fall 2006. (Youth coordinators/leaders, clergy).

3. Increase involvement of youth with congregation and with other youth on local, deanery, and diocesan levels.—2006 and beyond, (Youth leaders)

Parish wide/lifespan:

1. Form committee with Spiritual Formation Committee to develop plans for Annual Family Parish Retreat (Early spring 2006 with target date for retreat of Fall 2007)

2. Work with Spiritual Formation Committee and Staff to plan seasonal activities for all ages (on-going).

3. Work with leaders of liturgical groups to invite and incorporate youth participants. (on-going).

4. Work with Spiritual Formation Committee to develop organization structure to co-ordinate and oversee education/spiritual development for parishioners of all ages.

Issues:

As noted above, Christian Formation for Children and Youth is one component of the spiritual formation emphasized in St. Mary’s mission statement. Because formation encompasses all that we do to shape our lives as Christ followers, we need to consider it holistically . Having in place an organizational structure that not only allows for this but also expects this will help us to ensure that we are addressing the needs of our entire congregation. Such a structure would include members of the Children and Youth program staff, clergy, and members of the Spiritual Formation Committee. It might meet quarterly (or on an as-need basis) to coordinate programming and planning.

5 Year Plan: 2005-2010
Measures of Success *

Objective Met Deadline

2 Non-Parent Church School teachers
Recruited, trained and placed in classrooms Sept 2006

4-6 Non-Parent Church School teachers
Recruited, trained and placed in classrooms Sept 2010

Hire paid nursery school attendant Fall 2007

Establish Annual Parish Retreat Fall 2007

Host Northeast Regional Godly Play Accreditation May 2006

Formed plan for becoming godly Play Training Center Fall 2006

Form Discernment Committee for Youth Jan 2006

Comprehensive Youth Group Program Oct 2006

*Additional objectives have been discussed and formulated for Christian Youth: Children and Youth yet those stated objectives are either on-going (i.e. youth participation in liturgy) or the measure maybe subjective (i.e. nourish teachers to decrease burn-out)

Music LRP

2006-05-03T22:15:00.000-04:00

ST. MARY’S LONG RANGE PLANS

MUSIC

CHAIR : BRUCE JOHNSON
508-775-0349
brucew.Johnson@comcast.net

Long Range Plan for Music at St Mary’s

Purpose of the music program at St Mary’s

The music programs of St. Mary’s are primarily intended to support the liturgical services in the parish; and secondarily to extend those programs to the community so as to raise the awareness and perception of St. Mary’s as a leader in liturgical music. In achieving these goals, musical education for both adult and junior participants is an integral part of the program.

Where We Are

Background

Music has been a part of St Mary’s from its earliest days with choral and organ music performed regularly each Sunday at one or more of the regular services. Additionally, special services such as Evensong. Lessons and Carols or festival services have had music added sometimes with other instruments performing such as an oboe or trumpet. In recent years St Mary’s has joined with other churches (e.g. St Peters in Osterville or West Parish in West Barnstable) for joint concerts For the most part this music has been performed by an adult choir led by an organist/music director and a junior choir also led by the music director and an assistant in charge of this group. In summer and during vacation periods for regular staff, guest performers have provided music.

Current Resources

St Mary’s is blessed to have as its musical director, Dr. James F. Armstrong who brings to St Mary’s a formidable background in liturgical music most recently as Musical Director of Christ Church, Cambridge, MA. His wife, Janet, directs the Junior Choir. On average the adult choir has 16 members with paid section leaders in the tenor and alto sections. The junior choir numbers have on average nine or ten members. The music is sometimes added to by guitars played by parish members.

St Mary’s has as its primary instrument in the church a Karl Wilhelm tracker pipe organ and a rehearsal piano in the parish hall. St Mary’s maintains a music library which is regularly added to and vestments for both adult and junior choir members.

The choir has actively raised funds for the benefit of music both by mail solicitation (The Friends of Music) and in performance at which voluntary donations are solicited. These solicited funds have accounted for about 5% of the music program’s total budget. It is currently under discussion by the Vestry as to whether this solicitation should continue and, if so, under what circumstances.

The staff of the music department is aided by a music committee made up of parishioners, most of whom are adult choir members. This committee is charged with identifying and reacting to problems and opportunities as they arise and assisting the staff as directed by them. Fund raising is managed by this group, as well as arranging for support services at special events.

A music advisory board made up of community musical leaders has been identified to help with outreach to the community and to provide counsel to the music program at St. Mary’s.

Problems and Opportunities

Problems

1. Choir makeup
Membership in the choir is neither as large nor as stable as desirable. While sixteen members can perform most of the music called for, balance in the four sections is not always present. The lack of section leaders in the bass and soprano sections is one reason why more ambitious music is not chosen. Additionally many of the existing members cannot be counted on every Sunday because of travel commitments. The average age of choir members, older than the congregation at large, is a constant reminder that new blood is needed. This issue is being actively addressed by the music committee.

2. Rehearsal piano
The rehearsal piano is in need of repair and is not easily moved to the church for use in performance (a moving company is required to do so).

3. Vestments
The vestments are on average quite old and in need of repair and/or replacement.

4. Lighting
Lighting in the nave for processionals is inadequate. Lighting in the vesting rooms is also sub-standard.

Opportunities

There is a desire by both the clergy and staff to have a more robust music program. This desire is shared by the music committee and plans for such expansion are under way. This expansion includes more special performances by the choir and others within St Mary’s, more joint programs with other churches, and sponsored performances by outside individuals and groups. This is detailed in the planned activities section of this report.

We can greatly improve the publicity and promotion of our musical activities both internally and externally.

Where we want to be – Goals

Specific goals to be reached by the planning horizon of this report (3 years) are as follows:

Choir makeup.

1. 20 full time members who are usually available for Sunday services.
2. Identifying 12 additional voices that can be called upon for special services and concerts.
3. The addition of paid section leaders to the bass and soprano sections.
4. The addition, on a part time basis, an assistant director/ accompanist

A decision re the piano both to repair it and provide for a way to use it in performance or alternatively to replace it with the same capability.

New vestments to be paid for either by Friends of Music or by a dedicated gift.

New lighting to be paid for by church maintenance funds.

By 2007 the addition of at least one new joint performance beyond those now in the schedule.

The establishment of a promotion plan and budget for each special performance.

How We Are Going to Get There – the plan

The first necessity in executing a plan to achieve our goal is already in place – a management group (Clergy and staff, the music committee) committed to the task. This group has already laid out specific plans and goals for 2006 including the following:

Choir recruitment. Led by Dr Harry Irwin we are actively recruiting among the parish membership both by utilizing the information from the parish survey and by word of mouth. Invitations to participate at services will be made by both Steve Smith and Jim Armstrong. We are beginning to reach out to other organizations – schools and musical organizations - to recruit beyond parish members. As we increase the number (and perhaps quality) of special programs with the attendant publicity for them we expect to attract new choir members as a side benefit.

The piano problem will be addressed by the music committee early in 2006 and a recommendation made to the vestry. Under either choice now identified a significant cost will attach. Funding options will be included in the recommendation.

Similarly a recommendation will be made in 2006 re vestments. Included will be options for replacement and or repair, costs and funding choices.

Plans for enhancement of musical programs include a production of Godspell in April, 2006, co hosting (along with holy Spirit in Orleans) the appearance of The Exeter Cathedral Choir in July, 2006, and a plan for 2007 which will add at least one new event to the calendar designed to expand the outreach of St Mary’s music.

Further expansion of the music program will be dependent upon successful choir recruitment as above and financial resources. We have many more ideas than current resources would permit executing and we are aware that music is only one of many programs within St Mary’s that have a call on these resources.

Stewardship LRP

2006-05-03T21:58:00.000-04:00

ST. MARY’S LONG RANGE PLAN

STEWARDSHIP

CHAIR: SHARON DONEGAN

508-362-6365
don1227@gmail.com

FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE

a. KEY OBSERVATIONS & ASSUMPTIONS (Where are we now?)

1. INCOME: A SUMMARY

a. The number of pledging units has been declining since 2001 but remained the same in 2004 and 2005. The low average pledge amount per week for the last three years is substantially below similar-sized Protestant churches on the Cape: (Average: less than 50% under $20)

Amount Pledged Weekly:
Year #Pledges -$20.00 +$20.00

2003 242 63% 37%
2004 216 72% 28%
2005 216 71% 29%

The reasons for the decrease in pledge units is varied and understood by all and need not be listed here again. The reasons why the Average Pledge % is so low at St. Mary’s needs to be researched: Are our parishioners unwilling or unable to give more?

2. EXPENSES: A SUMMARY

The rate of inflation over the last three years has averaged 3%. The overall rate of price increases on the Cape over the last three years has averaged 5%. The forecast for price increases of 45-50% for electricity and natural gas from 2005 to 2006 will be an added future expense. Over the last three years we had to expend $115,102 in necessary capital improvements. Actual expenses are for essentials only with little or no funding for projects/activities necessary to fulfill our Mission or properly maintain our building and grounds:

Year: Actual Expenses: Actual Pledge Income: Other Income*(1): DEFICIT*(2)

2003 $406,624 $266,281 $43,621 -$ 96,722
2004 $398,143 $229,210 $43,909 - $125,024
2005*(3) $424,743 $221,619 $75,860 - $127,264

*(1): Excluding Investment Income; Including the use of two Bequests
*(2): Excluding the use of Investment Income
*(3): As of November 30, 2005

3. ENDOWMENT: A SUMMARY

Over the past three years St. Mary’s has had to use 100% of our Investment
Income and Bequests to fund the Operating Budget:

Dividends &
Year: Principal: Interest Used:

2003 $1,805,874 100%
2004 $1,844,917 100%
2005 $1,859,926 100%

4. KEY OBSERVATIONS & ASSUMPTIONS SUMMARY:

A. Our parishioners are either not willing or unable to fund our stated Mission.
Therefore, we need to reconcile our Mission with our income from pledges and
other sources or get our parishioners to give more.
B. Some dividend and interest income should be used for increased outreach/services for our parishioners and our communities. The rest should be reinvested. None of it should be
used for general operating expenses.
C. We need to encourage our parishioners to help increase our Endowment Funds.
D. Our committee’s total focus is the financial portion of Stewardship. All other parts
of Stewardship must be included in other parts of the overall Strategic Plan.

b. GOALS (Where do we want to go?)

1. Goal #1: Conduct a survey to determine why we cannot fund our operating budget with pledges and other income. Is it unwillingness to give St. Mary’s more or financial inability to give St. Mary’s any more. The results should then be used to modify our Mission (if necessary) and develop our yearly budgets with full involvement of the congregation.

2. Goal #2: Increase the number and size of pledges over the next three years.

%Increase in Average Pledge Amounts

Year % Increase in Pledge Units -$20.00 Weekly +$20.00 Weekly

2006 +10% (216 to 238) -10% (71% to 64%) +10% (29% to 36%)
2007 +10% (238 to 262) -10% (64% to 51%) +10% (40% to 49%)
2008 +10% (262 to 288) -10% (51% to 46%) +10% (49% to 54%)

3. Goal #3: Increase St. Mary’s Endowment Principal. Change the use of the Dividend and Interest income.

Year % For Operating Budget % For Outreach % Reinvest

2006 75% 25% -0-
2007 50% 50% -0-
2008 -0- 0% 50%

c. STRATEGIES & TACTICS (How are we going to get there?)

Develop and implement a creative Twelve-Month Stewardship Plan
– KEY COMPONENTS:
- Biblical Foundations
- Education: Our Role as God’s Stewards
- Understanding the Budget/Needs
- Communications
- Involvement (Time/Talent)
- Celebrations
- Sermons
- Adult Forums
- Personal Financial Planning Seminars
- Youth Programs
- Personal Testimonials
- Values & Money & Stewardship Awareness

d. RESOURCES NEEDED

Financial: (2005) 2006 2007 2008
($850) $1,500 $1,500 $1,500

Committee: (2005) 2006 2007 2008
(8 Active) 10-15 10-15 10-15

Clergy Support: Guidance and support from the pulpit
Volunteers: Special Events & Mass Mailings

STRATEGIC PLAN – STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE-MILESTONES March, 2006

GOALS: FIRST QUARTER 2006

1. 100% Pledge A) Prepare Thank-You List of all 2006 pledges
Participation as an insert in the April Newsletter.
B) Prepare and send individual thank-you
notes to all 2006 pledgers.
C) Identify all un-pledged members
and send a letter requesting a pledge.
Also tell them that we plan to call and make
an appointment for an in-home visit for all
members who do not return a pledge card
and/or send a request to not be called or
visited.
(D) Hold training for visitors to un-pledged homes – Sunday, 03/26

2. Other income-raising A) Prepare materials for the $1.00 & A Prayer
Events/campaigns A Day Campaign

3. Communicate/Educate/ A) Articles/Material in every Newsletter
Motivate B) Financial Workshop

GOALS: SECOND QUARTER 2006

1. 100% Pledge A) Update Active Member Listing/Pledge Listing Participation B) Visitors call to set up un-pledged appointments
C) Visitors conduct in-home visits on Sunday, 04/02
D) Analyze data gathered
E) Finalize Active Member Listing

2. Other Income-Raising A) Launch $1.00 & A Prayer A Day Campaign
Events/Campaigns B) Prepare a Poster to chart 100% Pledge Progress

3. Communicate/Educate/ A) Articles/Material in every Newsletter
Motivate B) Children’s Presentations on Giving/Sharing

THIRD QUARTER 2006

1. 100% Pledge A) Plan & prepare materials for un-pledged visits on Pledge Sunday

2. Other A) Fall Kick-Off Event – Thanksgiving for “time & talent” – Sunday, 09/27
B) Prepare and launch “Christmas Gifts for St. Mary’s” Campaign

3. Communicate/Educate/ A) Articles/Material in every Newsletter
B) Financial Workshop
C) Testimonials – St. Mary’s & Pledging
D) Continue to chart 100% Pledge Progress

FOURTH QUARTER 2006

1. 100% Pledge A) Hold training for un-pledged home visits – 1/12
B) Make visits on Pledge Sunday – Sunday, 11/19
C) Gather data and analyze results
D) Develop and present 2007 Stewardship Strategic Plan Goals

2. Other Income-Raising A) Complete Christmas Gifts for St. Mary’s Campaign – 12/24

3. Communicate/Educate A) Articles/Material in every Newsletter
B) Christmas Cards to all pledgers from Committee
C) Celebrate Accomplishments – Pledge & $1.00 Campaign Results

ALL YEAR LONG

Support from the Rector & Assistant Rector in services, forums, communications, etc.

KEY DATES - SUNDAYS

March 26 Train Visitors for In-Home Un-pledged Visits
April 2 Un-pledged In-Home Visits
September 27 Fall Kick-Off Event “Time & Talent Celebration”
November 12 Train New Visitors for In-Home Un-pledged Visits
November 19 Pledge Sunday – Un-pledged-to-date in-home visits
December 24 Christmas Gifts for St. Mary’s Announced

Welcome to Saint Mary's

2006-05-02T14:20:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Saint Mary's Blog. The blog will be used to provide information about on-going projects at Saint Mary's in a format that will allow readers to respond.

Saint Mary's Church

India Update #4

India Update #3

India Update #2

News from India 01/04/10

The Feast of St. Francis

Book Recommendations by Marian Ferguson

A Right and a Reponsibility - 14 Pentecost, 2009

What is the Heart? 13 Pentecost 2009

Book Recommendations

Book Recommendations

Saint Mary's Garden--Daffodils in bloom!

Friday in Slidell

Thursday in Slidell

Wednesday in Slidell

A poem

Bruce's perspective

On the ground in Slidell~ Day 2

The work goes on~more from our team in Slidell

More pictures from Slidell

Tuesday in Slidell

More on Monday

Day 2~A picture is worth a thousand words

Day 1~Hard at work with Habitat

Disaster Relief Ministry Team hard at work in Slidell

Saint Mary's Mission Trip to Slidell LA~1st report

26th Presiding Bishop Elected

General Convention Updates

Saint Mary's LRP--Background and Intro

Parish Growth and Development LRP

Communications LRP

Building and Grounds LRP

Spiritual Formation LRP

Outreach LRP

Christian Formation: Children and Youth LRP

Music LRP

Stewardship LRP

Welcome to Saint Mary's