Beloved St. John’s community,
This past Sunday we met during the Community Forum to discuss the Sustainable Mission Final Report, including some of the recommendations it makes to help us remain vital and mission-focused for years to come. As a reminder, we recently concluded a two-year “Sustainable Mission” Project with the help of Rena Turnham, who worked half time for us to lead that project with the help of a team from St. John’s: myself, Rex McKee, Michael Morrow, Hillary Clayburgh, Stacy Walters, Rie Gilsdorf, Arun Caspram and Alex Musial. The immediate impetus for beginning that project was the fact that after the pandemic, in 2023, we passed an operating budget with a nearly $60,000 deficit. We knew that although we had savings, we could not sustain that deficit for long. But more importantly, we wanted to ensure that our mission itself is vibrant, current and sustainable, and that our finances and building support the mission. We decided to courageously look at the ways we operate, refresh our sense of mission and vision, and align our resources with mission in a way that would be sustainable into the future. I am deeply grateful to remind you that as of 2025 we have closed our operating budget deficit. That said, to ensure our sustainability into the future we will need to make significant repairs to our building and tune in to the wisdom of this report to ensure our programmatic offerings remain vital.
Rena and her team have deeply evaluated every part of our common life, have conducted many surveys, one on one interviews, and focus groups, and have now produced the final Sustainable Mission Report. It is a comprehensive and lengthy analysis of what they learned. It also makes quite a few recommendations about how to align resources with mission and improve or adapt our programs. You can review the entire Final Report, and you can also review an Executive Summary of the recommendations.
Some of the primary recommendations include launching a capital campaign within the near future to make needed building repairs and to improve it for our programs and worship services; hiring two part time employees to address newcomer ministry and volunteer coordination; and strengthening newcomer ministry, community engagement, and volunteer support. More deeply, in addition to the “five themes” previously identified by the vestry as central to St. John’s (nourishing worship, vital children & youth ministry, heart-centered music, inclusive and warm community, and making a difference in the
world), the Sustainable Mission Project recommends a sixth that ties them all together: walking the way of love in daily life and sharing it with others.
Please note that the report is not a plan, but a proposal. Your vestry is hard at work digesting the report and its recommendations. We would not have the resources or capacity to adopt all the recommendations simultaneously; and more deeply, we do not feel called to adopt them all. The vestry has had its annual retreat and deeply evaluated the recommendations, and in consultation with clergy and staff, will make decisions about a small number of key recommendations we intend to adopt by our June meeting. Over time, we will continue to review the report and adopt other recommendations as the
Spirit leads and resources / capacity permit.
As always, I welcome your input, feedback, questions, and suggestions.
In Christ’s love,
Lisa
