Christ Church Diocese of East Carolina Parish Profile

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1 Our Parish Profile along with our website tells the story of our parish s past, present, and hopes for the future. It was written by the Search Committee using a format provided by the Diocese of East Carolina and Office of Transition Ministry. The Listening in Lent parishioner responses were a valuable resource for the Committee as they wrote the narratives to accurately reflect the perceptions and dreams of our parish. After review and approval by the Vestry, it was submitted to the Diocese electronically for access by potential rector candidates. Christ Church Diocese of East Carolina Parish Profile BASIC INFORMATION *1. Name of worshipping community: Christ Episcopal Church *2. Order of ministry required: Priest *3. Position title: Rector *4. Weekly Average Sunday Attendance, all services: 331 *5. Total Number of Weekend Worship Services each week: 3 *6. Total Number of Weekday Worship Services each week: 2 7. Number of Other Monthly Worship Services: 3 *8.Total Operational Expenses of Parish $925, Institution Telephone

2 10. Institution *11. Institution Physical Location Street Address 320 Pollock St. 12. Additional: *13. City New Bern 14. State/Province: North Carolina *15. Postal (Zip) code: *16. The Vestry Hopes to complete this call by what approximate date? November Are you providing a Housing Stipend as a part of the overall compensation? Yes 18. If you are using a Housing Stipend, what is the estimated annual amount of that Housing? Stipend? $22, If you are providing a Rectory instead of a Housing Stipend, what is the estimated annual rental value of the Rectory? 20. If you are using a Rectory, estimate how many persons it would house: 21. If a Utilities allowance is provided, estimate the annual value of that allowance: 22. Does the parish reimburse the employer portion of SECA? Yes 23. If SECA is reimbursed, then estimate the annual value of that reimbursement: $7, *24. The Total Annual Compensation (the sum of Cash Salary, Housing Stipend or Rectory Value, Utilities and SECA reimbursement) for the new position is projected as: $110, Is the compensation estimate negotiable? No

3 26. Do you have any notes on compensation which will be helpful? Provide those here. The Rector Total Annual Compensation has been reviewed by the Christ Church Personnel Committee and Finance Committee. *27. Pension Plan: Are you in compliance with Church Pension Group requirements? Yes *28. Healthcare Options (choose the Insurance approach used by your parish). High Deductable Insurance Option Fund Health Savings Account *29. Dental Insurance is normative in the Diocese of East Carolina. Do you provide Dental? Insurance for this position? Basic Dental 30. Some parishes that provide Rectories also provide a Housing Equity Allowance to their clergy. If you provide such an allowance, please indicate the Annual Equity Amount here: *31. Vacation weeks: (standard is one month, including 5 Sundays) One month, including 5 Sundays *32. Continuing Education: (standard is two weeks, annually) Two weeks, annually *33. Funding established in budget for continuing education support for this position: Yes 34. Do you provide for a Sabbatical (in accord with policy, following every five to seven years of service to this specific parish or organization)? Negotiable. 35. Do you provide normative expenses of the position, such as Travel/Auto Account? Yes 36. Do you provide Professional Accounts to support expenses undertaken in this ministry? If so, please describe them: Additional account provided for miscellaneous expenses. PARISH LIFE INFORMATION 37. Do you have Sunday/Church School/ Christian formation programming? Yes 38. IF so, Number of Teachers/Leaders for programs/church school with Children (age 0 to 16): IF so, Number of Students in programs for Children: Number of Teachers/Leaders for formation and church school for Adults (ages 16 up) 4-6

4 41. Number of Students (aged 16 and up) in Adult programs/church school/christian Ed? Is there a parish Day School? If so, check all grades provided 43. Number of Students in Day School: 44. Number of Teachers/Faculty in Day School: 45. Number of Total Staff in Day School: 46. Notes or observation: 47. List on-site community outreach/engagement by the parish community or organization (soup kitchen, food pantry, etc.): More than 150 of us met weekly during Lent to talk about how Christ Church could live out the covenants we loudly affirm during each baptism. We talked a lot about Outreach how we could continue a long tradition of being Christ s hands and feet in the world by providing pastoral care for those beyond our worshipping community. On-site Engagement. In 2015, we will celebrate 300 years at the same site in downtown New Bern. We are thankful for God s blessings of attractive grounds and facilities that we share with our community and visitors to eastern North Carolina. The church yard has some of the oldest graves in town, shaded by wide-canopied trees draped with Spanish moss, with playground equipment that draws youngsters like a magnet. Benches in the outdoor chapel offer a welcome spot to sit and pray. Our steeple is a town landmark. The church interior provides dramatic views of stained glass windows, an 18 th century Communion service and Bible donated by King George II, and the newly-built chapel. We routinely sponsor eagerly-anticipated events on-site that raise funds for outreach. The best known are the Halloween Pumpkin Patch, which draws over 300 children, and a Christmas Cookie Walk. Proceeds from these events go to local outreach efforts such as the Merci Clinic, the Literacy Council and Religious Community Services. Funds go to international outreach activities such as the Haiti Fund for adult literacy and clean water projects. Various ministries also do on-site outreach to the community. For example, the Music Ministry provides public concerts including a Lenten Series with luncheons, choral evensongs with refreshments, and special concerts during the year. The Recovery Ministry tries to help the addicted connect with spiritual resources and find recovery, regardless of beliefs or affiliation, by arranging meetings in our facilities. We also have a docent program where parishioners provide narrated tours of our grounds and buildings for the many tours and visitors that regularly stop by. We also own an enclosed space nearby that is often used for community activities. These activities include tax preparation for low income filers, a Father-Daughter dinner dance to raise funds for the Literacy Council, and a Sunday-morning worship space for members of a church destroyed in a fire.

5 Some pastoral care involves individual parishioners supporting special needs groups, such as migrant farmworkers. Other pastoral care involves efforts at engaging the community with onsite activities and events or providing corporate financial support to community outreach. The following paragraphs describe some of the pastoral needs around us and efforts our parishioners have made to meet those needs followed by a description of some of our efforts to engage the community and provide corporate financial support. Farmworkers. Up to 200,000 farmworkers come seasonally to North Carolina. They routinely live in substandard housing; perform dangerous and exhausting work; and are threatened with job loss for reporting housing and labor violations. The Episcopal Farmworker Ministry serves workers in forty -eight labor camps. We support the Ministry by providing shower kits, food packages, clothing and bedding. We also have made significant donations for the construction of a church at the Ministry s headquarters and participated in celebrations there. The Poor. Poverty is an everyday experience for more than 1 in every 4 families with small children in our county. We joined several churches over 30 years ago to establish an agency, Religious Community Services (RCS), to assist people in crisis in a dignified and efficient way. We support RCS through semi-monthly in-kind collections, financial donations, and regular volunteer efforts at the soup kitchen, emergency relief center, homeless shelter, and crop gardens. The Refugee. The Interfaith Refugee Ministry recently celebrated twenty years in Eastern North Carolina and has helped to resettle more than 1,000 refugees. That happened because so many churches, individuals, and organizations welcomed the refugees and provided food and clothing, furniture, cars, language and job training, financial assistance, and curriculum enhancements. Members of our church family have contributed in numerous ways, including co-sponsoring the largest number of families of any church in our diocese. The Medically Needy. Several members of our parish were instrumental in starting a nonprofit, mostly volunteer-run, medical clinic in 1996 to give free healthcare for uninsured adults of limited resources. It is one of the most successful free clinics in the state based on patient outcomes. Church volunteers include physicians, nurses, laboratory technicians, interpreters, social workers, interviewers, and board members. Prisoners. North Carolina s prison population has grown thirty percent since We volunteer and provide financial help to a variety of ministries serving prisoners and their families. For example, we annually arrange for children of prisoners to spend a week at the Episcopal Conference Center in the mountains of Western North Carolina. We started Camp Hope in 2006 and support it through donations, publicity, coordination of activities, and providing the majority of adult volunteers. Some of the children have become church members and continue to be supported by the love and attention of our parish family. We also have actively supported Angel Tree Christmas gifts to children of prisoners for the last twenty five years, as well as various prison visitation programs. Corporate Outreach. In the past, the church operating budget was a generous source of funding for pastoral care providers in the community, the diocese, and internationally. Beginning about seven years ago we relied more on fund-raising events and a trust fund to provide financial support for outreach, while also reducing our diocesan pledge. Now typically the church budget provides about $10,000 for outreach, the Pumpkin Patch and Cookie Walk provide about $20,000, and the trust provides another $68,000. Our diocesan pledge is working back toward its recent peak of $120,000 in 2007, after falling nearly a third. We would like to increase our operating budget support to this area.

6 48. List significant ministry groups which are smaller communities within the overall community The Holy Umbrellas Through Which God s Grace Reigns

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10 Telling Your Story As A Parish - Part One 49. Check the words below which best describe your liturgical and worship styles as a parish: Family Style Morning Prayer Prayer Book Rite I Rite II Traditional *50. Describe a moment in your worshipping community s recent ministry which you recognize as one of success and fulfillment. One of our most triumphant moments was the completion of our Capital Campaign and the retirement of our additional debt. We began our Capital Campaign in We discovered that our beloved church was in need of some renovating as well as additional locations to serve our youth and outreach ministries. The estimated cost of this project was $6,600,000. The project was completed in 2011 with an actual cost of $6,900,000, leaving an additional cost of $300,000. We were faced with the challenge of returning to our parishioners and asking for more pledges. During a period of economic downturn, our parish responded generously and continued to show what great stewards of God we are. In early 2013, we were able to celebrate the retirement of our Capital Campaign debt and had a special ceremony to mark the occasion. There is a beautiful plaque situated in the reception area and serves as a reminder of all the love and spiritual gifts that were offered. We also now have a youth and music building as well as a Ministry Center that serves our community. The support for our blessed Christ Episcopal Church and the ministries it serves has been and continues to flourish with God s help. *51. Describe your liturgical style & practice. If your community provides more than one type of worship service, please describe all: Our worship style is traditional ranging from traditional Rite I liturgy to casual family liturgy. Sunday, 7:30AM (8AM summer): Holy Eucharist Rite I no music. Sunday, 8:45AM & 11AM (10AM summer): Holy Eucharist Rite II with Children s Homily and Adult Sermon. The 8:45AM service has contemporary music with piano, guitar and small choir. During both services, the clergy invite children to the chancel steps for a homily. The 11AM service includes music from the hymnal and anthems led by the organist/choir director and adult choir. Eucharist is normally received kneeling at the main altar/side rail. On the third Sunday during the 10AM summer schedule, music is provided by the 8:45AM choir. Eucharist is received standing at stations. Also during the 10AM summer service, lay adults lead Gospel and Prayers for children in the Chapel during the adult sermon and prayer time. Holy Eucharist for young children is held at 9AM the 1 st Sunday of the summer months. Tuesday: Rite II Eucharist (Chapel) Wednesday: Rite II Healing Service with Eucharist (Chapel) Evensong is held periodically during the year.

11 *52. How do you practice incorporating others in ministry? Our Christ Church has long arms; she is involved in both the local community as well as statewide. Think about that, you have many ways to get involved. What s your calling? Want to help with the migrant farm workers in our state? You can. How about prison ministry, helping those in prison with their faith journey or Camp Bob, helping with the kids whose parent is in prison. You can do that. Want to get involved helping here in town, no problem, you can help at the free medical clinic or cook meals at the homeless shelter, both of which our church help found. Our city has a growing Asian population; Interfaith Refugee Ministry is a great place to get involved in helping those new to our area get settled. Fundraising is something you enjoy, got that for you as well. The Cookie Walk and Pumpkin Patch are both major fund raisers for our outreach programs. The Stewardship committee can always use a hand joining in with the Personal Note Writing Campaign. With over eighty different programs we have something for almost everyone. We have a lot of people doing a lot of things for and in our community. Our Church has long arms, what s your calling? 53. As a worshipping community, how do you care for your spiritual, emotional and physical well- being? Those who are sick, homebound, or in crisis receive clergy and lay Eucharistic visits. These members may be assigned a Stephen Minister to receive one on one confidential Christian care. Healing services, prayers by Daughters of the King, The Order of St. Luke and a vibrant Prayer Shawl Ministry also combine to comfort those in need. There are a variety of ways to welcome and engage the newcomer from greeting Sunday visitors, hosting an annual social, personal visits and invitations to Foyers and Koinonia groups. Youth have traveled on mission trips; attending regional/national conferences and serve as members of committees such as the Rector Search; Convention Delegates and Youth Pages at Convention. They also take part in ski trips, Vacation Bible School and First Intentional Communion. Adults are able to attend Christian Formation classes, Education for Ministry and Cursillo; join the Parish Choir; participate in onsite 12-Step meetings and visit the homebound, the hospitalized and provide transportation when needed. We encourage more lay pastoral care and routine clergy home visits. *54. Describe your worshipping community s involvement in either the wider Church or geographical region: Christ Church is very involved in the wider Episcopal Church and in our geographical region, as expressed by representation from our members in diocesan events and community wide events. The youth at Christ church are active participants in many diocesan youth events and have been represented at the international church level through events like EYE. Our church is also an active participant at our diocesan retreat center, Trinity Center. We send children to summer camp there, and have hosted Parish Family Weekends at the facilities. Christ Church hosts the Diocesan Convention in New Bern and recently hosted the election of the Eighth Bishop of our diocese.

12 In the wider community, our church is actively involved in prison ministry, sending parishioners to minister in prisons and to help the children of inmates in our local community by hosting an Angel Tree and sending a group of children to camp during the summer. Christ Church is also an extremely active participant in the Interfaith Refugee Ministry and has supported refugees in our city with financial support, donating school supplies, and welcoming them into our church and the community. *55. How do you engage in pastoral care for those beyond your worshipping community? A hallmark of our Parish is pastoral care for those beyond our worshipping community. Some care involves individual parishioners; other care involves our buildings and grounds or providing corporate financial support. Our parishioners have been instrumental in starting and supporting efforts to aid groups in need. For example, we joined other churches thirty years ago to start an agency to help people in crisis, which we currently support through semi-monthly collections and regularly volunteering at the soup kitchen and on the board. In 1996 members of our parish helped start a clinic to provide healthcare to the uninsured; church volunteers currently include physicians and nurses, support staff, and board members. The Interfaith Refugee Ministry has been in our area twenty years and parishioners have co-sponsored the largest number of families of any church in our diocese. We will soon celebrate 300 years at the same location and are blessed with historic grounds and buildings that we use to engage the local community. Our mosteagerly anticipated fund-raisers, operating budget, a trust fund provide about $100,000 for outreach; and our current diocesan pledge is about $100, Tell about a ministry that your worshipping community has initiated in the past five years. Who can be contacted about this? Members of Christ Church's worshipping community initiated a Daughters of the King chapter through the efforts of several women who believed that the core of DOK - prayer, evangelism and service-fit well with where women of the church were in their spiritual journeys. Those who began the chapter felt a personal call to a more prayer- filled life and hoped to find other women who also felt a desire to share such a journey. The first group of eight sisters studied and prayed together and became daughters of the Epiphany Chapter in Since then, others have also felt called to a more disciplined prayer, service and evangelism life and now more than twenty five members of the church are DOK members meeting to pray for themselves, for others, and for the church. The sisters study and assist with services such as bringing fresh bread to newcomers. A clergy person is the chaplain of the chapter. Annual quiet days are open to all. Retreats and hosting the Spring Assembly for Province IV have all been part of sharing their spiritual journeys. For information, contact the church office or the church website.

13 *57. How are you preparing yourselves for the Church of the future? The church of today and tomorrow is multifaceted so we are preparing in several ways through the Clergy, music, facilities, financially, and social media. In May we hosted a Ministry Architect group that focused on our children and youth programming. A Ministries Design Team has been formed to work toward implementation of their suggestions. Our new music director is invigorating the parish with a fresh look at our music offerings and we are investigating purchasing Lift Every Voice and Sing hymnals. In the past few years we have renovated our church buildings to include purchasing additional space. This ensures we have room for our current programming and the flexibility to add new programming as we move forward. All of this work has been paid for. In fact, our pledges have increased recently allowing us to expand our stewardship. Our social media presence includes Facebook and Instagram allowing us to have an increased web presence and share information quickly. Parishioners not involved in social media, receive communication of events by mail. We are ready for the future, are you? *58. Summarize the significant strengths of your community. Our strengths evolve from our long-time Episcopal heritage, which dates back to During this next year, we are celebrating our 300th anniversary. Our very strong and active laity are willing workers, internally and externally, with a diversity of geographic and life experience backgrounds, all of which are blended into a welcoming, hospitable, and unified community. Corporate outreach has long been a strength; however, in recent years, our individual outreach has been more predominant. Stewardship is another strength. We have utilized the Alabama Plan in various forms for our annual giving. In 2005 we undertook a Capital Campaign and Renovation Plan, which resulted in a $6,900,000 project supported by pledges, and no debt remains. In summary, this parish has a strong, active and involved laity, which has been located at the same downtown corner in historic New Bern for 300 years, and our Episcopal faith and traditions lead us to, corporately and individually, reach out to help others and to set goals and reach them, always keeping our vision and mission in front of us.

14 *59. Summarize the significant challenges which face your community. As with most small town communities, New Bern has its share of challenges. CONSTANT CHANGE: We have several retirement communities/neighborhoods and with the number of retirees, the aging church is a real concern. How do we attract younger members, keeping them happy and wanting to stay and be an active part of the church? POPULATION INCREASE AND CHANGE: How do we keep everyone happy while respecting different cultures? Literacy for our locals who cannot read and the refugees settling in our community. RACISM: We would love to have more interaction with our African- American Episcopal Church and increased diversity in our parish. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: HISTORIC TOWN: Upkeep of historic governor s mansion, homes, churches, our own Christ Church. We are a rich community with many different denominations and religious beliefs. New churches are often formed as a direct split from an existing church due to unresolved conflicts within that church. Overall we live in a vibrant, beautiful city with the usual challenges, but we generally find a way to get along. 60. What is your practice of stewardship and how does it shape the life of your worshipping community? We recognize that stewardship is composed of time, talent, and finances. For financial stewardship, we have used variations of the Alabama Plan successfully. Tithing and personal visits by canvassers were centerpieces of the Plan. Clergy and Vestry have publicly committed to tithing or working toward the tithe. However, enthusiasm for the Plan waned with successive Rectors and canvassers; so about seven years ago, we tried to reinvigorate what had been a very productive plan. Currently, our modified version involves personal note writing by communicants rather than visits by canvassers. Last year s financial stewardship results were better than expected even in a time of transition, and we still have work to do. This year over one hundred note writers volunteered to share their love of Christ Church. With so many retirees in our parish and especially with the economic downturn, individual parishioners have, through their own labors and contributions to the community, made up some of the difference. However, some in our worshipping community do not feel the sense of pride in corporate giving that was evident when the Alabama Plan was actively pursued and producing great results. 61. What is your worshipping community s experience of conflict? How have you addressed it? Christ Church has experienced conflict over national church issues such as the introduction of the 1979 Prayer Book and the consecration of female priests and bishops. More recently, there has been conflict regarding the LGBT presence. We also have had issues in the past about who belongs at our worship. How conflicts were resolved determined their outcomes. With God s help, treating each other respectfully and being flexible led to successful resolutions. For example, the Prayer Book was successfully introduced by a rector who encouraged parishioners to

15 "give it a try," treating us as adults capable of making up our own minds. On the other hand, two groups left to start new churches because of their differing views with the National Church and other issues. In the past racial integration has been an issue. New Bern has a predominantly African American Episcopal church, whose congregation wants to continue worshipping there. Some African Americans worship with us. However, our efforts to expand our communion have been unsuccessful, despite having provided a vicar for the other church in the recent past. 62. What is your experience as a community in leading/addressing change in the church? When has it gone well? When has it gone poorly? What did you learn? Some of the areas still go unresolved. The biggest cultural changes that have occurred in recent years have been women in the priesthood and women in the House of Bishops and serving as the presiding bishop, and the gay and lesbian influx and the manner in which it was adopted. Additionally, the question of gay and lesbian union and the church's role in those unions, where legalized, has created quite a change in the culture. Overall, women in the priesthood have been accepted in our worshipping community. The civil law in the United States and in North Carolina particularly, broke that ground for us. The LGBT issue has not gone without some challenges. We learned in each of these experiences that patience and deliberation, a call for unity, and recognition that we are all God's children helps bring unity. We are searching for a leader to guide us in the ongoing challenges of today and tomorrow. *63. What is the most important key quality of a priest who partners in leadership with the worshipping community? Loves God, Loves the Church, Loves the People *64. Please provide words describing the gifts and skills essential to the future clergy leaders of your worshipping community? We seek a leader gifted and skilled as both a pastor and a Rector. The pastor we seek cares for people as shown by a friendly and open personality, regular visits to parishioners and personal involvement in outreach. The pastor is also gifted and skilled with preaching and teaching in ways that inspire us on our spiritual journey, especially through succinct homilies that are relevant, scripture-based, and likely to change us where needed. Finally, we look for a pastor who believes that all of Christ Church benefits from attracting and retaining young families, building strong youth and children s programs, and involving more of us in the choral program. The rector we seek has gifts and skills that point to likely success in community-building, administration of worship resources, Vestry relations, Stewardship, attracting and mentoring outstanding junior-clergy and staff, and being comfortable in a lay-led church in an area of demographic transition. In brief, we seek a GREAT LEADER willing to include us in his or her journey of faith, who is outgoing with the LOVE of Christ obvious to all he or she meets.

16 *65. Please provide the URL for your worshipping community s website: christchurchnewbern.com