Parish Profile. Episcopal Church of the Resurrection. of the. Centerville, Utah

Transcription

1 Parish Profile of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection Centerville, Utah

2 INTRODUCTION The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection has embarked upon a search process to call our next Rector. We are a small, family oriented parish, located just north of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Parish Profile that follows provides a sense of the parish and the people who worship here. RESURRECTION Mission The Mission of the Church of the Resurrection is: To give witness to the Risen Christ To love others as Christ loves us To draw closer to Christ Following Episcopal tradition, we give witness to the Risen Christ in a spirit of openness and humility, taking responsibility for the growth of our faith and our commitment to God s work. As Christ loves and accepts us, our purpose is to love and accept others, welcoming all into our fellowship. We deepen our knowledge of Christ through worship, fellowship, spiritual and educational programs, and service, seeking peace and justice locally and throughout the world. The Past History Episcopalians first met in Davis County, Utah in the mid-1900s. In 1963, we became a mission parish of St. Mark s Cathedral. In 1968, the parish began sharing a building with Bountiful Community Church as we formed a yoked parish. We experienced years of joyful ecumenical worship in this relationship. In 1993, a decision was made to establish a separate Episcopal parish in Davis county. In 2002, after a successful capital campaign, and a large grant from the Diocesan Jubilee Funds, our beautiful 2

3 new Church was completed and dedicated. Over the last 45 years we have experienced much joy, many shared experiences, some sorrow and a wealth of friendships. Along the way two non-stipendiary clergy have been raised up from the congregation. One has since passed on, the other remains active at Resurrection. Challenges Growth and awareness have been realized through the challenges of personnel changes and a new facility. We look forward to a new Rector to continue our journey of guided development. The Present Who We Are We believe that our church serves an important place in our community. Our parish prefers a traditional liturgical style. A high percentage of members participate in church activities. Our enthusiasm and member participation will help us to continue to grow and prosper. Here are some of the findings we determined from a church-wide survey completed in November 2008: 3

4 37 percent of those surveyed have attended more than 10 years, 25 percent have attended from 5-10 years, and 38 percent less than five years. Parishioners range from newborn to over 80 years of age. We are comfortable using the Internet and . Over 30 households (6 families with children) attend regularly Over 60 individuals attend Resurrection on a weekly basis Who attends, how frequently Average attendance at Sunday services 55 Our core members attend regularly Over 80 percent of our parishioners are active in parish activities. What drew us to Resurrection Fellowship 59 percent Style of Worship 44 percent General Ambiance 28 percent Music & Choir 18 percent What matters most in keeping us at Resurrection Parish Friendships Worship Style Outreach Music and Choir Church s reputation Worship The regular weekly schedule of worship services includes one Holy Eucharist on Sunday morning at 10:00 AM with music and a mid-week morning Healing Service at 9:00 AM, followed by a morning Bible Study at 9:30 AM. 4

5 Over the years we have been fortunate to experience a variety of services. Resurrection celebrates the traditional services during the Church calendar. Seasonal worship experiences include Lessons and Carols in Advent where the community is invited. During Lent we have an Ash Wednesday service, meet weekly for a Taize style worship followed by a soup supper. We also celebrate Holy Week with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday Services. Special annual celebrations include a Blessing of the Animals. To help guide the worship of the parish, a Worship Vestry Representative and Worship Advisory Committee meet quarterly, working with the Rector on planning and overseeing worship services. The music program consists of a talented director, organists, and choir, with individual and group musical performances throughout the church year. Every year the 5

6 choir performs Lessons and Carols during the Christmas season, and an ecumenical choir event is conducted in affiliation with other choirs in our community. Lay Ministries Many participate in Lay Ministries ranging from traditional Sunday duties to our Lay Weeders who assist in the maintenance of the church. The youth group FLIGHT (Fun Loving In God s Hands Team) sponsors several events including the Halloween party, St. Nicholas Celebration, Easter Egg Hunt and an annual car wash with proceeds going to sponsor scholarships to Camp Tuttle - a Diocesan camp for youth and families. Resurrection also supports the Wasatch Area Youth (WAY) program, an interdenominational youth group organized for fellowship and to give glory to God. Christian Education Our three age-based children s Sunday School classes are taught by a team of 13 adults. Each teacher serves for three months and uses the lessons from the Living the Good News curriculum. At the time the Sunday School program was developing, several vestry members volunteered to be teachers. The Education for Ministry program has been an asset to our parish, with multiple parishioners and non-parishioners taking part. Confirmation, church history and other opportunities are offered regularly. Recently we have offered a series on C. S. Lewis and another on the Gospel of Mark. 6

7 Fellowship Members of the congregation have mastered the art of fellowship. Many opportunities are available for joining together in sharing our common Christian experience and strengthening our fellowship. There is a warm feeling here and a real sense of belonging in the parish. Coffee hour can actually last more than an hour; it is time well spent sharing in one another s lives and catching up on weekly events. Members host activities in their homes to which all are invited. We plan outings such as ball games, cooking classes, and local theater presentations. We enjoy community events such as creating floats for parades and jazz nights in our mini-amphitheater. We host an annual Christmas Party and Easter Egg hunt, weekly meetings of the Saucy Stitchers and a book club. Twice a year, the congregation participates in a Saturday Church clean up. Our building is used by community groups including a Mom s Club, a Take Off Pounds Sensibly group, a 12 step program, and the RISE program which provides new experiences in the summer for challenged children and respite for their families. See Appendix A for a snapshot of activities. Newcomers Greeters offer visitors a warm welcome, help during the service, and a sincere invitation to coffee hour. Members make a significant effort to find common ground for discussion 7

8 during coffee hour. Newcomers receive a loaf of bread and a packet of information at their home. Outreach Resurrection is blessed by the eager support of our ministries and outreach programs. The ministry programs play a large part of our everyday life and consist of several distinct areas: The Omar Cline Fund This fund was established by a friend of the church and is used to assure that people living in nursing homes in our community are not forgotten on their birthday and at Christmas time.. Kiva This is an organization that lends small amounts of money to individuals and groups that are starting small businesses, generally in developing countries. This affords our parish the opportunity to reach out on a personal level on a worldwide scope in keeping with the intent of the Millenium Development Goals. Community Food Co-op of Utah Resurrection is the Centerville pick-up point for the Food Co-op program. This program provides food security at a low cost to anyone who wishes to participate on a monthly basis. Rummage Sale Many of the outreach activities of our parish are funded by the highly successful rummage sale that is held in June. The Ark & Olive Branch The Ark & Olive Branch, our church gift shop, sells a wide variety of religious and secular gifts. 8

9 The funds raised from this non-profit enterprise help fund several outreach programs. Stewardship Stewardship at Resurrection is one of our strongest programs and has continued to grow over the last few years. All that we have in life is a gift from God and our Stewardship Program, established on this premise, is based on the three pillars of Time, Talent and Treasure. On any Sunday one can observe that nearly all parishioners are giving of their Time and Talent with enthusiasm and a strong sense of community. The Treasures of our Church can be seen in our strong Pledge program, which has experienced an increase in the number of pledges over the last few years. Our Stewardship program has also provided the parish with the finances to expand our ministry programs. While the Parish receives generous financial support from the Diocese of Utah, our increasing Stewardship program allows us to grow as a Church spiritually and to move toward financial independence. Parish Management The Senior Warden, Junior Warden and Vestry are in full partnership with the Rector in the oversight and leadership of the Parish. They meet monthly to review parish business and guide activities and events. Each Vestry member is responsible for one or more major area in the life of the Parish. 9

10 Financial Over the last five years pledges have increased. Presently our expenses exceed our income resulting in a drain on our reserves. We hope and pray to break even by Our goal remains 100% parishioner participation. Where We Are Resurrection is located in Centerville, Utah, just 10 miles north of Salt Lake City. We are in a suburban setting with access to all the amenities of a big city, not to mention the wonders of Utah. The Diocese of Utah has a long and interesting history (see Appendix B.) The Future Recognizing the realities of life in the parish, our Vestry has set six goals for the parish. Over the last two years we have successfully focused on stewardship, education and youth programs. Realities of life in our parish: 1. Our small membership means limited financial and human resources. 2. Diocesan grant money is decreasing. 10

11 3. We are a minority religious community in a population that overwhelmingly adheres to another tradition. Our Goals: 1. Make our presence and our witness known so we reach all those who need to hear our message of God s grace. 2. Increase our membership. 3. Draw more people into our active ministries by identifying and affirming spiritual gifts. 4. Increase stewardship commitment, so we become self-supporting in a reasonably short length of time. 5. Include more youth and youth programs. 6. Increase opportunities for educational and spiritual growth. Our Search As we progress in our search for a new Rector, we look forward to sharing hopes, dreams and expectations with a Rector who is comfortable and convincing in their beliefs. We are hoping to find someone enthusiastic in their ministry, organized, innovative, energized and able to convey God s message to the congregation. Our new Rector should help us in empowering the congregation to deepen our own faith and encouraging us to share it with the world. We also feel that looking at life with a sense of humor is a definite asset. We are open to moving out of our comfort zone and receptive to clergy with different ideas and strengths. 11

12 12 Appendix A Resurrection Life

13 Sanctuary Banners 13

14 Appendix B Our Diocese History The Episcopal Diocese of Utah has an interesting past, and an exciting and promising future. Our history here is long about one hundred and forty years since we were the first other church to settle here after the Mormons (though we were soon followed by both Catholics and other Protestants). We were a missionary district for all but the last thirty-five years of that time, becoming an independent diocese only in the early nineteen-seventies. Thus we are still in the process of discerning who we are and how we want to be the church here; the bishops pretty much did that for us in earlier days. The Rt. Rev. Daniel S. Tuttle was the first missionary bishop to be sent to Utah, having a huge jurisdiction that included Montana and Idaho as well. Though being the youngest bishop of his time he had to wait in the east for his thirtieth birthday to arrive so as to conform to the canons he became a truly heroic figure in the church. He served his mission here for twenty years, became the bishop of Missouri, then later became presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Bishop Tuttle was a visionary and active bishop, founding many churches, our cathedral, the first non-mormon schools, and the first hospital in this part of the west. Early on, the people who became members of the Utah Missionary district were Native Americans, miners, railroad builders, and members of the military. The latter were stationed at Fort Douglas, just east of Salt Lake City. US Army troops were stationed here to keep an eye on the Mormons and the Native Americans. (Ft. Douglas became the Olympic village when the 2002 Winter Games were hosted by Utah.) Today, among its twenty-two churches and several chaplaincies, our diocese supports two Native American churches on the Ouray-Uinta Reservation, and three thriving Latino congregations. The present diocesan boundaries are the state of Utah, excluding the Navajo Area Mission in the southeast corner of the state, and including a recently adopted and rapidly growing congregation in Page, Arizona, near the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. Two radical changes have come our way in recent years. First, we became an independent diocese, no longer supported financially by the national church. Second, 14

15 through the sale of St. Mark s Hospital, we shifted quite suddenly from being one of the poorest dioceses in the Episcopal Church to being one of the wealthiest. Both changes have posed huge challenges for us more so than we ever expected and also more than most of our people have realized even now. We still struggle to embrace these changes faithfully. In late 1995, Carolyn Tanner Irish was elected as bishop coadjutor, soon to become the tenth bishop of Utah. She was the first woman to lead any denomination in Utah, and only the fourth woman in the Episcopal Church to be chosen as diocesan bishop. Bishop Carolyn is a native of Utah, who has lived in, and served the Episcopal Church in the East, Midwest and England for nearly forty years. Raised as a Mormon, she has been a bridge person for our church in the Utah culture. Since her seating in 1996, Bishop Carolyn has opened the books on our diocese s finances, and has seen that all our diocesan budgeting and distributions are known to the parishioners, many of whom also participate in the financial decision making process since the dissolution of the Corporation of the Bishop. Our governance has changed with the adoption of a new constitution and canons by Diocesan Convention. In addition to the Standing Committee we now have a Diocesan Council comprised of regional and at large elected members. It is charged with being the Convention in recess and overseeing the budget and programs of the diocese. After a long period of foundation building and groundwork, Bishop Carolyn believes that we are well positioned for a new era of mission and ministry. At the 100th Convention of the diocese in 2005 we began a five-year plan called Living Boldly based on our mission statement. Bishop Carolyn recently announced her retirement effective September