Community Ministry Profile St. John s Episcopal Church, McLean, VA January 1, 2019 Describe a moment in your worshipping community s recent ministry which you recognize as one of success and fulfillment. Our annual Homecoming Sunday is glorious! Usually. The blue skies are bright over our yellow church on the hill on the second Sunday in September. The red and yellow balloons sway in the breeze. The scent of fried chicken wafts over the lawn. The petting zoo animals low softly. The volunteers make final preparations for the picnic buffet under the trees. Tables are spread out for activity sign-ups and for an afternoon of fellowship. Then the St. John s magic happens. The sanctuary doors open and out spill smiling families greeting old friends and making new ones, children singing and romping. All the hard work of the Family Ministries Team and the Fellowship Team has paid off. This year s Homecoming and Welcome Celebration was particularly joyous, albeit wet. We had to move everything inside to Shears Hall (except for the animals) because of the remnants of Hurricane Florence. But our spirits were not dampened. We were 300 or so strong. It was our pleasure to see the culmination of our Capital Campaign in our beautifully renovated church. It was our delight to meet and welcome our new Interim Rector and Assistant Rectors. It was our joy to greet each other. Describe your liturgical style & practice. If your community provides more than one type of worship service, please describe all: St. John s is a proud standard bearer of the Diocese of Virginia s heritage, leaning more low to broad. We are a Prayer Book parish and emphasize Rite 2, but also use Rite 1. We ve varied services for different expressions showing adaptability, particularly with the Sunday evening service. We are eager to explore new liturgies and to use our new Woodland Chapel in novel ways. We have traditions such as Praying for the President and singing the 4th Verse of America after the Doxology. We also emphasize music with adult and children s choirs and special music services such as Jazz Sunday, Lessons and Carols, and Requiem Masses. We rely on adult and youth lay participation in the form of readers, acolytes, and eucharist ministers. Following Children s Chapel, children gather and remain on the altar to lead the congregation in prayer. Typical Sunday services include: 7:45AM Rite 1, no music; 9AM Rite 2 with music and Children s Chapel; 11:15AM Rite 2 with music; 5PM Contemplative Eucharist with emphasis on silence. We recently added weekday Evening Prayer. We hold Wednesday healing services and numerous Advent, Christmas Week, Lenten, Holy Week, Election Day and special services.
How do you practice incorporating others in ministry? St. John s is blessed with gifted lay leadership. Instead of a top down approach, we utilize a lay committee structure. For example, members of the Adult Education Committee plan weekly forums; members of the Fellowship Committee plan social events. Clergy recruit parishioners for small groups by identifying their interests and providing that backing; e.g., Faith & Work and Book Group. We rotate involvement and strive to include new people in ministry; a prime example being that Vestry members are elected for three-year terms. In order to be more inclusive, the Vestry published a committee list with chairs and meeting schedules so that people will have more information about opportunities to join. We ve introduced a welcome table on Fellowship Sundays for people to sign-up for committees and offer activity sign-ups at Homecoming Sunday. In the monthly Parish Reports and weekly bulletins, we request volunteers for events and activities, list opportunities for parishioners to participate in pastoral ministries, and feature groups to highlight what they do and how to get involved. As a worshipping community, how do you care for your spiritual, emotional and physical well-being? In addition to weekly Adult Forums, Bible studies, healing services, and contemplative services, we care for spiritual well-being through theology seminars, Lenten Soup Suppers for adults and children, the Women s Lenten Retreat, and pilgrimages to the Holy Land, England and historic Virginia churches. Topical groups like Women in Faith, Faith & Work, Faith in the Public Square, Mom s Mornings, and 20s & 30s allow parishioners to support each other spiritually and emotionally with others in similar life-stages. Each Christmas and Easter, parishioners deliver flowers to those who have lost a loved one in the past year, while the Helping Hands group is always on call to host funeral receptions. The Heart Ministry connects Church School classrooms to homebound parishioners, allowing for a cross-generational outreach opportunity. St. John s clergy has long provided pastoral care by visiting those in need, but staff turnover in recent years has required re-establishing relationships. Pastoral care is a priority area for growth since, despite our best efforts, there are those in the middle of this busy parish who are in pain and want and deserve more care than we currently provide. Describe your worshipping community s involvement in either the wider Church or geographical region. St. John s has been well represented in both the Region and the Diocese in the past, holding positions in the Region leadership, and serving on various committees and boards at the Diocesan level. In the geographical region, St. John s has deep ties with several service organizations two of which are SHARE and Martha s Table. St. John s has been a participant in SHARE for more than 45 years, collecting money, food and household items in good condition to be given to the poor and needy in our community, and helping to organize the storage of
those goods. For 30 years, the congregation has also devoted one Sunday per month to making more than 1200 sandwiches to send to Martha s Table in DC, a project which brings together parishioners of all ages from each of the morning services. Beyond our immediate region, we have been in partnership with Iglesia San Gabriel in the Dominican Republic since 2002, which we visit annually on mission trips. On those trips, parishioners assist with construction and maintenance of the trade school we helped to build and assist with a Vacation Bible School for local children. How do you engage in pastoral care for those beyond your worshipping community? For 20 years, St. John s has been involved with the Colin Powell Leadership Club in its various locations and iterations in DC, with dedicated volunteers forming longterm relationships with young people who have gone through the program. Volunteers serve as tutors to help with reading and homework, as speakers to share their stories of overcoming challenges, and as planners to help keep this program running smoothly. Former club members have even come back to visit St. John s and let the congregation know how they re doing. Each summer, the high school youth from St. John s participate in a mission trip to New York City. A constant part of that trip has involved the Midnight Run a late night trip through the city to visit the homeless, distribute food and needed goods such as socks and toiletries which teens had previously collected. Teens also participate in a ministry of presence simply being there and listening to what may be going on in a homeless person s life. Teens come away changed by these conversations. Their participation in this special form of pastoral care is a major draw for those who take part in the trip. It is an exercise in grace, respect, and patience. Tell about a ministry that your worshipping community has initiated in the past five years. Who can be contacted about this? We are always looking for new ways to participate in outreach ministry and fellowship. Members of the Missions Committee came up with St. John s Global Bistro as a different way to take part in the mission work of the Episcopal Church. Since early 2017, the group has twice transformed the parish hall into a restaurant and invited every member of the congregation to partake in a meal for charity. A truly multi-generational event, youth ages 5 th grade and older have given of their time by serving as restaurant cooks, waitstaff, and cleaners for the evening. We donate proceeds from the entry price to Episcopal Relief and Development. Attendees are treated to a wonderful international meal. We have served cuisine from Italy and France, and are making plans already for the 2019 event. More than 100 people have attended each of the events, and Global Bistro has already become a favorite tradition. Contact available on request. How are your preparing yourselves for the Church of the future? St. John s engaged in a comprehensive discernment process where, as a community, we identified our priorities, hopes, and dreams for the future. While
acting as good stewards of our spectacular 12-acre property within an increasingly densely populated area, we wanted St. John s to be a welcoming beacon, offering worship and gracious hospitality to all those who enter our doors. Following the discernment, we held a successful capital campaign, Create the Future, and built for the next generation. We upgraded our facilities to attract others to St. John s; made the grounds and church open, inviting, and accessible and created a Woodland Chapel which will allow for new worship styles. While we look forward to a new rector s imprint on our new space, we are actively reviewing ways, both internally and externally focused, to use that space for the greater glory of God. The Vestry is considering using classrooms as prayerful workspace; the Worship Committee is recommending outdoor services; the new Engagement Committee is creating ways to welcome newcomers; the revamped Families Ministry is introducing programs to engage families; and the Fellowship Committee is launching activities. What is your practice of stewardship and how does it shape the life of your worshipping community? We take a traditional stewardship approach. Annual giving makes up 85% of our operating budget; non-pledge giving makes up the shortfall. We plan our budget accordingly; activities are limited as such. The Stewardship Committee is comprised of lay members who meet monthly to plan, execute, and report on our annual fundraising goals. Through Wardens sermons, Committee Chairman s presentations, mailings, brochures, Web content, Harvest Dinners, and follow-up calls, we meet most of our funding needs. The pledge requests are made annually each Fall. This year s theme for pledging is Pray Together, Give Together, Grow Together. The Committee respects givers and fully comprehends the seriousness of the sacrifices parishioners make. The Committee urges strengthening the concept of pledging to develop the next generation of givers and to instill in them the belief that it is an expression of faith and a demonstration of the meaningfulness of our programs. Although routinely recognized by the Diocese as having one of the best campaigns, we are willing to try new techniques. The right leadership and modernized giving practices could tap into potential capacity and increase giving. What is your worshipping community s experience of conflict? How have you addressed it? St. John s is a politically diverse congregation with many prominent members just outside of Washington, DC. Despite our diversity, we appreciate a politically neutral environment. The last presidential election was highly polarizing and parishioners raised concerns about politics creeping into the pulpit and pews. The Rector spoke to parishioners individually and tried to avoid conflict. If he found it, he got in front of it to resolve it. We developed methods to address the issues by talking in a way that valued and respected everyone s views. We held election services as well as Listening Sessions for a safe and welcoming place of respite for all. We introduced a five-session series during Lent entitled, Faith in the
Public Square, which among other things, discussed the ways in which we speak about the issues, show respect for others, etc. We endeavor to take a unifying approach which unites across the spectrum of political perspectives, including using sermons to tie the Gospel to the world and world events without being political. We remain sensitive to very diverse views and try to address them in a way that unifies everyone in the loving teachings of Jesus Christ. What is your experience/leading change in the church? When has it gone well? When has it gone poorly? What did you learn? St. John s Family Ministry is a good example of change that has gone both badly and well. For almost 20 years, St. John s was blessed with a beloved Associate for Youth and Children s Ministries. She was a superwoman and the programs were well established, albeit not well documented. When she left, we had no succession plan and we were at a loss. But instead of falling apart, we pulled together. We hired Ministry Architects to assist with the transition; we formed a Search Committee; we did strategic planning; we formed a new Family Ministry Team; we hired an interim. The Church School teachers and Family Ministry Team leaders leaned on each other and learned that they could succeed together instead of relying on our superwoman. Within a year, we hired an outstanding new Director with vision and organization and created a ministry that is faith-focused, welcoming, nurturing, and joyful. The programs are thriving, and families are happy. We have even introduced a new ministry called Mom s Morning which meets monthly, fills a previously unmet need, and has attracted families new to the church. Please provide words describing the gifts and skills essential to the future leaders of your worshipping community. 1) Vision to build on our strong foundation; 2) Preacher and teacher focused on finding common ground in Christ; 3) Warm, compassionate pastor to congregation of high-achieving leaders; and 4) Large church administrator.