A New Focus for Church of Our Saviour Mill Valley, California 2015 Narrative Budget Building our intergenerational community, expanding our support for one another, and strengthening our hands to serve all in the name of Christ... Our New Focus for 2015 allocates our financial and volunteer resources into five areas: 1. Worship Nourishing the Heart of Our Community 2. Education Nourishing the Mind of Our Community 3. Support Nourishing the Souls of Our Community 4. Service Strengthening the Hands of Our Community 5. Hospitality Building our Place in the Wider Community... all in Christ s name. For 2015, we project a total budget of $366,000: $70,000 $82,000 $77,000 $57,000 Worship $80,000 Education Support Service Hospitality $280,000 of this will be raised through pledges financial commitments from our members. Every pledge matters in helping us meet our goal! The remainder of our revenue is raised through renting our facilities, offerings, gifts, and fundraisers.
1. Worship Nourishing the Heart of Our Community I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Revelation 21:6 When we gather together for prayer we hear our sacred texts read, learn more about our faith, we are nourished in communion, and we welcome new members into our faith through baptism. In all of these ways, we celebrate God s love at work in our lives and community. It is in these times that we find rest and refreshment, renewed fellowship, challenges to grow in our Christian practice of loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves, and inspiration for the many, diverse ways we serve in the world. Worship is where our journeys end and begin. Worship challenges us to put God first in our lives, and keeps us focused on our most important task: living in the love of Christ. Leadership and Staff: $73,000 Ministry Costs: $9,000 Weekly Volunteer Hours: 35+ Looking to 2015: Enriching our worship offerings throughout the week, growing our choir in numbers, and expanding involvement of all our members in our shared worship life.
2. Education Nourishing the Mind of Our Community For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 In our New Focus conversations in 2014, we learned that many members of our community deeply value what we teach our young members at Church of Our Saviour: lives centered in Christ, built around compassion, integrity, and a willingness to serve. Nowhere else in our communities can our young people learn side-by-side with members of different generations and in conversation with stories and traditions that have endured for thousands of years. Church of Our Saviour has a long-standing pattern of excellence in educating children at every stage of development. In recent years, we opened a third Godly Play classroom and have watched our Middle Saints program burgeon in participation. Our new 2016 confirmation class includes 14 youth ranging from 7 th -10 th grade, accompanied by adult mentors. Our EPIC Youth combines lively discussions on faith at the threshold of adulthood with active service opportunities in the wider community. Our Adult Education forums continue to be a popular draw for our adult members and occasional intergenerational events. A wide variety of topics, from a showing and discussion of Miss Representation, to the history of our tradition, to the current challenges in the Middle East have been recent subjects. Recently, we have founded a group studying the Enneagram as a resource for spiritual growth, drawing on the gifts of several of our members and including people from outside the parish. Looking ahead: Continuing to strengthen our Godly Play, Middle Saints, and EPIC Youth Programs and the volunteer teams that lead them. Building interfaith adult education events in partnership with Kol Shofar and other local faith communities. Continuing to offer new opportunities for our talented members to share their faith-filled service and learnings with the wider community. Leadership and Staff: $50,000 Ministry Costs: $7,000 Weekly Volunteer Hours: 20+
3. Support Nourishing the Souls of Our Community I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35 Each one of us encounters times of challenge and transition in our lives. Through pastoral care, the prayers of our Healing Team, clergy visits and counseling, and the support and friendship of our many members, Church of Our Saviour offers a host of ways to help our members navigate difficult times. Looking ahead: In our recent New Focus conversations, we discerned a desire to strengthen and expand our support for one another in the coming year. A taskforce of over a dozen members is gathering to begin this planning. In Advent of this year, we will begin teaching in the community on Sundays about ways we can better support one another as companions in our earthly pilgrimage. Meanwhile, we will continue to reach out to our new members, partner them with existing members, and welcoming them into the life of this community. Leadership and Staff: $78,000 Ministry Costs: $2,000 Weekly Volunteer Hours: 20+
4. Service Strengthening the Hands of Our Community When was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Matthew 25:37-40 From our monthly hot lunch serving the hungry at Mt. Carmel in Mill Valley to our youth-led mission trip to Taos the past few summers to our children collecting books to build a new school library here in Marin, Church of Our Saviour actively strengthen the hands of all our members for service in Christ s name. In our New Focus conversations, we learned more about the desire for our service to be intergenerational, and the growing concerns in our community for those who are most vulnerable in the current housing crisis: the precariously housed and the homeless. A taskforce of over a dozen members is convening in the next few weeks to begin planning for a Lenten Season of Service next spring, which will offer a variety of opportunities for our members across the generations to tangibly help the homeless in Marin County. Meanwhile, as part of the Marin Organizing Committee, we are actively advocating at the local level for funding and municipal support for our year-round REST homeless shelter here in Marin one that will serve 60 homeless adults, building off the success of the winter REST shelter that has been run for the past several years by St. Vincent de Paul. Finally, a significant portion of our service budget supports the work of the wider Episcopal Church, from helping sustain the ministry of our Bishop and his staff to missions and charitable institutions here in the Bay Area, to the life and mission of The Episcopal Church nationally and globally. Leadership and Staff: $21,500 Outreach Grants: $5,000 Marin Organizing Committee Support: $3,500 The Work of the wider Diocese of California and The Episcopal Church: $47,000 Weekly Volunteer Hours: 15+
5. Hospitality Building our Place in the Wider Community Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2 Church of Our Saviour s facilities have stood at the corner of Old Mill Street and Lovell Avenue since 1892, the year Mill Valley was incorporated. We currently host a vibrant preschool program that includes a number of our member families, several AA and Al-Anon groups, and a piano teacher; we also offer rehearsal space for thespian groups and a home for spiritual direction and counseling. As we have undertaken to strengthen our emergency preparedness, we are coming to recognize our importance as a community meeting place in a crisis. Looking ahead, we expect to reach out more proactively to our neighbors and further elevate our visibility and involvement in the wider community. From our occasional work days to the routine work of our Sexton and Parish Administrator, maintaining and improving our facilities is a critical part of our hospitality for not only our worship and support for one another, but our ministry to many beyond our parish boundaries. Leadership and Staff: $40,000 Building Maintenance and Utilities: $30,000 Weekly Volunteer Hours: 10+ Your generosity is key: through your gifts of time, financial support, and prayer, you welcome the work of God in this place and disclose Christ s love to the world. As we look ahead to the future, we invite you to make Church of Our Saviour part of your future plans. While making your pledge for 2015, consider including Church of Our Saviour in your will, estate, or trust planning. Contact the office for more details: office@oursaviourmv.org or 388-1907.