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[Back to index of July/August 2007 articles] Shortfall in pledges problematic, council hears By Lucy Chumbley Parish pledges, which account for almost two-thirds of the diocese’s revenue, are falling short of budget projections, Finance Committee Chairman John Welch told the Diocesan Council at its June 12 meeting. If giving continues at its current pace, the shortfall in funds could be as much as $165,000, he said, adding that “if this continues, we are not where we need to be.” Welch advised the council to focus its efforts and energy on development, and to think long and hard before approving requests and proposals that require diocesan funding. “If this isn’t one of our top three priorities, then it’s got to be up there,” he said. “I challenge the council to address this. We need to shift this paradigm.” Bishop John Bryson Chane pointed out that the diocese has set 10 percent as the minimum standard for parish giving. While pledging is not mandatory, he said, congregations that are financially able should make it a priority to honor their pledge. Chane suggested that representatives from the diocese or Diocesan Council should check in with parishes that are pledging 7 percent or less of their net operating income. “What it says to me [when a congregation cannot pledge at least 7 percent] is that congregation in many instances is in trouble,” he said. “We have a responsibility to go out and work out how to help that congregation fund its own mission initiatives. I’m more than happy to arrange to sit down with a group of people from this council and vestries, but I’m not going to sit here much longer and look at these numbers without addressing them.” “What you’re going to have to do is help people make more money or make [the 10 percent pledge] mandatory, because you’re fighting about the same very small pot of money,” said outgoing council member the Rev. Karla Woggon. The Rev. Steve Huber suggested that a “culture change” was necessary. Many congregations struggle with the following dilemma, he said: “If we increase pledge to the diocese, then we decrease program in the parish.” Some churches work out their budget and then fund their pledge to the diocese based on what’s left over, he said. Chane said the diocese needed to do a better job of helping parishes understand “who we are, what we are, what we’ve done, what we’re engaged in.” “We need to convince the parishes that what they’re paying to the diocese is coming back to them as well,” said council member John Miers, pointing out the diocese in turn pledges funds to the national church and benefits from its initiatives and programs. In other matters the council: * Heard a report from the diocese’s regional representatives and others regarding the format of this fall’s Regional Assemblies, as well as that of a possible mid-year gathering, as proposed by Bishop Chane in his 2007 address to the Diocesan Convention. The first mid-year gathering, tentatively scheduled for 2008, will probably be a day-long event centered around a lecture and discussions, said the Rev. Patty Downing. The 2007 Regional Assemblies will be more condensed that in previous years, and all six assemblies will take place over just two days, said Martha Jenkins, regional convener for Region 2. * Heard an update from Paul Cooney, canon to the ordinary, on the sale of property the diocese owns at Brightseat Road in Prince George’s County. Because of the softening real estate market, Cooney said, the buyer asked the diocese to reduce its contracted $1.4 million sale price to $1.1 million, which it did, while increasing the buyer’s deposit to $100,000. “Closing was to have been [June 8] and it did not occur,” Cooney said. “We are expecting to get a counter offer.” * Learned from Cooney that the vestry of St. Augustine’s in Southwest D.C. has been approached with an offer from a developer “basically swapping their property for an adjacent property and cash.” Representatives from the developer and the parish met at Church House to discuss the proposal, Cooney said, stressing that “the decision is in the hands of the vestry, it’s not in the hands of Church House.” [Back to index of July/August 2007 articles]
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