Due to the dramatic turn our national and local economy took in the fall of 2008, St. George’s budget was reduced by roughly nine percent in 2009 from its 2008 levels.  While I am eager for us to return to - and hopefully exceed - the 2008 budget figures in the near future, we have every reason to feel positive about our financial stewardship.  At this writing we are anticipating an increase in 2010 pledges over 2009, and we continue to soar more than 50% above pledged revenue from five years ago.

I am aware of my propensity for overstatement stemming from my unbounded enthusiasm about St. George’s.  But I have a keen eye for what is happening in the larger church, and I believe St. George’s is one of the healthiest Episcopal congregations in the country. This vitality can be attributed primarily to leadership. We are blessed by an abundance of superb leaders.  From the Altar Guild to the Lay Eucharistic Visitors to choir members to In-reach Shepherds and to each of the myriad ministries it is not possible to mention here, St. George’s is a community of servant leaders. 

Here I wish to offer a written word of thanks for our vestry in particular.  They tire of me saying it but this is true: we continue to have some of the hardest working and most committed church leaders I have ever been around.  I share my deepest gratitude for the commitment of our outgoing vestry members now completing their three-year term: Senior Warden, Calvin Lewis, Junior Warden, Amy Norton, as well as Bob Kinard, Rich Maradik, Claudia Padfield, and Sally Smallwood.  Their vestry term has been defined by much hard work, productive ministry and exciting growth in key areas of our parish life, much of which is highlighted elsewhere in this report.

I also want to highlight the leadership and dedication of our church staff.  At no time in my ordained ministry have I been surrounded by a more collectively talented, committed and faithful staff.  They are also a pleasant, polite and fun group with whom to share in ministry.  I am very proud of the staff we have assembled.  While we are far from perfect, I do feel God has blessed us in bringing together at St. George’s some very fine people whose unique gifts and experiences compliment the whole and further the gospel for our entire parish.

On January 9, 2010, the vestry gathered for a half-day retreat to revisit and enlarge our Strategic Plan for St. George’s Church as we envision God’s purposes for us over the next few years. We already have a “living and breathing” plan developed more than three years ago.  However, it is time for our parish once again to think boldly and hopefully about new and deepened ministry.  As I have shared literally from my first day in this role, my greatest fear for St. George’s is that we will have insufficient expectations of God’s future for us. 

Jeremiah 20:11 promises, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  God has plans for us.  Some may call them dreams.  How can we best discern these plans and dreams?  How can we implement them as God would have us do?

I share several highlights of our strategic visioning that point both backward to this past year and forward to the years to come.  Your  vestry, clergy, and other staff and ministers involved in the implementation of our plan are aware that despite our plethora of committed church leaders we have a large number of parishioners who are not well-connected to the parish or do not perceive themselves to be.  We will need to focus on four areas to address this reality.

First, the vestry and key staff have identified throughout the past few years that we have many members whose commitments and presence are nominal. In some ways, this pattern mirrors other large, corporate churches where the proverbial 20% - 80% “rule” applies. (That is, 20% of the people do 80% of the work.)  Still, this reality need not persist without intentionally inviting more of our members to become actively engaged in parish life.  It is the witness of countless long-time members that St. George’s has more offerings and ministries available for members than ever.  I am particularly excited about the accelerating growth of our small groups for men and women, especially the CLC ministry and LIFE Groups.  These are but two excellent entry points into deepened discipleship at St. George’s.  There are many others.  However, it is up to each of us active members to help us identify and invite our less active members into regular contact and engagement with our ministries.  My expectation moving forward is that our Strategic Plan will place even greater emphasis on this area of ministry.

Second, as I have shared in a recent article for the Shield, it is difficult for some to feel a deep sense of belonging at St. George’s, given our size and complexity.  We are not a small town parish where each member’s whereabouts and situation are ever before the leadership and congregation.  One can get lost in the hubbub of St. George’s.  In the past year, an ad hoc committee has been exploring ways we can reach out in more regular and intentional ways to our shut-ins and those who find it difficult or impossible to attend church.  I am pleased by their progress and feel that our pastoral care to homebound members and those in the hospital is good and improving.  But we can do more and better ministry on this front.  Similarly, I am hopeful that 2010 will be the year that mid-sized community groups will “take off” within the church.  These groups are designed to foster fellowship and discipleship for members in settings conducive to greater familiarity and belonging.

Third, the parish leadership is eager to embrace new ministries to identify and disciple high potential leaders for our church life.  One subtle danger in a church possessing such obviously committed and gifted leaders is that we may risk asking these leaders to do too much, too often.  Leadership development has emerged as a key focus for your clergy team, and I am confident that vestry leadership will encourage greater intentionality on this front in the immediate future.

Fourth, I have repeatedly expressed my highest hopes that more of our members would be regular in church attendance.  While our average Sunday attendance (ASA) is up more than 100 people over the past five years, a more dramatic increase was desired.  In fact, in 2009 our ASA remained flat.  My strong suspicion (and bias) is that we offer the most beautiful, theologically sound, and musically rich Anglican worship in Nashville.  While we do not worship God here in order to achieve some statistical mark, it is the case that St. George’s continues to have below-average worship attendance given the size of our baptized membership.  Space precludes a full analysis of this reality from my perspective, but among other considerations, I have appointed a committee of current and former vestry members to help me examine the best configuration of service times.  We will continue to offer classical Anglican worship in all the ways with which we are familiar.  But I am not convinced our Sunday morning schedule is maximizing the potential for greater attendance.  This will be examined thoroughly in 2010.

Lastly, the year 2009 was another important year for our mission and outreach at St. George’s. Despite the reduction in our budget over 2008, I was proud of our vestry for maintaining our commitment to a tithe of pledged revenues for mission and outreach.  We are making a difference in the lives of many who are less fortunate than ourselves.  I was also blessed to travel to South Africa in the fall to witness our partnership with St. Thomas in Kagiso.  Undoubtedly there is strong potential for exciting growth in this ministry.  Likewise, there is reason for excitement about new or deepened ministries in Honduras and among the many agencies we support in Nashville.  Moving forward, I do hope that the parish will consider more deeply, however, the Great Commission aspect of our calling as Christians, exploring new ministries where we might share the gospel message with those who have not yet heard it.  We shall see.

Once more, I am honored to share in the work of Christ with you. The best is still yet to come!