FROM THE RECTOR
May, 2005

Back in March, I presented to the Vestry a list of priorities I’ve set for our work together in 2005. This was not meant to stifle the creativity of our parish commissions. Rather, it has just been my experience that unless you highlight a few priority items, the Law of Inertia kicks in: things that are at rest tend to stay at rest! My list was thus meant as a gentle push to set some things into motion so that we can begin to draw upon the flip side of that same natural law.

That said, I will hasten to add that in many cases our commissions (or the committees under them) have already begun to address some of these priorities. In these instances, the list was meant to further highlight to our vestry members (particularly the new ones) the continuing importance of these initiatives.

In this month’s column, I’d like to share my list with you. I do this with the awareness that our Vestry cannot accomplish these objectives alone: they will need the help and support of our entire congregation. Please keep this in mind as you read through the various items. If you feel called to pitch in with a particular task, either phone or email me - or contact the commission chair or co-chair directly from the listing below.

Finally, I will add that this is not just a catalogue of my pet projects. On the contrary, most of them are taken directly from our Strategic Plan, the roadmap that our congregation has prayerfully crafted over the past three years. These are your ideas, your dreams for our church.

Let’s let our work together in 2005 make these dreams become a reality as we seek to more perfectly minister in the name of the Risen Lord.

Wardens. Pete Kind (Sr. Warden), Ken Wrona (Jr. Warden). Over the years, Pohick’s Vestry has largely functioned on oral tradition. That appeared to work fine when a core group of parishioners rotated on and off the Vestry every few years. More recently, however, a higher percentage of Vestry members have never served before, making the transmission of oral tradition spotty at best. Thus our Strategic Plan calls for our Wardens to develop a “Vestry Manual,” outlining important procedures that all Vestry members should know. I’ve highlighted the production of this manual as a priority for this year, so that our Vestry members can have a better idea of the roles and expectations their office entails.

Christian Education. Robin Teale & Sarah Booth, Co-Chairs. Since September, we’ve had a tough time recruiting EYC Advisors and event chaperones. This has put enormous pressure on our current group of dedicated Advisors, some of whom have rightly needed to spend more time with their own expanding families. Thus I have underscored the need to do a better job of challenging members of our congregation with gifts in this area to pitch in. More generally for both EYC and Sunday School, we also need to explore additional ways to support our volunteers in terms of curriculum enhancement and training.

Communication. Pete Kind, Chair. It’s amazing, but with the thousands of new homes recently built all around us, there are a lot of families moving in who still do not even know we exist. While we’ve done some things to further raise our visibility within the community, it has not been systematic enough. We need a Publicist assisted by a Publicity Committee to make this happen. I’ve identified this as a priority for this year—as well as the publication of a new Pictorial Directory.

Mission & Outreach. Reed Heddleston, Chair. We’ve been talking about the Alpha Program for years, and we now own the materials. What we need is a group of people interested in launching this evangelism program. It entails hosting for the community weekly gatherings for food, fellowship and discussion of taped materials dealing with Christianity in a very down-to-earth manner. Let’s make it happen this year!

Pastoral Care. Doug Smith, Chair. Jane Piver has written about the training that has been going on with the pastoral care group, the Community of Hope. Our goal this year is to formally launch this ministry and to integrate it with the neighborhood groups we began to set up a few years ago.

Planning and Policy. Mike Wooten, Chair. Our Building Committee has been thoroughly vetting architects over the past several months. Ideally, we’d like to retain a firm by the end of the Spring and have some conceptual drawings of a Master Site plan and renovated Parish Hall ready to present to the congregation by the Fall. Then the fun begins!

Property. Ken Wrona & Jim Hayes, Co-Chairs. From a systematic review, we’ve identified in our Strategic Plan a number of major repairs we need to address. I’ve asked the Property Commission to prioritize these and get cracking on the most pressing ones. At the same time, I’ve asked them to follow up with the Plan’s objective of publishing a detailed Property Owner’s Manual.

Resources. Ken Evans & Greg Wise, Co-Chairs. As with general Vestry procedures, our Finance Committee has often relied upon oral tradition. Consequently, I’ve asked them to review financial procedures and investment strategies, codifying them as appropriate. I’ve asked the Personnel side of this Commission to do the same: to devise a proactive set of Personnel policies for Vestry deliberation and review, with an eye to publishing a Personnel Manual.

Service and Fellowship. Almetha Powell & Connie Eppley, Co-Chairs. An important ministry identified in our Strategic Plan is the establishment of a Preschool at Pohick. At the “Coffee with the Rector” session last summer, it was suggested that this might be started as a “Parent’s Day Out” and then ramped up to a full-blown preschool program once our facilities expand. Can we start that ball rolling this year?

Stewardship. Jane Thurston & Tony Harriman, Co-Chairs. With a Capital Campaign on the near horizon, I’ve asked this commission to coordinate our annual pledge with our Building/Capital Campaign Committee. Also, I’ve asked them to investigate a suggestion that came out of our last Strategic Plan hearings: making contributions through direct deposit and via the Internet.

Worship. Don Binder & David Lehner, Co-Chairs. Members of the 11:15 service have asked for a choir to support hymn singing. The hiring of choir section leaders hasn’t had enough parish support. Can we find another way to make an 11:15 choir happen?

Well, you can see that I wasn’t kidding when I said that the Vestry will need the help of the entire congregation! So, again, prayerfully look over this list. Then, pick up the phone or tap out an email, responding as the Spirit leads you.