One doesn't normally associate the drafting of budgets with prayerfulness-at least not in the secular world. Within the Church, however, one of the more important things we do is to offer up our treasure to God for use in working his will in the world. As such, we should be at least as prayerful about crafting a budget as we are about other aspects of our common life in Christ.

In past years at Pohick, that mandate fell exclusively upon the Vestry, when in December it would deliberate over the church budget for the coming year. While the Vestry will still retain that canonical role, this year we are seeking to involve the larger congregation in this process.

Along these lines, at its January meeting the Vestry passed a resolution calling for staff or committee budget increases in excess of 10% for the coming year (or above COLAs for personnel) to submit these requests to the Finance Committee by May 31st so that they could undergo a more thorough and prayerful vetting process. That process will go into high gear this month.

Following services on August 3, our Treasurer, John Pasour, will lead a pair of forums where staff and committee members will present their new or expanded initiatives and associated costs. Those gathered will have an opportunity to ask questions of the presenters and of the Treasurer himself (for those not able to attend, briefs of the presentations will be posted on our web site). We will then ask everyone to go home and prayerfully reflect upon what they have heard and read.

The next week, we will circulate questionnaires for parishioners to contribute their reflections. At the end of the month, we will collate the responses. The Vestry will then read through these and use them as the basis for discussion at their September meeting. At that time, they will draw up a preliminary budget, guided by the input they have received from both the requesting parties and the congregation as a whole.

The Stewardship Committee will in turn take this document to the congregation in its annual October pledge campaign, challenging parishioners to fund the visions of ministry at Pohick that have gone through this discernment process.

In December, the Vestry will look at any discrepancies between the proposed budget and the response in Stewardship. If there are none, we will all praise God and enter 2004 with big smiles!

If there is a significant gap between the two, we will still praise God, but we will have to deliberate further over whether to cut some or all of certain requests-or to step out in faith in 2004, hoping that the difference will be made up during the year.

Whichever of these scenarios plays out, I hope that as many of you as possible will participate in this new process that has been designed specifically to incorporate the insights of the larger Body of Christ.

As Paul writes, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Rom 12:1).

Faithfully,

Donald D. Binder+

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