A Message from the Senior Warden
Dear Friends,
As I write this, Sonoma County is going through a
transformation: the smoke is being blown out; the numerous arms of the
Glass Incident Fire are winnowing down to a handful of remote hotspots;
the roads that were closed to allow first responders exclusive access
are reopening; and the RAIN is coming (thank God!).
I know from
personal experience how otherworldly the first trip back to a burned-out
home is. The denuded landscape is reminiscent of what is so familiar,
but irrevocably changed, all at the same time. That first trip home
brings a review of what was lost, but more important, what was
preserved…. A home still standing is a gift from God, yet even the
discovery of Christmas iconography among a field of ashes gives those
who lost their home a moment of Grace in the love of God. This ability
for men and women of Christ, fallen, imperfect creatures, to find hope
in whatever God has left them, is undeniably part of what it means to be
made in the image of God.
In many ways, the coronavirus pandemic
and the fallout from social distancing compels your Vestry to review
our congregation’s financial health in a similar way. Thanks be to God,
many of our parishioners have maintained their incomes, and thus their
ability to maintain, or even increase, their pledges. Still, other
parishioners have found their income reduced; moreover, our ability to
reach new parishioners is less than what it would be in “normal” times.
These and other items, as explained in the enclosed report by Treasurer
David Jasper, point to a necessary and sobering reevaluation of the
financial health of our church. We have to be realistic about what our
pledges, and therefore our budget, can accomplish.
The Vestry, in
the next few months, will fulfill its goal to limit our annual draw
from the Don and Maureen Green Fund to 7% of its value. We must find the
ability to live within our means, that which God has given us as a
worship community—and that means not taking resources from our future
parishioners to supplement our worship and programs today. We can no
longer operate with our budget derived from the expense side. We need to
understand how much we will take in first, then fund our programs
accordingly. Simply put, for the first time in five years, our budget
will be determined by pledge income.
We need to accept that
expecting more than God has given us in the moment is unfair to those
who come after us. This means that we need to give to the best of our
ability today; yet even if we do give as much as we can, we must still
be prepared for God to leave us less than what we hoped for. As Stephen
said in his October 4th News and Notes article, 2020 has felt like a
year out of Job. As God helps Job “resist easy answers,” we, too, must
be prepared to resist easy answers and put our faith in God, trusting
that He will give us exactly what we need.
In peace,
Mark Neumann
Senior Warden
October 5, 2020