Dear St. Luke’s,

I am nervous and excited as we prepare to start our program year. There are many good things in our near future. I particularly excited to see our education programs come back to life, and for our building project to come to fruition. More than anything else, I am looking forward to getting into a rhythm with you, so we can focus on the important things and spend less time worrying about the important, but more mundane, aspects of being the Church. Before we get into that rhythm, we need to figure out who we will become, and so it would be helpful to figure out who we are spiritually and practically. I am far from an expert on our financial reality and the history of our staff, but I thought it would be helpful for me to explain the situation as best as I am able.

Since we said farewell to our faithful Assistant Priest, Chip Russell, last Sunday several people asked me if we would start a search for a new associate, and my uncomfortable answer had to be “no”. As much as I would like a second clergy person at St. Luke’s, we simply cannot afford them, and we have not been able to for about two years. This reality was masked by various departures, and our ability to get the PPP grants to pay for Chip, who was always hired as a temporary employee. When I was offered this position, I was told that position would be vacant by the New Year, but then it was extended through March, then April, then August. The money from the PPP grants have been spent, clergy are expensive, and we simply do not have the funds to hire another priest. We are slowly changing our staff dynamic to make sure the basics are covered, and I am excited with some recent hires in the office.

As I write this, Victoria Elie is being oriented to the new communications position, which was one of Chip’s responsibilities. She will work from home eight hours a week and will make sure we have bulletins, the e-communication goes out on Friday, and once she gets in stride, she will start to revamp our digital presence. We have also hired two amazing nursery attendants, so when parents drop off their children at the nursery, both parents will be able to attend worship. I am still largely an outsider to our community, and from my perspective we desperately need a sexton to help us care for the building. This may sound frivolous, but much is either being left undone, or done by those who don’t have enough time, and the situation is becoming unsustainable. If we are going to take care of our property and avoid burn out, then this is a necessary step.

All of this probably tangential to what you care about, which is ministry, loving God, and loving your neighbor, but it is quite relevant. Just like it is hard for anyone to thrive when their situation at home is unstable, it is hard to do ministry when the basics are being neglected. Regardless of where we find ourselves in January, we will still be the Church, striving to do ministry in the world, but what that will look like largely depends on the next few months. If our budget stays the same, we will continue as we are right now, but if it grows, then we can become more stable, and we thrive in the coming years, we will begin discerning if we can be a two-clergy parish, and even if we are not called to be so, we will still be the Church engaged in ministry, because it has never been about the priests, it has always been about you.

Blessings,

Nick