Dear St. Luke’s,

The last two years have been a time of learning and growth for me, the vestry and for the Church, and we have a good problem on our hands. We are growing at a faster rate than we had planned and we are not able to adapt quickly enough. We could see our growth eventually plateau, and things could stabilize with our current staff as we establish our ministry rhythm. Or, we may find ourselves in a position where we need another clergy person for us to thrive in our ministry and avoid burn out with our staff. Personally, I am skeptical about parish ministry models with multiple clergy, but I may have to get over it and find a way of doing this with integrity.

The vestry and I have been working on fully understanding our financial situation, and I am continually impressed with knowledge, dedication and professionalism of the leadership in the Church. St. Luke’s has set aside reserves from previous year’s’ surpluses. This serves as a safety net in case of emergencies or shortfalls in the budget. The past two years we passed deficit budgets, but due to growth in the Church and limiting spending, we did not use these reserves. These funds were collected with the intention that they would go to pay for the operations of the Church, though there is no rule to limit what these funds can be used for. I believe we should spend them as they were intended to be spent.

In order to support the ministry of the Church, the vestry and I are exploring a pilot program that would consist of hiring an additional clergy person for one year. The purpose of the program would be to help us stabilize, and allow us to carry out initiatives and start new ministries that we would otherwise not have the time to do. This position would also allow us to discern whether we are a Church that would benefit from more than one priest. After the end date, the vestry will be able to look at what went well and what did not. If we decide that we are able to support a future clergy person from our pledged income, then we will have more experience to draw from on how to craft the position to fit our needs.

This position will be paid for completely by previous surpluses. We will not be asking you for additional money to pay for this position, and there will still be enough in reserve if we find ourselves in an emergency.

I am writing this to you, so you won’t be surprised if you hear about this pilot program idea. With that being said, don’t be surprised if nothing comes from this. We will not hire someone unless we believe they are a good fit, and there is a chance there won’t be any applicants. Either way, we hope that you keep us in prayer, and do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Blessings,

Nick