2023 Planning: Next Steps
Dear St. Luke’s friends and family,
We want to thank all who participated in our Sunday in-person listening. A few of you have shared your insights via email, which we appreciate very much. Please continue to do so! We are asking you to answer two questions, below.
“What sort of things would excite you to invite others to join us at St. Luke’s?
“What should our priorities be as we re-energize the life of our parish?”
Please send your answers to office@stlukesgranville.org, drop them in the mail, or in the collection plate!
A very special thank you to Wayne Piper, who facilitated these sessions with grace, humor, and professionalism, even through a raging head cold.
Your input has already had a profound effect. Last night, the Vestry met to discuss the first results of the listening sessions and how they would impact the financial plan for 2023. In response to these first results, Treasurer Jean Schelhorn has proposed that we build our financial plan around our values and focus areas. The values we are building the plan around are simple, they reflect the values you have shared, and they are flexible enough to build on. They are:
Worship – in all its forms and including all pieces and parts – there are many!
Ministries/programs focused inwardly - toward our members, such as Pastoral Care, Education, Coffee hours / social gatherings and Historic Preservation
Ministries/programs focused externally - towards people outside our parish, such as Turkey Trot, Market Street Pantry, the DSO funded College Ministry, the Angel Tree and many more!
Ministries/programs focused on growth - bringing new people to St. Luke’s!
Our expenses such as staff salaries, building utilities, and insurance will be distributed among these value areas. We believe this new format of financial planning will help us put our resources in line with our values in clear and understandable ways and help us focus on what is most meaningful to all of us, including growth opportunities.
What will those growth and other opportunities be? That will be the next step. In January, after the holidays, we will begin a new process: vestry members and parishioners of differing skill sets and with a deep love for St. Luke’s will dive into the listening session materials and help build out the 2023 programs. They will explore, ask questions, discern priority focus areas for St. Luke’s, and recommend initiating any new endeavors. A discussion by the parish and vestry will then help create an action plan to bring specific ideas into fruition in 2023.
St. Luke’s has got a heck of a lot going for it. We have a solid core of people who are committed to this community and the work we do here in the name of God. We have an amazing track record of being creative and launching and sustaining ministries, like the Turkey Trot and Market Street Pantry. They join other initiatives St. Luke’s began, like the Great Granville Garage Sale and Welsh Hills School, in making a real difference in our community.
We have everything we need — the commitment, the skills in our midst, the leadership — to sustain us and to even bring something new and different into the world that will proclaim Christ’s love in new and exciting ways. We always will, with God’s help.
Thank you for being part of this community and thank you for joining us in this work. We are becoming something new and holy. And we will thrive.
In faith and gratitude,
Your Vestry