Resolution 8 Sustainability Committee Final Report to Diocesan Council 28 January 2012

Resolution 8 Resolved, the Executive Board is charged to conduct or review sustainability studies, including means of present and future funding, of the following budget categories: Diocesan Outreach, Diocesan Ministries, Evans House staff structure, and Governance; to determine what changes if any should be made in order most faithfully to support the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church in Southwestern Virginia, in light of the Long-Range Plan, the Mutual Ministry Review, and the Mission Statement of the Diocese, for each budget area to reach its full potential. Be it further resolved, that the Executive Board will report the results of these studies at the 93 rd Annual Council with an interim progress report to be made at the 92 nd Annual Council.

Section 1:Diagnosis Section 2:Theological Prescription to Restore Health Sections 3-5:Concrete Treatment Options How to Interpret the Sustainability Report’s Structure

“What ought the Diocese be and do?” Areas of challenge where help is desired from the Diocese: Declining numbers of members and attendees Aging parish membership Difficulty in attracting new members and growing membership Concerns about how to spread the Gospel

“Your congregations are asking the diocesan office to help create healthy, vital congregations. People are asking for the diocesan office to perform and execute toward helping them gain vitality. They are asking for particularized assistance, help with their particular needs where they are…You must align your budget, staffing, and functions to that mission, adopting guiding principles that allow that to happen. You can’t accomplish this if you want anxiously to minimize change.” J. Russell Crabtree, June 11, 2011

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE The mission of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia is to challenge and support the creativity of our congregations in Christian growth and global responsibility.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE The mission of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia is to challenge and support the creativity of our congregations in Christian growth and global responsibility. To “challenge and support the creativity of congregations” means that energy, attention, and resources should flow from diocesan leaders and structures to the congregations.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE The mission of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia is to challenge and support the creativity of our congregations in Christian growth and global responsibility. To “challenge and support the creativity of congregations” means that energy, attention, and resources should flow from diocesan leaders and structures to the congregations. “Christian growth” is best understood as congregational vitality, comprising both growth in numbers and active ministry.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE In order to join in God’s mission in this time and place, the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia will be a household of congregations in which each parish will make known its blessings and challenges and desires of the heart, and diocesan leaders will respond tangibly through direct consultative services and building bridges between parishes and resources.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE “Household of congregations” harks back to the root meaning of “diocese,” from the Greek dia oikos, “that which pertains to the household.” It emphasizes that the diocese is not a pyramid but a network, not a power-structure but a community.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE We are the diocese.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE Guiding Principles: Effectiveness, fruitfulness, practicality.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE Guiding Principles: Effectiveness, fruitfulness, practicality. Transparency.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE Guiding Principles: Effectiveness, fruitfulness, practicality. Transparency. Value-exchange.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE Guiding Principles: Effectiveness, fruitfulness, practicality. Transparency. Value-exchange. Mutuality.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE Guiding Principles: Effectiveness, fruitfulness, practicality. Transparency. Value-exchange. Mutuality. Accountability.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE Guiding Principles: Effectiveness, fruitfulness, practicality. Transparency. Value-exchange. Mutuality. Accountability. Interrelatedness.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE Guiding Principles: Effectiveness, fruitfulness, practicality. Transparency. Value-exchange. Mutuality. Accountability. Interrelatedness. Proactivity.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE Guiding Principles: Effectiveness, fruitfulness, practicality. Transparency. Value-exchange. Mutuality. Accountability Interrelatedness. Proactivity. Support.

MISSION, VISION, GUIDING PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVE In order to sustain our participation in God’s mission in our time and place and circumstances, the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia will align our revenues, expenses, and staffing in such a way as to provide direct consultative services and networked sharing of resources to our congregations, in order to support and challenge them toward congregational vitality and numerical growth, within the parameters of a faithful yet realistic projection of available resources.

Section 3 Diocesan finances The Voluntary Proportionate Giving formula Alternative Revenue Streams, including 1.Diocesan-owned real estate 2.Unrestricted funds 3.The possibility of a capital campaign Section 4 offers a category-by-category assessment of our present diocesan budget. Section 5 recommends two new initiatives for the Diocese: Canon Missioners Diocesan Human Resources Database Resolution 8 Sustainability Report, Sec. 3-5

Are we ready for God’s kairos moment?