February 2016

2 Items

Manakin remains strong as we continue to plan for the future

A Message from Roy McLeod, Senior Warden

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

Despite the rare cancellation of services due to snow on January 24th, the activity in our parish continues at a high level. Average Sunday attendance has increased. Over 60 parishioners came out for both the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and the first Lenten Program presented on February 17th by the Reverend Canon Fletcher Lowe. We encourage you to plan to attend the upcoming programs which are listed on page 2 of this newsletter.

Our Search Committee continues to meet weekly and is currently working to develop elements of our Parish Profile. Paula Price, our Stephen Minister Leader, has trained a new group of Stephen Ministers who will graduate next month. The original class of Stephen Ministers is fully engaged serving our parishioners in this important area of pastoral care. And we continue to make progress in our efforts to engage an Interim Priest by early April.

Your Vestry has been busy reviewing our operations in a number of areas—one of which is the Kroger Community Rewards Program. Your attention is directed to the article on page 3 concerning the program and its importance in providing outside income to our operating budget. Our participation in that program fell from 47 registered families to only 9 in September due to Kroger’s requirement that all participants re-enroll. This program is a painless and easy way to supplement our operating budget and I hope you will consider taking part in it.

At its February 14th meeting, the Vestry continued to focus on the three priorities cited in the last issue of the Messenger. As a first step, with the assistance of Gunnar Kohlbeck, the Vestry briefly reviewed our current mission and vision statement as developed in 2007 to ensure these priorities meshed with our long term goals. It then determined that the goals of attracting new families with children and providing more opportunities for Christian Education and spiritual formation at every age and stage of life could best be met by developing a vision of what Christian Education at Manakin should be. It was decided to form a Parish Committee to (1) develop, with the assistance of the Diocesan Staff, a vision of what Christian Education at all levels should look like and (2) outline the steps to be taken to revitalize our programs so that we can begin achieving that vision this year. Among the items that might be studied are: staffing, budget, curricula for youth and adults, Sunday worship service schedules etc.

If you have an interest in being considered for service on this committee, please speak with any member of the Vestry.

By the time you receive this, we will be half way through the Season of Lent and our preparations for the Feast of the Resurrection on March 27th—so we encourage you to continue your participation in our corporate worship services and to strengthen your individual penitential efforts during the coming weeks.

Lord look favorably upon your people,

Roy McLeod
Senior Warden

Note: As Manakin moves through this transition period, members of our congregation will be contributing to the Rector’s Message section of our web site.

 

 

Manakin prepares for Lent as we move forward

A Message from Roy McLeod, Senior Warden

My Fellow Parishioners,

As Epiphany ends and we prepare to move into the Penitential Season of Lent, there is and has been a great deal of activity in our Parish. We have had the sorrows of several funerals and the joy of a wedding at year-end.

We have, with Paul Davis’ leadership, conducted our sixth Stop Hunger Now event in which over 130 individuals worked to pack over 30,000 meals in less than three hours! Our Lenten Program Committee, under the leadership of Holly Walker, Junior Warden, has planned an appealing and thought-provoking series of programs for Lent featuring a number of highly qualified outside speakers who will explore the theme of “Going Beyond the Doors of the Church”.

In addition, since the retirement of our Rector on October 31, 2015, we have elected a new Vestry; engaged a Search Consultant; and formed and charged a Search Committee, led by Chandler Williams as its Chair and Chuck Catlett Vice Chair, which is now meeting on a regular basis.

At its January 9, 2015 Vestry Meeting and Mini-Retreat, the Vestry conducted normal business and organized itself for the coming year. It spent a great deal of time discussing and planning future actions to carry out the consensus top three priorities which over 125 of you identified in your responses to the February 2014 Church Assessment Survey. They were:

  1. Make necessary changes to attract families with children and youth to our church.
  2. Develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to reach new people and incorporate them into the life of the church.
  3. Provide more opportunities for Christian education and spiritual formation at every age and stage of life.

All Committees have been asked to review their activities and identify ways they can contribute to making these priorities an actuality. You will hear more about these plans in the coming weeks.

An immediate area of concern is the selection of an Interim Rector. We have been blessed with a rich and varied group of supply priests during the Rector’s sabbatical and since his retirement as our Rector at the end of October. During this period, the Vestry has been actively engaged, with the assistance of the Diocese in reviewing and considering potential Interim Priests – those whom we have identified to the Diocese and those supplied to us by the Canon for Clergy Development and Transition. Candidates from locations such as Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, and Utah as well as Virginia have been considered.

Several took positions in Virginia and Maryland as a result of negotiations begun before we contacted them. Several were not qualified and did not meet the approval of the Diocese, while others did not fit the Vestry’s vision of the person to lead our unique Parish in the Interim Period. Currently, we are in active discussion with three possible qualified interims.

The pool of qualified (trained in the Interim process) and interested clergy is limited and the process is taking time. The Spiritual Leadership of the Parish, as represented by our Supply Priests and our potential Interim, is our major concern and the focus of our efforts at this time.

In periods of transition, an organization cannot communicate enough about events and activities. We will try to keep you informed and not overdo it. We ask you to approach any member of the Vestry with your concerns, questions and suggestions. We need your input.

Finally, we give thanks for three years of service and leadership by those who are leaving the Vestry: Michael Walker for his leadership as Senior Warden and Ginger Marsh for her many committee activities, as well as service on the Administrative Committee. And, it will be difficult to fill the void that our loss of Priscilla Condyles created in so many areas.

Lord look favorably upon your people,

Roy McLeod
Senior Warden

Note: As Manakin moves through this transition period, members of our congregation will be contributing to the Rector’s Message section of our web site.