St. Clement’s 2040

We’ve completed the first two phases of the St. Clement’s 2040 process, and are moving into a new phase in 2024. After five initial parish-wide sessions (scroll down for material used, descriptions of the sessions, and the results of assessments used with those present), we held a couple of follow up meetings and the vestry and rector decided to integrate the 2040 process more fully with the vestry and rector’s decision-making authority. This year, meetings will be faciliated by Sister Michelle Heyne, OA, who is also the chair of a new Parish Development Team. So far, the team is made up of Michelle, and Fr. Kevin, with a helpful roster of rotating guests, but we are actively seeking some additional members interested in learning about parish development and helping St. Clement’s nurture its strengths in an inclusive and open manner. Future meeting topics will be based on what we’re hearing from the parish community in the 2040 meetings, as well as the priorities identified by the rector, vestry, and Parish Development Team.

Upcoming Meetings

November 3, 2024

We’ll provide an update on the parish’s updates to the parish hall, as well as some of the initial thinking that’s come from the strategic planning faciliated by the Parish Development Team. We’ll also have a broad check-in with those attending - What’s working well? What are your concerns? What do you hope for this parish? We’ll end with prioritizing what the community has said and offering some direction to the rector and vestry.

Past Meetings

June 2, 2024

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend the re-scheduled meeting – we had about 20 people, it lasted about an hour, and the energy felt really good. We heard a range of views and from folks both long-term and brand new.

Sister Michelle facilitated the meeting with help from Philip Buerk, who has agreed to join the Parish Development Team and work with Fr. Kevin and Michelle, especially on the 2040 meetings.

Michelle noted that the parish has a lot of things to consider right now, including Kevin’s mandatory retirement in 4 years; how to address deferred maintenance on AJ House; how to think about the property overall, including needed improvements, and the importance of retaining funds to attract a new priest and to help ensure the new priest can afford to live in the neighborhood. She mentioned that the vestry had previously decided to order 30 chairs for the nave but that they learned from the manufacturer that it would increase the unit and shipping costs to buy so few.

She shared that the vestry is facing its own challenges right now and that the senior and junior wardens had resigned for personal reasons. Duncan has been appointed to the vestry to fill out one vestry member term until we can elect new members in January of 2025, but he doesn’t return to Seattle until July. Michelle explained that she and Kevin will develop a process for creating a concrete strategic plan – who should be involved, who should be consulted, and what needs to be considered. The plan that is developed will then come back to the parish in a 2040 meeting for feedback before going to the vestry and rector for final decisions.

Fr. Bob shared a set of questions for people to respond to about why they had come to St. Clement’s and why they stayed. He is working on a Substack post about why St. Clement’s is growing and will share that with us once it’s published. (In the meantime, you can visit A Wonderful and Sacred Mystery for prior posts.)

Michelle explained that the vestry is moving ahead with making one of our two restroom ADA compliant (handicapped accessible). We’re also planning to replace flooring and lighting in the parish hall, and make upgrades to the kitchen. Click here for a handout that describes the various projects in the works, as well as the questions people were asked to answer. We heard from everyone present why they answered the way they did. You can click here to see the group’s answers - scroll to the second page to see the responses to the third question.

The clearest answer was to the question about alloctaion of money, with most present saying that the focus should be on the most important projects, while keeping the cost below $100K. In terms of priorities, parish hall flooring and lighting was #1; followed by kitchen upgrades at #2; and restroom cosmetic upgrades at #3.

The restroom question was the most split, with six people saying it was somewhat important, four saying it was very important, and one answering in between somewhat and very important. Four people said it was not at all important and one ranked between not at all important and somewhat important.

There was some discussion of the fact that a lot of improvements can be made with relatively modest changes, such as lighting or paint. We also talked about the fact that we don’t yet have bids and that cost estimates can always go up, especially after work begins. We also discussed the fact that we’re behind on some maintenance jobs – for example tuckpointing the brickwork and exterior painting – and that these can be very expensive. We noted that as something to be considered in the strategic planning process.

March 17, 2024

We followed up on the discussion we had at the annual meeting. We focused on service in daily life, as well as in and through the parish. We looked at how the parish is a sanctifying presence in the broader community.

We began with a quote from Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple: “Nine-tenths of the work of the Church in the world is done by Christian people fulfilling responsibilities and performing tasks which in themselves are not part of the official system of the Church at all.” We also revisited the Three Key Purposes of the Parish Church - The Worship of God; the formation of God’s people for the world; and being a sanctifying presence in the broader community.

The group reflected on service in daily life. How are we instruments of God’s love with friends, family, at work, in civic life, and in volunteer roles? We then shared with the broader group - here are some of the ways St. Clement’s parishioners serve in daily life.

We then talked about the parish’s corporate service efforts, including the community’s use of the building as a form of sanctifying presence, and current and recent parish-based service. We also tested with those present how they think about there being a budget item for service, and about whether we should spend principal on service efforts.

At the end of the meeting, a few people who wanted to gathered to set a date to meet to discuss creating a parish-based service project.

December 17, 2023 Parish Meeting

The meeting was faciliated by Fr. Bob and was about music, with focus in two broad areas:

First, there was an opportunity for parishioners to share their experience with music at St. Clement's in recent years, including with different clergy and staff. We also gathered hopes and expectations for music in the coming years. Click here for a summary chart of the parish’s history (this is cursory and definitely missing some things), and click here for the parish’s hopes for the future. We brainstormed ideas and then prioritized them - the checkmarks indicates how many people present valued that particular item.

Second, Fr. Bob helped the rector and other leaders and advisors to hear from the broader congregation so they might take that into account as decisions are made in the coming months.

Two resources were offered in advance of the meeting:

The first is from Sister Susan Latimer, OA - "The Healing Power of Song: Singing and Chanting as Spiritual Practice." Susan is a Professed Member of the Order of the Ascension, a priest, and a professionally trained musician. She connects music with healing both broadly and in her own life.

The second is "He stands in the midst of nations" from "A Wonderful and Sacred Mystery," a new Substack blog from Fr. Bob and Sister Michelle. This article is a simple reflection that may draw you to consider the relationship between the hymns we sing and world affairs. It begins with our final hymn from the prior Sunday.

Octobe3 22, 2023 Parish Meeting

Topics: 1) A broad assessment of parish life and work (using the Parish Life Cycle model) and 2) an exploration of the vestry's decision regarding the planned use of funds received through bequests.

Fr. Bob. talked a bit about the parish’s history, focusing on its Anglo Catholic and African-American roots. He then took us through an exploration of the Parish Life Cycle, which describes dynamics present in all organizations and offers a way to think about ongoing improvement. Those present then assessed where they think the parish is - see the results by clicking here.

The vestry shared their initial decision making about use of funds, as well as their assumptions about how future decisions might be made. Here is the information the vestry shared about decisions already made, as well as how the vestry is thinking about future uses of the money - click here and here for the materials. At the end, Fr. Bob tested with the group what they thought about what they’d heard so far - click here for the results of that testing process.

Decision making: The decision making authorities in the parish remain the rector and vestry. We are not taking votes in these sessions. The meetings are designed to hear from the congregation, to see if there is a collective voice, and in all that to provide advice to the rector and vestry.

Facilitator: Fr. Robert Gallagher, OA - background on Father Bob is on this webpage (see bottom of the page)

September 2022 Parish Meeting

Click here to see a full report of the September 11, 2022, parish meeting about potential changes to the liturgical space.

Summary of the Original Five Sessions:

Key strenghts to build on are our liturgy, with its music and beauty, our worship space, and our time together in coffee hour – all strengths (in Some Key Factors and Incorporation Assessment, Session 1 and Session 5)
Formation and Sanctifying Relationship with a broader community showed less strength in the same assessments. A number of members showed interest in relationships, especially with the neighborhood and the music community.
A small Anglo-Catholic Parish with an African-American heritage – this is the ground of our self-definition, a starting place. Our strengths in liturgy and social connection are factors in parts of our life that help people stay with us (Session 3 and Appreciative Questions).
In Parish Options (Session 2) we saw membership growth and increased financial giving as pathways forward. And property redevelopment as something to be explored to see if it was viable. We have already increased our pledging, including 6 brand new pledges and 11 increases. We are no longer operating with a deficit budget.
Parish size (Session 3) – an overwhelming desire to remain small but to grow from an average attendance of about 40 to someplace between 56 and 100.
It was wonderful to have so many members participate, and to hear so many different voices.

Next Steps

We’re pleased about the quick results on increased pledging. We’re reaching out to professionals to learn more about our options for the property and buildings. The rector and wardens are prioritizing a list of issues, including how we can build on our strengths and identity, be more welcoming to newcomers, and provide additional opportunities for formation. We’ll select a manageable list of things to work on and complete, ideally setting up a system of ongoing change and improvement that fits our gifts and size.

About the five PARISH-WIDE sessions

We looked at three things

1. How are we doing on some of the key factors that make for a stable and faithful parish life?

2. What are the options available to us in planning for the future? (Probably two sessions)

3. What size would we like to be? What would we like to see as our average Sunday attendance?

The sessions will be facilitated by Michelle Heyne and Father Bob. Both have considerable training and experience in the field of parish development. Here’s a link with information about them.

Dates of the Sessions

The sessions were held immediately after Mass in the parish hall on February 13, 20, March 6, 13 & 20.

More About the Sessions

The sessions were structured to:

· Be at the parish, in person

· Be structured conversations that will allow members to express their ideas and feelings.

· Provide important information for the rector, wardens, and vestry to consider as they make decisions for the future. Decision-making authority remains with that group; these sessions were planned to engage the parish and inform those decision-making bodies.

· Include completing an assessment worksheet on the topic for that day. The assessment gave the group an understanding of the range of views in the group, and served to stimulate further discussion. This helps a group take notice of everyone’s views, not just the most assertive.

· Some included at least one time when we went around the room giving each person a short period to address the issue. This helped us hear from everyone.

· Each included at least a brief time in breakout groups (this helps us avoid “group think” and can generate more ideas from more people).

Resources

You may want to do some reading related to each session:

From February 13: Key Factors

SURVEY RESULTS from February 13: Some Key Factors - use the readings above for a description of the factors

From February 20 - Topic: Parish Options

Related reading: 1. Parish options; 2. An Article on Parish Options

RANKING RESULTS: Parish Options - Ranking of Basic Choice

March 6 Session - Topic: Membership Growth - Do we need to attract new people? What size would be best for us in the future? What methods of growth offer the most promise for St. Clement’s?

RESULTS on Growth and Size of parish

March 13 Session - Topic: Defining and Marketing the Parish - We looked at ways to be clear about who we are and how to communicate that to people outside the parish.