Staff and wire reports

A new pilot project aimed at pairing retired clergy with small, under-resourced congregations with strong lay leadership to empower God’s mission locally will soon be underway in Southwest Florida.

The project, New Dreams — New Visions, is a collaborative effort organized by the Church Pension Group, the Episcopal Church Center and the Episcopal Church Foundation, working closely with the CREDO Institute and Fresh Start.

The project aims to address two key issues in the Episcopal Church: A significant number of clergy are poised to retire, and a significant number of congregations will not be able to afford to pay for full-time clergy.

“The Episcopal Church as we know it is changing rapidly,” said Donald V. Romanik, Foundation president, said. “The increasing number of smaller congregations simply cannot sustain the same level of staff that may have been expected in the past. But that shouldn’t mean that they cannot remain healthy, vital and vibrant with a different model of dynamic lay leadership and clergy playing a different kind of leadership role.”

At a recent meeting of the coordinating committee, six dioceses were identified to participate in the pilot: Southwest Florida, Vermont, Western Massachusetts, Atlanta, Oklahoma and Eastern Michigan.

Southwest Florida is a natural test bed for the project, says the Rev. Canon Michael Durning, canon to the ordinary. “I see two reasons for the inclusion of Southwest Florida. Yes, we are blessed with a great harvest of clergy in retirement,” he said. “About half the priests residing in the diocese are receiving a pension from the Church Pension Group. Many of them are still interested in working after retirement.

“We also have 80 deacons whose median age is 69. Together, these clergy form a unique gathering of people wanting to teach and to learn,” said Durning.

“I am very excited about the roll out of this innovative and collaborative initiative,” said Bishop Tom Ely of Vermont, an early supporter of the project. “Our lay leaders and clergy will benefit from a coordinated approach to what so many are facing. New Dreams — New Visions will help us address the challenges together, in a coordinated way, instead of trying to figure this out as a hundred separate dioceses.”

The goals of the pilot are:

• To work with a targeted group of clergy and congregations;
• To engage in a deliberate, thoughtful process to develop healthy models of congregational ministry with lay leaders who work in partnership with clergy who are serving less than full-time;
• To provide resources and training to enhance existing diocesan transition processes;
• To gather research, data and information to benefit transitions in the church.

Exactly which congregations in the diocese will be involved in the study has yet to be determined, said Durning. “Certainly, one of the areas of interest will be those of our congregations that are sharing a priest.”

As plans for the project are finalized, he expects to be involved in developing criteria for studying per capita data such as debt, giving and “endowment drain.”

“We have a depth of data and we are willing to share how we use this to the advantage of a congregation in need of a new dream,” he said.
Plans show having all participating congregations on board by mid-October and support, training and mentoring for clergy available by early 2011.

New Dreams — New Visions is also made possible by support from the Roanridge Trust, the Transitions Ministry Conference, the Diocese of Maine, the Diocese of Delaware and the Diocese of Southern Virginia.