SEEKING. Enter To Worship. Depart To Serve Our New Priest-In-Charge CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Transcription

1 Enter To Worship CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 16 Amiss Avenue Luray, VA Depart To Serve Our New Priest-In-Charge We seek as our priest-in-charge a faithful pastor, a teacher, and a wise counselor who will boldly proclaim by word and deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and rightly administer the sacraments of the New Covenant. We seek an energetic, inspiring leader who will help us renew our Church through heightened spirituality and compassionate unity, moving toward increased membership. 1 (540) SEEKING PRIEST-IN-CHARGE Qualifications: Faithful Pastor Spiritual Guide Dynamic Leader Gifted Preacher Inspiring Educator Competent Administrator Qualifications: Faithful Pastor Spiritual Guide Dynamic Leader Gifted Preacher Inspiring Educator Competent Administrator

2 DESCRIPTION OF OUR PARISH 2 SPECIFICALLY, WE DESIRE A PRIEST WHO IS: A FAITHFUL PASTOR who will love, serve and care for his or her flock, laboring with them to build up the family of God. We expect our priest-in-charge to take time and to give priority to knowing and visiting the congregation, especially the sick, shut-ins and those dealing with personal crises. A SPIRITUAL GUIDE who will show us how to live in accordance with Jesus' teachings; one who will encourage us to love, trust and obey God, and to love our neighbors. A DYNAMIC LEADER who will inspire and energize, and who will help us to increase the size of the congregation at Christ Church A GIFTED PREACHER who is able to communicate the Scriptures as the living word of God; who will provide practical application to our lives as individuals, families, and congregation. AN INSPIRING CHRISTIAN EDUCATOR who will teach parishioners how to fulfill their Christian duty of worship, work, prayer, and giving. A COMPETENT ADMINIS- TRATOR who is knowledgeable and experienced in managing the business aspects of parish life in an Episcopal Church. We are a 141 year-old parish located in the scenic Page Valley near Shenandoah National Park. Our motto is To know Christ and to make him Known. Our mission is to become a Spirit-filled, welcoming, and growing community for the worship of God by learning, sharing, and living in accordance with the Gospel. Our aim is to build godly individuals and families; and to be known as a friendly, kind, compassionate, and humble community that worships, works, prays and gives for the spreading of God's kingdom. Our congregation has a heart for outreach. We open the doors of our facilities four days each week to Senior Citizens and four evenings each week to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. We also host Kids First and the Garden Club on a regular basis. We participate in several seasonal outreach ministries and provide scholarships to two local graduating seniors each year. Individually, our parishioners provide many volunteer hours to local agencies such as Meals on Wheels, Choices, Page One ( a local charitable organization), and Habitat for Humanity. Our congregation has a history of giving generously to local organizations which help the needy. On December 3, 2012, Christ Church was able to donate $10,000 from Outreach Funds to Page One, a local charity which could not meet the needs of local citizens for food, energy assistance, and other basic necessities. Our area has been hit quite hard with unemployment and under-employment. This donation was matched by local banks so our $10,000 grew to $20,000 to help Page One feed the hungry and care for the needy. Our Outreach Funds come largely from the proceeds of our annual Christmas Bazaar and from interest income generated by our Memorial Endowment Fund. Since there will never cease to be some in need on earth, I therefore command you, Open your hand to the poor and needy in your land. Deuteronomy 15:11

3 Christ Church 3 Outreach For more information about our Parish, visit the website at Heavenly Fibers Prayer Shawl Group or contact the Senior Warden at: Christ Episcopal Church 16 Amiss Avenue Luray, VA Or send an to: For more about the Luray-Page community visit: Page County: pagecounty.virginia.gov Town of Luray: Luray-Page Chamber of Commerce: Page County Public Schools: Shenandoah National Park: Performing Arts Luray:

4 4 Christ Church was the local distribution site for Angel Food Ministries, providing low cost, nutritious food monthly to anyone who wanted to purchase it. We also provided many boxes of food free of charge to the most needy through contributions made monthly by our parishioners. This ministry ended when the Angel Food organization closed it doors, but many of our members feel a strong desire to feed the hungry and await pastoral leadership to begin a new food ministry. Our annual Christmas Bazaar draws many people from the community into our facility giving us the opportunity to meet and greet new friends and old. Our friendly, giving bazaar workers are happy to share information about our church with any who show interest. Our Seasonal outreach ministries, large number of volunteers in the community, scholarships, generous policy regarding the use of our buildings, annual Christmas Bazaar, food ministries and generous donations to local charities help us to maintain a high profile in our community. We feel that it is this positive image in our community which best helps us to attract new members. OUR GOALS 1. Increase our membership 2. Continue to minister to one another 3. Re-energize and increase outreach activities 4. Continue to pray for discernment regarding God s mission for Christ Church 5. Fully fund the operations of the church Our 2011 parochial report stated a total of 94 baptized communicants and an average combined Sunday attendance of 42 for the eight o'clock and the eleven o'clock services. Christ Church's physical plant is a compact arrangement of church, parish hall and rectory building located on the corner of Amiss Avenue and Jamison Road. The nave of the church seats 110 and houses a Möller pipe organ. The parish hall can seat 60 for dining. The rectory building may be used as a residence by the priest-in-charge. If the priest chooses to live elsewhere, the rectory may be used as a ministries building. OUR CHALLENGES 1. With the aging of the congregation and declining membership, we struggle to fully staff the vestry, its committees, and other areas of lay ministry. Our attendance at worship services and other church activities is low. 2. The level of giving is not sufficient to fully fund operations and routine facilities improvements; however, the vestry is committed to using the reserves we have been blessed with until this shortfall is alleviated. 3. Our parish is located in an area that suffers from one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. The population of the county has remained static over many years making growth in our parish especially challenging. 4. In regard to our attendance and pledge status, we enjoyed five years of prosperity from 2005 until 2009, at which time our Priest accepted a call to a larger church. During his last two years and after his departure, we experienced a slight decrease due to the failing economy and the deaths of several generous parishioners. Our next Priest began in February, We continued to experience declines and in January 2012 our priest chose to return to her husband and children in Florida. Having failed to experience a hoped for improvement and continuing to see our numbers decline, our great desire is to rebuild. We are committed to fulfilling our mission as described on page two. We are ready to welcome a strong leader to join us in this journey.

5 5 Christ Church by the Numbers 2012 (In Transition) Average Sunday Attendance: 35 Pledge Income: $50, Operations Revenue & Expenses Full-time Priest In Transition Revenue $120,915 $77,112 Clergy Expenses 87,688 9,303 Buildings & Grounds 26,382 46,761 Communications & Administration 18,948 17,002 Worship, Education, Fellowship, Other 3,774 4,046 Total Operations Expenses $136,792 $77,112 Net Operations Loss $ 15,877 $ 0 Non-operating Expenditures (2012) Pledge to Diocese (from endowment $ 11,300 earnings) Outreach (from designated gifts and $ 11,336 endowment earnings) Assets (2012) In Bank $91,743 With Diocesan Trustees of the Funds: Endowment Fund 1,027,810 Sabbatical /Leave Fund 50, st Century Fund 33,054 Scholarship Funds 39,361 Total Assets $1,241,968 Attendance & Pledges* Year Pledges # of Pledges Attendance , , , , , , , , *See p. 4, Our Challenges for further explanation.

6 6 The Diocese of Virginia, organized in May 1785, was one of nine dioceses represented at the first General Convention in September Today, the Diocese of Virginia is one of the largest in the Episcopal Church by active membership with over 80,000 members. Its congregations have the second highest average Sunday attendance in the Episcopal Church. It is composed of 185 congregations and covers 38 counties, extending from its southern boundary at Richmond and the James River to northern Virginia and from the Chesapeake Bay on the east to the Shenandoah Valley on the west. The diocesan offices are located in the Mayo Memorial Church House, a 19 th -century Greek Revival mansion on West Franklin Street in Richmond. The building was left to the Diocese by heirs of Peter Mayo, a wealthy 19 th -century tobacco merchant. The Diocese also maintains a Northern Virginia office at Goodwin House in Alexandria. Bishop Johnston The Rt. Rev. Shannon Sherwood Johnston, who was elected and consecrated in 2007, began his ministry as the 13th Bishop of Virginia on October 1, He is joined in his Episcopal ministry by the Rt. Rev. Susan E. Goff, Bishop Suffragan, who was consecrated on July 28, In January of 2011, the Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, retired bishop of Kentucky, began serving our diocese as Assistant Bishop. The bishops serve the Diocese well and work with congregations in their ministry, helping them to pursue the diocesan priorities: youth and young adult ministry, strengthening our congregations, evangelism and proclamation, multicultural and ethnic ministries, and mission beyond ourselves. The bishop s seat is the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration, an open-air stone chapel at the Shrine Mont Diocesan Conference Center. This facility, located in the Shenandoah Valley, is used for diocesan meetings, conferences and clergy retreats, and hosts extensive summer youth camping programs. The Diocesan Center at Roslyn in Richmond overlooks the James River and is a gathering place for diocesan events of continuing education. It is also often used for vestry and parish retreats. Bishop Goff The Diocese owns and operates six secondary schools and has part ownership and operation of five continuing care retirement facilities. The Diocese enjoys the benefits of the Virginia Theological Seminary, the world s largest Anglican Seminary, as a resource for education. For more information, visit Bishop Gulick