An Invitation: Vestry Listening Sessions
We wish you all a joyous Easter season.
This letter is an invitation to participate in a process that is intended to help discern the best path forward for fulfilling Epiphany’s mission. In the Easter season, we will have a series of workshops to uncover our spiritual gifts and talents to help us explore how we can best use our time and talents to further the work of the Church. During the Easter season, Vestry leaders are also hosting a series of conversations to discuss the financial aspects of Epiphany’s mission.
The small group conversations focusing on Epiphany’s mission and financial issues will be Saturday, April 22 at 10, Sunday, April 30 at 9, Tuesday May 2 at 7 and Saturday May 5 at 10 and 2. You can sign up for a particular date on our website or by calling the parish office. We hope you will all participate.
For more than a year, the Vestry and others have been discussing many issues concerning what it takes to remain a healthy, vibrant, and sustainable community of faith serving God’s mission in today’s world. Finances are part of that conversation, including both revenues and expenses. On the expense side of the equation, the conversation has focused on Epiphany’s debt. We were incredibly fortunate to have a generous gift of $500,000 in 2022 that was used to reduce the principle of our debt. We are also incredibly fortunate to have received a grant for $100,000 through a relationship with someone who cares about Epiphany’s future. These funds will be used to reduce our mortgage principal and to bring our balance below $1,000,000 in the near future! Through refinancing in 2021 and rebalancing in 2022, we reduced our monthly mortgage payment from $13,579 to $6,251. Since 2021, we have paid more than $135,000 in interest on the mortgage. Over the remainder of the mortgage, we’ll pay an additional $720,000 unless we take steps to refinance or to relieve ourselves of longstanding debt.
On the revenue side, we have seen a decline in pledges from approximately $423,000 in 2021 to $378,000 in 2023. Pledges are not the only source of revenue for the Church. We also have revenue from a variety of groups that use our facilities, and we have tried to use our church property in a way that advances the mission of the church.
This year our budget projects a deficit of $79,000. We have funds to cover that deficit, but we only have enough funds to cover deficits of that amount for about five years. Our current mortgage payments for the year total about $75,000. We would be able to balance our budget if we could eliminate the debt.
With this context, we want to invite more conversation about the path forward for Epiphany on these financial issues. Do we have a campaign go eliminate the debt? Do we focus on increasing the annual operational budget through growth and/or increased giving? A combination of these things? Are there other ideas? Through conversations about finances, we need to remain focused on the church’s mission.
A broad, open conversation is an important part of discerning the best path forward. We hope you all will be part of this effort. Please attend one of the sessions that are planned. If you have questions, please let us know.
In Christ,
Mary O’Grady, Senior Warden
The Rev. C. Hunter Ruffin, Rector
