New Church Website

Today, after about a week of intense work, the new church website went live. I got started on this project when I realized that some of the web links in the old version didn't work any more. Then a visitor commented that she liked the welcoming language, but it was extremely wordy. Then a friend commented that the whole color scheme of the old one was very dreary, especially the picture of the church exterior. Then I realized that the thing simply didn't work on most cell phones.

It's going now, and my main worry is that Google will have trouble indexing it. (That's a common issue.) The main aim of the site is to introduce newcomers to our church, and I think the new design is more appealing.

Parking Lot Business

Tomorrow we are getting new lighting for the parking lot, which will make winter meetings much safer and more pleasant. The old lighting system was about 40 years old and simply didn't work. Every time someone tried to turn on the lights, the circuit breaker would trip. A local electric contractor is putting in new lights and wiring, the whole thing to be paid for by Capital Campaign funds donated by the members of the Parish.

A little later this summer, the parking lot itself will get repairs and new paving. If you have come by in the middle of the week, you probably have noticed that we gave our next-door neighbor permission for their staff to park on our lot, and the Montessori school in our basement has a regular parade of parents dropping off children and picking them up later. Both groups have agreed to help with the cost of the lot because they get benefit from it and we will make up the balance from the Capital Campaign.

Rev. Kay's Sabbatical

Rev. Kay has been our Rector for seven years now, and (as provided in our original Letter of Agreement with her) she will be taking a three month sabbatical from May 15 to August 15. She certainly deserves it.

A Spiritual Growth Team, headed by Senior Warden Mike McKinley, has been making plans for these three months. We will have four different priests coming on Sundays to preach and celebrate Holy Eucharist, and we will have Morning Prayer with sermons by our own Lay Preachers.

Three special Saturday programs, focusing on Prayer and the Hymnal, Ignatian Prayer, and Drama will provide high points for the parish this summer.

While Rev. Kay is gone, Sister Nadine will be the Pastoral Associate, so any special needs should be addressed to her.

New Floor in the Parish Hall

By Sunday, the new floor will be installed in the Parish Hall. It's quite a change. Instead of tan tile, falling apart and leaving gaps, we will have a nice dark brown floor that looks like polished wood. It was about time for a change. As far as we can determine, the original tile was installed in the 1970s and had a predicted service life of about 10-15 years.

Money for this came from the "Planting for Tomorrow" Capital Campaign and from a special donor. The Capital Campaign has enough left over now that we can ponder some other improvements.

Laura Hart Hospitalization

Laura Hart remains in Riverside hospital. However, her health is improving and she has been moved out of ICU into a "step down" room. Her room is Orange Area 8001.

Where the Money Comes From

Money for St. Matthew’s comes from several different sources, and generally the Vestry must spend money for projects for which it was designated. Here is a breakdown:

Designated Contributions

The people who donate this money specify what it must be used for, so it cannot be used for general expenses such as heat and electricity, and these donations are not part of fulfilling your pledge.

• Memorial Fund. This is money given in memory of a loved one, and often the donor specifies exactly what the money can be used for. In many cases, the money goes to purchase some long-lasting memorial such as stained glass windows or oil candles for the altar.
• Flower Fund, etc. We have two or three other minor funds. Again, money designated for these funds cannot be used for ordinary expenses and does not get counted as part of your pledge.

Capital Campaign Money

These are the funds you are sending to the Diocese for the Planting for Tomorrow fund. Recent uses of this money have included the new roof and the upgraded electrical system. We cannot use this money for paying general bills, and we depend on your continuing support and your fulfillment of your promise. (Our next major project is probably the floor in the Parish Hall.)

Diocese Outreach Grants

This money comes to us from the Diocese in response to grant applications, and is used for very specific purposes. Because they are outreach grants, they must in some way reach out to the community. Many of our outside music groups are funded by these grants, and the idea is that we will advertise the music to the community and invite nonmembers to attend.

Rector’s Discretionary Fund

The loose offering on the last Sunday of the month goes to this fund, which is used to help needy parishioners with extraordinary bills. One example might be a prescription after surgery.

Private Pocket

Some parish needs, for example the coffee for coffee hour, are simply paid by parishioners directly. This money never goes through the ordinary church budgeting process.

General Operating Budget

This money comes from the offering plate. It includes your pledge money plus loose offering from the first three Sundays of the month and $350 monthly rent from the Montessori school. This money goes to pay the daily expenses of running a church: Rector’s stipend, gas, electricity, organist, postage, insurance, and so forth.

Wakeman Campground Dedicated

Last Saturday, about 300 of us gathered from around the Diocese for the dedication of the Wakeman campground. It was a beautiful day, and the program was about what you would expect: speeches by leaders, tours of the grounds, games for the kids, and a grand picnic lunch.

Much of the financing for the project came in through the Planting for Tomorrow capital campaign fund. (This was the fund that we used to put on a new roof, paint the building, and buy a new stove. We kept 70% of the money we raised, and 30% of the money went to the Wakeman campground.) As a Diocese, we raised more than our target amount, so we will be able to do this project right, and do it more quickly than we expected.

The property itself is pretty much unchanged from the last time I was there two years ago. It is still a beautiful spot, bounded on three sides by the Vermilion River (quite a contrast with Cedar Hills, which is bounded on one side by an Interstate highway and on the other by a gas station). Most of the work to date is invisible: architectural and engineering studies, codes and permits, demolition of old buildings, and roughing in roads and parking lots. The local people and the town government seem very happy to have us there, so the various permits have been quite easy to obtain.

In a quick summary, here's what we hope for in the new property:

• Camp Cedar Hills never had its own water source and could never be made handicap accessible, so it was always expensive to operate and had limited usefulness. The new location will not have those problems.
• Cedar Hills was north of Youngstown, which put it out of reach for our people in northwest Ohio. This is one reason it was never fully utilized. Wakeman is much more centrally located.
• For those of us in Ashland, the driving distance is about half: 45 minutes to Wakeman versus 90 minutes to Cedar Hills.
• We actually have a bit of farmland in Wakeman, which we will use for sustainable agriculture projects. There has been a lot of interest from outside groups in using our property for their programs too.
• It has been two years since we were able to have a summer camp program at Cedar Hills; we are hoping to have one in Wakeman in July 2017. (The cabins are being pre-built in warehouses over the summer, so they can be put up very quickly next year.)

The place has a name

With a bit of fanfare, Bishop Hollingsworth announced the new name for the property:

Bellwether Farm

Here's his explanation of the term:

Since the Middle Ages, shepherds have singled out one ram in a flock to wear a bell and indicate where the flock is going. The bellwether has come to signify a harbinger or herald of what is to come. In this sense, it is the Church's vocation to be a bellwether of the kingdom of God, and the vocation of every Christian is to be a bellwether of God's mission to heal the world. It is, of course, our common prayer that through this new camp, retreat, and education center, and in each of our lives, we will be the bellwether of Christ's redeeming and reconciling love.

Two more thoughts

1. Of the 300 or so people there, at least 100 were children and teenagers. Their numbers surprised me. A retreat/conference center such as this one is really important to our mission to teach and disciple these kids, and they will (very soon) grow into the adults who sustain our church.
2. It's very easy to forget that there are members of our larger church beyond the walls of our parish and the 40 or so people we see weekly. When I attend such events as Winter Convocation, the Mission Area Council, and the Bishop's Bike ride, they pull me out of myself and remind me of the larger church, and when I show up at such things as the Wakeman BBQ picnic, I always get involved in conversations with distant friends. There's much more to the church than our tiny corner.