Capital Campaign Discernment Update: Gathering Teams to Lead the Work Ahead
St. Dunstan’s is beginning a process of wondering together about a possible capital campaign, to do some substantial repairs and renovations of our building, parking lot, and more. A Steering Committee is working with Rev. Miranda and our consultant from the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) to plan and coordinate that process. We expect to be talking together as a parish about what we could do, and why it matters, in early 2017. Out of those parish-wide conversations, we hope to come to some clarity about what the project or projects would look like – and whether we’re ready to move ahead with fundraising to do them. As ECF’s materials say, “The emphasis now is on listening, learning, dreaming, praying and planning. Inviting people to make pledges will come much, much later.”
We are currently gathering the people who will be planning and coordinating the discernment process, in the form of several small teams:
The Inquiry and Input team will work closely with our consultant to design ways to gather input from the congregation, lead and facilitate that process, and prepare and share back the results.
The Values and Vision team will work on developing the vision for the campaign and how it connects with our parish’s identity and values, and on communicating effectively with the parish .
The Projects and Possibilities team will work with professionals to solicit designs and bids for the improvements we might make.
The Neighborhood Needs team will develop and share a snapshot of the circumstances of the neighborhoods surrounding our property, solicit input from our immediate neighbors, and evaluate ways our capital campaign could have an impact beyond our parish.
The Steering Committee is inviting particular people to join these teams, on the basis of their skills and passions. However, we realize that we don’t know everything about everybody. If you feel that you have skills to offer this process, and you’d like to serve, please reach out to Rev. Miranda and let her know!
And please know that being part of one of the discernment teams is NOT the only way to have input into our capital campaign plans. In fact, the heart of this process is the work of gathering ideas and opinions from the congregation. We also anticipate that, should we discern that the time is right to move ahead with a campaign, the leadership bodies for the next phases of the campaign will be a somewhat different group of folks with a different set of skills and gifts, so there may be other opportunities for leadership roles in this process down the road.
Miranda+