A Big THANK YOU! to everyone that assisted with Sunday's annual meeting, particularly all the staff and volunteers that worked hard on annual reports and new programs and materials. Special kudos to Candice Willie our parish administrator for herding all the cats and getting the paperwork together for the meeting and the website updated. If you have not read through the annual reports and watched the children's report I hope you will do so very soon. It is well worth your time!
Reparations:
Since we launched the Guy T. Hollyday Justice and Reparations fund, we have raised over $130k and distributed $92,742. Significant beneficiaries have been Building our Nation’s Daughters, Black Women Build, The Diocesan Reparations Fund, Baltimoreans United for Leadership Development, St. Katherine’s Episcopal Church, Kindred Coaches, Dad’s United, and underwriting the Division and Unity History display at the Unity Hall produced by Nanny Jack, Inc.
Worship:
We are in the process of rebuilding our worship post-pandemic. It has of course been hampered by the delay in the renovation work, but also by the continuing shift in who we are and how we gather. While our worship is outlined by the Book of Common Prayer, the blank space in the prayer book offers a lot of space for flexibility. Music, prayers, silence, singing. As we continue to ask what our worship should look like, exploring these blank spaces will be an important part of our worship journey.
Youth:
Over the summer, due to the collaboration between Miles Weeks and Kathleen Capcara, we substantially rejuvenated our youth program with more consistent curriculum, expanding programming to include more ages, and we have begun to see the return of our pre-COVID children and youth programming. I am looking forward to what Miles and other volunteers are able to do in the new year.
Urgent Needs:
As has been our practice over the last few years, Memorial has been very flexible in our ability to reach out and support urgent needs in our community and the wider world. From September 2021 through the middle of 2022, myself and some other dedicated volunteers partnered to provide support and assistance to Afghans fleeing the Taliban regime. All told, we were able to evacuate more than 160 Afghans via air and land to safety, almost all of whom have since made it to the U.S. or European countries where they have received sanctuary. We also worked with a local partner Luminus and Brown Memorial and Beth Am Synagogue to provide for the Afghan families that have settled in Reservoir Hill.
The excitement about the annual meeting and how far we have come in the last year was tempered of course by the sobering financial report. Due to a number of circumstances, including quite a few unpaid 2022 pledges and lower than expected special appeal revenue numbers in 2022, we ended the 2022 year with a large deficit - over $100,000. The good news is many of those missing pledges have been paid up since our meeting Sunday and we are confident there are more to come.
However, there is also a lower than expected number of pledgers making their commitment to 2023. Because of this, the finance committee did not present a budget at the annual meeting. The vestry and I concurred, and we proposed a special meeting for March 5 during which the congregation will consider and vote upon a budget for 2023. On Sunday, members voted to approve the proposal.
In the interim between now and March 5 we will work on bringing in more pledges so that 2023 spending isin line with reasonable revenue projectionss. The good news is that several 2023 pledges have come in since Sunday. The finance committee and staff will work hard over the next few weeks ensuring our 2023 budget is substantive and responsive to our current reality.
Some of you had questions about the temporary budget resolution to carry us through March 5th, so let me offer a few clarifying comments: First, the vestry is the chief fiduciary authority of the parish, and as such have, since November, instituted a "only necessary spending" policy, so any spending between now and March 5th will be mainly to keep the lights on and the staff compensated. Second, we are continuing with the “Memorial Makes Room” work (construction re-started this week!) and don’t anticipate any further delays. Third, our primary focus will continue to be worship and music, youth and justice and reparations. A clearer focus on our core strengths will lead to better budget stability and confidence in the mission of Memorial.
I should also say that while we would never protest increased pledges, the problem is not really about how much you all pledge. You all are exceedingly generous in your support of this place and our average pledge is higher than many other churches. Our principal challenges are two-fold: 1) recovering lost building revenue post COVID, and 2) getting more people in the pews (and additional pledges to support our work). While this may seem daunting I have no doubt that if we trust the spirit and continue to serve God and our community these things will materialize.
I look forward to presenting to you a fuller picture of the budget in March including a 2023 budget that serves our communities’ needs and will not leave us in the same position we have been in at the end of every year -- concerned about a deficit and unsure of the next year's revenue. If you see anyone from the finance committee please tell them thank you for their extraordinary efforts in making this happen.