2012 Stewardship Campaign
by Cap Pinkham, Financial Development & Planned Giving
Scripture teaches that each of us is created in the image of
God. Among other things, I think that means we are created to be Christ
figures to each other; we are the hands and feet of God in the world. And
we have a responsibility to do God’s work. Pooling our money through pledges to
Calvary increases the impact we have of making God’s love visible in downtown
Memphis. Let our pledges show what we
can do together and never alone.
A great deal of work has gone into Calvary this last
year. Results are very promising. All are aware of the hard work and great
results being generated by the Transition Leadership Teams. Strategic Planning has completed its work and
the report is on line. Profile is
writing. Search is training and will be ready to go when the parish profile is
in hand. Vestry is fully engaged in all of
this. We also want you to know that hard work and results have been produced by
staff and committees. For example, we
have thoroughly evaluated every Calvary ministry and every clergy and staff
position. We have reorganized staff and are looking to better allocate staff functions. We have clear line of reporting and
accountability of staff. We have staff
standards in a new Staff Handbook.
Also, we have conducted a “Zero Based” budgeting process for 2012 to best
allocate our resources. We continue to
strictly monitor expenses. We are doing
some special fundraising for projects that cannot be paid through the normal
operating budget line items – e.g. the tower repair and reconstruction project.
Calvary is financially sound but we work in an environment of lower
income, higher expenses, more ministries and higher expectations. All Annual Giving Campaigns are critical…and
this one is no exception. Perhaps it is
more critical because it will set the tone and landscape for calling a new
Rector. We need resources and an atmosphere
of abundance and optimism to do this call right.
Of our giving base, twenty (20%) percent gives eighty (80%) percent of
our pledge resources. Not unusual – but
the remaining eighty (80%) percent need to do better. The twenty (20%) have been at Calvary for
years and have provided this support for years.
We are very grateful and thank them again and again and again. But now it is time for the eighty (80%) to
step up and to do so starting this year.