8/9/2019 "Economy: Pastors Face a Perfect Storm" from Spectrum 2010

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Y a l e d i v i n i t Y S c h o o l2

WHeN PeGGY N IeDeReR 01 M.DIV. b campastor in 2003 of Holy Spirit Luth ran Church inLeonia,NJ , she knew that the small congregation ssurvival might, on day, com into qu stion. By

late 2009, that day appeared to be growing closer as the power-ful forces of the recession ravaged the churchs nances. HolySpirit was forc d to dip into its ndowm nt, and at th worstpossibl mom nt.

The stock devalued at the same time that we needed to with-draw from it. W took a doubl hit, says Ni d r r. W mayn v r r cov r from that. It may short nth lif of th congr gation. It could bv y ars inst ad of t n or two y ars in-st ad of ight. Its hard to know.

Th r c ssion, which ocially b gan inlat 2007, has tak n a harsh toll on HolySpirit Luth ran, an eLCA congr gation wh r about two doz n p opl att nd atypical Sunday s rvic . Th congr ga-tions pr sid nt, a faithful tith r, wasout of work for n arly a y ar. Giving wasdown by ight p rc nt for th scal y ar

that nd d Jun 30, 2009. Th churchspr school, found d in 1967, struggl dalong, with Ni d r r lling th dir ctors position untilD c mb r 2009. Th n it clos d, aft r 42 y ars.

Across th country, YDS alumni pastors ar struggling withth worst conomic downturn sinc th Gr at D pr ssion.Sh pard Parsons 84 M.Div. , a Unit d Church of Christminist r in Sh lton, CT , took a 63 p rc nt pay cut and w ntpart-tim as th sol pastor. Ruth Ann Charti r 93 M.Div. ,a UCC pastor, is moving from on nancially strugglingchurch in Massachus tts to anoth r in P nnsylvania, in part

b caus sh is impr ss d with th n w congr gations grittysurvival skills.

Th s xp ri nc s mirror th ndings of a 2009 nationalstudy by th Lak Institut on Faith & Giving that captur sthe extraordinary economic pressures at work. Just as endow-m nt divid nds shrink and church m mb rs th ms lv s arsqu z d nancially, local church s ar witn ssing a jump ind mand for th social s rvic s that th y hav historically pro- vided. According to the study, nearly one-third of the church-

s poll d r porting having to mak budg t cuts. This gur was v n high r in congr gations with only on minist r.

But, v n as this p rf ct storm of diminishing r sourc s andh ight n d n d is visit d upon congr gations across thd nominational sp ctrum, YDS alumni l ad rs ar o ringmod ls for how to not only surviv but also prosp r in suchan nvironm nt. It is a tim , th y say, wh n church s canll th ir congr gants n ds and o r proph tic l ad rshipin ways that s cular institutions cannot. And, th ongo-ing crisis is also an opportunity to mov along th som -

tim s glacial proc ss of r forming andstr amlining th busin ss sid of localchurch op rations. Abov all, th y say,focus on a cor Christian m ssag must win out ov r th clamor of worri d voic sand distractions.

In 35 y ars of ministry and t aching,Iv n v r liv d through anything wh rchurch s ar as pr occupi d with th con-omy as th y ar today, says Dan Bonn r76 M.Div. , 77S.T.M. , a M thodist pastor who heads the Center for Urban Congrega-

tional Renewal in Georgetown, TX . WhatI encourage folks to do is to keep our eye onour mission and not fr t, c rtainly publicly, ov r things wcannot control in our nvironm nt. Th institutions that arstaying th cours and v n xpanding around th dg s arth on s staying on mission. Th mission of th church is thgood n ws, th p ac and justic , th whol bundl .

Th Lak Institut s study, th 2009 Congr gational eco-nomic Impact Study, found that church s that hav old rm mb rs, ar mor d p nd nt on ndowm nt incom , andar small r in siz ar faring wors than th ir count rparts.

Th good n ws from th Lak Institut , which poll d mostlylocal Prot stant church s, s m d to b that, ov rall, giving was up from 2007 to 2008, although th rat of incr as wasnot as high as in pr vious y ars.

Jerry Henry 80 M.Div. , chair of the Development Committeeof th YDS Alumni Board, pars s such numb rs for a livingas an Atlanta-bas d partn r with th Al xand r Haas fund-raising consulting rm. Giving to r ligion is on of th lastthings to d cr as . I think it has to do with th d p spiritual

Shepard Parsons 84 M.Div.

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Pastors Face a PerFect stormby Frank Brown

8/9/2019 "Economy: Pastors Face a Perfect Storm" from Spectrum 2010

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ti s that w f l. W ar sharing th abundanc of God, saysH nry, who sp cializ s in consulting with r ligious groups. Anoth r r c nt study, Faith Communiti s Today 2008: A First Look, was r l as d in Octob r 2009 by th HartfordInstitut for R ligion R s arch at Hartford S minary. Whilth data from ov r 2,500 congr gations of v ry major faithtraditionChristian and non-Christianwas coll ct d b -fore the brunt of the recession hit, the studys ndings conrmth dir straits in which many US faith communiti s ndth ms lv s. Th cl ar and consist nt short-t rm dir ction isn gativ including worship att ndanc growth, spirituala vitality and s ns of mission and purpos , th r port not s.Sp cically, v n b for th crisis, th numb r of congr ga-tions d scribing th ir curr nt nancial h alth as xc ll ntdropp d from 31 p rc nt in 2000 to 19 p rc nt in 2008.

Such startling numb rs put d mands on th l ad rship skillsof pastors in ways that most s minari s do not pr par th mfor. That is why parishion rs advic can b invaluabl , saysTom Duggan 59 B.D., a Pr sbyt rian minist r who w ath-

r d conomic collaps s whil s rving english-sp akingcongr gations in Bangkok and Paris. Dont panic ov r thnanc s, h advis s. Iv always turn d to th p opl forh lp. Iv said to th m, Its not my church. Its your church.

Th p opl always r spond d.

Within th cont xt of th Roman Catholic Church, K rryRobinson 94 M.A.R. is trying to h lp bring busin ss x-p rtis to church administration. Robinson is th founding

x cutiv dir ctor of th NationalL ad rship Roundtabl on ChurchManag m nt, bas d in Washing-ton, DC , which works with bish-ops across th nations 195 RomanCatholic dioc s s.

Th conomic crisis has cr at da s ns of urg ncy among churchl ad rs, says Robinson, addingthat d mand for h r groups s rvic-

s is up mark dly, in part b causof th conomy. Pot ntial donorsar looking not only for comp llingchurch ministry to fund but also, sh said, for syst ms of cont mporary b st practic s and a cultur of transpar ncyand accountability.

Th sort of n tworking and sharing of xp ri nc s that Rob-insons Roundtabl facilitat s is ss ntial for all pastors asth y fac hard d cisionsforc d upon th m bythe recession, some YDS alumni sugg st.

F ling isolat d can bin vitabl , says Talitha Arnold 80 M.Div. , whois s nior minist r at thUnit d Church of SantaF in N w M xico. Thrst thing I would say isthat its not about you,sh not s. Its asy toint rnaliz whats hap-p ning but th s ar global things that ar happ ning. Ths cond thing to do is to s k out coll agu s.

Arnold r ports that h r UCC congr gation f lt an conomicimpact from th crisis in two wav s. First, parishion rs d -p nd nt on r tir m nt incom w r hit hard by th d clinin th stock mark t. Th n, in 2009, th church was impact d

by layos of m mb rs from stat gov rnm nt, tourism andconstruction, N w M xicos top thr mploy rs. To h lpth larg st groupstat work rscop , Arnold organiz dSaturday burrito br akfasts just for th m, thus providing an w sourc of f llowship.

Despite the challenges they face, pastors like Chart-i r, in Fall Riv r, and Ni d r r, in L onia, still srays of hop .

Th kind of dynamism and adaptability Arnold d -scrib d ar among th big r asons Charti r has d -

cid d to l av th Unit d Parish of Fall Riv r,MA ,for Lineld United Church of Christ in Royersford,PA , v n though th l ad rs of h r n w church toldher that they have enough money to fund this posi-tion for thr y ars and aft r that th y ar just notsur . For h r part, Ni d r r is ncourag d at howh r tiny Luth ran congr gation has ris n to chal-

l ng s. Says Ni d r r, I f l p opl taking own rship and volunt ring to h lp in th parish.

a r ss u ry,YdS um p s rs r s rugg g w w rsm w ur s Gr d pr ss .

Kerry Robinson 94 M.A.R.

Ruth Ann Chartier 93 M.Div.