Decently and In Order

1-27-2012

Dear Friends,

Below is an excerpt from an email I sent last night to our Session. It is important to note that in all communication here, and on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter – the opinions and suggestions are mine. I accept full responsibility for them, and their tone and intent. If there are any factual errors I will be happy to correct them.

I sincerely believe this is an opportunity for us to come together as a congregation and fix this mess. I, and others, are deeply disappointed in the process by which this has happened, and the fact that after many, many people stood and voiced their support on Sunday, and pledged to help, the vote was still carried out, in haste, and in relative secret, disregarding them completely.

I have had a petition running on my website for a little less than 48 hours, and thus far have collected dozens of letters of support, but more importantly, informally received commitments of more than $1500 per month. Let’s call it a “grass-roots” stewardship straw poll, if you will. Some have pledged a widow’s mite of $5 per month, and some as much as $400 per month. All of them are verifiable – you need only ask for the information.

I realize this isn’t binding, and moreover, I realize that if we don’t fix our larger stewardship problem, propping up the Youth Department is futile. I am not ignorant of the issue, nor do I wish to save Youth at the risk of another program. We are all in this together.

But I believe that it IS indicative of the kind of support that you would receive IF YOU ONLY HAD ASKED FOR SPECIFIC ASSISTANCE and if you had led our congregation specifically, as you are charged to do by the Book of Order.

So, this begs the question, “What would happen if you did it now?”

What would happen if you, Our Session, in your own prudent reflection, filed a stay of enforcement yourselves. You need only 3 Session Members to do it. And what if you announced that fact on Sunday, and asked, with a pledge card for our members to transform their indignation into faith and action.

My dear friends, I ask you this: What do you have to LOSE by doing that? Time? 

I am attaching comments from members, like myself, that love our church and would welcome the opportunity to be part of the solution. There are many more comments in existence, including a letter from the Kiwanis Board of Directors. That is gratifying, but again, it still requires we work as a congregation to solve this issue. No outside group can solve it for us.

Our church is aging. That is a fact. In fact, by baptism we have received two members (that I am aware of) in the last 3 years – {NAME REDACTED} and Tanner Olsen. Which translates to 50% as a result of our youth program.

Our nurseries are empty. We have received one family by transfer of membership. Mine. That translates to 100% as a result of the youth program. The youth program could, and should be expanded. We are just now starting to gain outreach traction through the drive-in movies, the family events, and the relationships that are starting to form after graduating a large group of kids. Youth = life.

Please tell me HOW we intend to solve this problem -  DON’T TELL ME WE CAN’T. Why can’t we pay the salary from the Youth Fund so we can fundraise to support it? Why can’t we have a pledge card on Sunday?

Why can’t we add a credit card payment form on our website to allow members to sign up for monthly stewardship payments? We have the technology in place NOW. It’s the same technology I setup 3 years ago for wreaths and for Sandstock. I can have that added to the website is less than 5 minutes, and Kim Fon is the only one that can access the funds, and then only for the purposes of transferring the cash into our bank account. I would much rather use Facebook to communicate this kind of opportunity and solution, rather than railing at the problem.

I need only the word “GO” from my Session to do that. What does it hurt? What does it cost?

Far less than the anger of a congregation that feels they are ripping apart. Please let us stand together and fix this. These are easy solutions and I believe God will honor our unity, and our effort.

I have heard over and over, “We had no other options.”

If you, as a Session Member, have given up and truly see no other options, then please STEP DOWN TODAY and let someone with ideas, enthusiasm and tenacity STEP UP. We are out here, I promise you. You need only listen and have the courage to let us help. We elected you, and thus far we have failed you. But you have failed to lead us, too.

Let’s work together to be what God has intended – unified.

Grace and Peace,
Chelle

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1-24-2012

Dear Friends,

Yesterday I posted an update and a plea concerning the urgent situation at Community Presbyterian Church. I spoke with DOZENS of people during the day, on the phone, via text message, via email, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

That’s the beauty of social media.

It seems that I answered virtually the same questions over and over, and it solidified the fact that there is SO MUCH MISINFORMATION out there. Let me address a few questions:

I was told the Youth Budget isn’t being CUT, it’s being REORGANIZED – is that true? 

The budget eliminates the full-time Youth Director position whose salary comes from our General Fund, and leaves in place special Youth Fund. I have not been able to determine what that fund will be for, who will use it, how much is in there, or any other information regarding it.

Let’s, however, not mince words. If there isn’t a Youth Director there when a kid needs them, then the program has been cut.

If you look into the Youth Room at 12:30pm on Sunday on your way to lunch and see 4 kids and assume the program doesn’t need a full-time Director, then you have no idea where ministry takes place. I would invite you back when there are 25 kids talking about their friend that just overdosed and died. Join the conversations on Facebook when the kids are about to pop a hydrocodone, and they stop and talk to Ken instead. Hang out at any of the “party-alternative” events we have. Ministry is a way of life. It chose Ken. Believe me, I would much rather have him back on his career path as the Vice President of Redbox or Netflix and our airline miles and retirement account growing each month.

The Youth Program was meant to be self-sustaining. Didn’t you raise enough money to keep the program?

NO AMOUNT OF FUNDRAISING IMPACTS THE SALARY. The salary comes from the General Fund – not the special fund. In fact, no special giving can impact the salary of the Youth Director, which comes from the General Fund.  So if you write “YOUTH” on your check it does not help the situation we’re in now. Does that surprise you? Me too. This means that no amount of effort on our part could have saved the salary of the Youth Director. HOWEVER, Session has the power to change the budget so that the Youth Director is PAID FROM THE SPECIAL FUND, which means it would work the way we all thought it worked in the first place.

Why are we only hearing about this now?

Good question. A very good question. We heard about it a few days before Ken’s mom passed away on January 5th. Before that, not a single word from the Finance Committee, or the Session that there was an issue. It’s a serious deficit,  why only find out when Session believes it is too late to do anything else?

Geez, you talk a lot on Facebook. Is that the right place to say all this?

First, let me say, I’m a social media consultant and director of technology and marketing by trade. My mom tells her friends I get paid to be on Facebook. That’s not inaccurate, actually – a little simplified, of course – but accurate. I get paid to tell people how to leverage conversations happening in a new and scary place – online. I’ve written books, whitepapers, blogs and articles on social media. I’ve presented around the world at conferences. I work with Fortune 50 corporations, small companies, non-profits, political candidates, newspapers and other businesses every day to teach them how to have conversations online through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+ and hundreds of other mediums. The telephone was a scary thing too, at some point.

Second, I’m not complaining in a vacuum here. I’m trying to educate and inform. I’m trying to bring light to a dark situation.  I’m using a new medium with vast capabilities to expand on issues and ideas, and problem solve and rally people to a cause we all care about. No one disagrees that kids aren’t important – the question is, how do we solve this? The traditional methods of communication haven’t worked. What this does is present an opportunity for someone with an opposing view, or more information, or different information a way to clarify their points of view, too. I welcome that.The vast majority get that, but some villagers have only wanted to wave their torches at me. That’s OK too. I’m an educator, I’ll keep educating.

 Isn’t it a done deal? Doesn’t Session have absolute power?

Nope. The Congregation can choose to NOT RATIFY the budget and send it back to Session. Given their unwillingness to listen and take advantage of the help that was offered at last Sunday’s Town Hall Meeting, that doesn’t seem like an option they will pursue with much enthusiasm. They’ve made their decision.

However, my belief is that they haven’t acted in accordance with our Presbyterian Book of Order, and I intend to file a complaint with our Presbytery and have the decision reviewed by a panel of impartial Presbyterian committee members.

So, you see, no amount of fundraising could have helped. Special giving couldn’t have helped. The only thing that could have helped is for our Session to lead us through a stewardship campaign and increase giving overall – which is exactly what should have happened. If we prop up youth, but not our church overall, that’s not responsible – we’re in a bigger mess than just our Youth Program being cut. I agree with Session on that point.

What I don’t agree with is the process by which it happened, the lack of communication, and the disregard for our congregation. Some members of our Session are abusing their power for the sake of expedition, and I personally have heard one member say, “No one else cares what we do. No one else knows what we do. We do what we want.” I don’t think that’s true.  I also don’t think its true of MANY members. I believe they’ve been given skewed financial information, and it seemed the only solution to some given the facts as presented. My point is these are good people that didn’t have all the facts, and didn’t have  TAKE the time to make the decision with enough resources. I believe that an impartial review will bear that out. In the meantime, come to the meeting Sunday and let your voice be heard. Sign the petition below. However you feel – be part of the process.

//Chelle