The Rev. Dr. Jon Martin, chair of the Parish Development Sub-Committee, and Leslie Giddings spoke to Synod members to further clarify the meaning of parish development. At its heart, they said, parish development is about “creating healthy, hospitable parishes that are financially sustainable and are able to be thriving and vibrant communities within the community that surrounds them.” In a very similar way to tidying up when preparing to invite guests to your home, parishes need to make sure their church is good order before inviting others to join them.
Giddings added that it’s important to note that thriving is not the same as growing. “Thriving means having a parish that’s functioning in a way that serves the needs of the local community and the congregation members in ways that are sustainable for the finances and the volunteers that are actually available right now.”
Videos on parish development will soon be available on the ADO website. The first will be a general overview and then next is “going to be about developing a vision and setting priorities for your parish as you move forward.”
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Le repentir : Le chemin de la vie