DEAR MOM AND DAD
Please send money:
In this last year, your Diocesan Council and the Diocesan Staff have been willing to engage in creative adaptation. We’ve found many ways to save money, to do more with less, and still accomplish more for the mission of the Church in Georgia. I’m pleased to say that, for second consecutive year, the Diocesan budget has ended in the black. And even though our revenue has been essentially flat for two years, we have greatly increased the services and support we offer the clergy and congregations of our Diocese. In other words, we’ve adapted. We’re doing an excellent job of putting Billy Beane’s principles to work by getting every ounce of mission out of the scarce resources we have. As you’ll hear in the reports today, this comes from a lot of hard work.
Jack.
All analogies in the end fall short, but let me stretch this one out some more. The Diocese of Georgia is currently like the Oakland A’s. We have a good, competitive team on the field. But what if our competitive team on the field, in this analogy that would be the clergy and lay leaders of the Diocese, what if we had that same team but with the resources of the New York Yankees? Oh my, what we could do to follow Jesus’ command to “produce fruit, fruit that will last.”
Scratch.
It’s my belief that we’ve reached the limits of what we can do with the resources we currently have.
Dead presidents.
But this can only take us so far. Believe me, I love the team we have. They’re the most hard-working and creative disciples any church could have. I wouldn’t trade them for anyone on any other team, say, for example, in the Diocese of Atlanta (the NY Yankees of GA). Yet, there’s only so much we can do with less.
Benjamins.
That’s why our Campaign for Congregational Development is essential for our future. The last time our Diocese had a campaign was 20 years ago. It was for $1.6 million. And $500,000 of that came as a grant from the Episcopal Church. For those who say we send money to the Episcopal Church and we never get anything back, I say to you that 20 years ago we got a $500,000 gift. That campaign helped build buildings and buy land. And 20 years later we can see the good fruit that campaign produced.
Hundies.
When your Diocesan Council and I see an opportunity for such mission and we reach into our pockets for the resources to engage that mission, we discover our pockets are near empty. That has to change if we’re to fulfill the Great Commission and to live the Great Commandment in this Diocese. You put the Great Commission together with the Great Commandment and it’s clear: We’re called to make disciples by bringing them into a Church that loves God by loving our neighbors.
Simoleons.
That’s what this Campaign for Congregational Development is all about: Making disciples by bringing them into a Church that loves both God and neighbor actively and audaciously. So, it can’t be about tinkering around the edges. It can’t be just a nip or tuck for the Body of Christ in Georgia. It has to be about a reformation of the age-old mission Jesus embodied. It has to be about ending once and for all the seven last words of the Church: “We’ve never done it that way before.”
Cabbage.
The Campaign we’re entering now, however, is not focused on building buildings or buying land. We don’t need more buildings or more land today. What we need is to make more disciples and to make a bigger difference in our communities. This campaign is about building up our congregations so they can be even more effective in their witness to the truth of God found in Jesus Christ.
Kaysh.
This Campaign will be successful if all of us are on the team and on the field. We can’t afford to have any of us on the bench burying our talents in the ground. You know that parable of Jesus. The servants of the master please their master by taking some risks, by putting their talents into play. The parable concludes with those who took the risks seeing their risks rewarded, but the one who buried his talent in the ground, well, let’s just say, things didn’t end well for him.
Your loving son,
Scott Benhase.
In this last year, your Diocesan Council and the Diocesan Staff have been willing to engage in creative adaptation. We’ve found many ways to save money, to do more with less, and still accomplish more for the mission of the Church in Georgia. I’m pleased to say that, for second consecutive year, the Diocesan budget has ended in the black. And even though our revenue has been essentially flat for two years, we have greatly increased the services and support we offer the clergy and congregations of our Diocese. In other words, we’ve adapted. We’re doing an excellent job of putting Billy Beane’s principles to work by getting every ounce of mission out of the scarce resources we have. As you’ll hear in the reports today, this comes from a lot of hard work.
Jack.
All analogies in the end fall short, but let me stretch this one out some more. The Diocese of Georgia is currently like the Oakland A’s. We have a good, competitive team on the field. But what if our competitive team on the field, in this analogy that would be the clergy and lay leaders of the Diocese, what if we had that same team but with the resources of the New York Yankees? Oh my, what we could do to follow Jesus’ command to “produce fruit, fruit that will last.”
Scratch.
It’s my belief that we’ve reached the limits of what we can do with the resources we currently have.
Dead presidents.
But this can only take us so far. Believe me, I love the team we have. They’re the most hard-working and creative disciples any church could have. I wouldn’t trade them for anyone on any other team, say, for example, in the Diocese of Atlanta (the NY Yankees of GA). Yet, there’s only so much we can do with less.
Benjamins.
That’s why our Campaign for Congregational Development is essential for our future. The last time our Diocese had a campaign was 20 years ago. It was for $1.6 million. And $500,000 of that came as a grant from the Episcopal Church. For those who say we send money to the Episcopal Church and we never get anything back, I say to you that 20 years ago we got a $500,000 gift. That campaign helped build buildings and buy land. And 20 years later we can see the good fruit that campaign produced.
Hundies.
When your Diocesan Council and I see an opportunity for such mission and we reach into our pockets for the resources to engage that mission, we discover our pockets are near empty. That has to change if we’re to fulfill the Great Commission and to live the Great Commandment in this Diocese. You put the Great Commission together with the Great Commandment and it’s clear: We’re called to make disciples by bringing them into a Church that loves God by loving our neighbors.
Simoleons.
That’s what this Campaign for Congregational Development is all about: Making disciples by bringing them into a Church that loves both God and neighbor actively and audaciously. So, it can’t be about tinkering around the edges. It can’t be just a nip or tuck for the Body of Christ in Georgia. It has to be about a reformation of the age-old mission Jesus embodied. It has to be about ending once and for all the seven last words of the Church: “We’ve never done it that way before.”
Cabbage.
The Campaign we’re entering now, however, is not focused on building buildings or buying land. We don’t need more buildings or more land today. What we need is to make more disciples and to make a bigger difference in our communities. This campaign is about building up our congregations so they can be even more effective in their witness to the truth of God found in Jesus Christ.
Kaysh.
This Campaign will be successful if all of us are on the team and on the field. We can’t afford to have any of us on the bench burying our talents in the ground. You know that parable of Jesus. The servants of the master please their master by taking some risks, by putting their talents into play. The parable concludes with those who took the risks seeing their risks rewarded, but the one who buried his talent in the ground, well, let’s just say, things didn’t end well for him.
Your loving son,
Scott Benhase.
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