St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church

The last few months have hit our endowment hard.

In 1980, during the tenure of the Rev. Norman Hall, St. Barts was the fortunate recipient of a fund donated by Ada Jewett. It was a 1.5 million dollar blessing that allowed the church to remain stable for nearly 30 years. We used the investment income to pay for staff, some operating expenses and our ministry in difficult times. We have recently learned that we have $5,500 in cash from that original amount. This investment fund also included other donations of stock and cash.

Like many others, we were hit with the perfect storm of disastrous events. The initial cause was set before the Rev. Philip Stowell became rector in 1990. The parish had bought the current rectory (also called a parsonage) at 95 Ralph Avenue with a line of credit against the securities. At the time, it was decided not to get a mortgage.

Since that time, the interest from the endowment was used to pay off the interest from the line of credit. The percentage was also increasing (from 5% to 9%). Because it was a line of credit rather than a mortgage, we were not in the habit, nor did we have the resources, to pay off any substantial principal upon the house. Our stewardship was poor and it seemed that the endowment was making enough money to pay for the interest. The line of credit increased, and securities were sold. And with the market crash, the ratio between the two forced the bank to sell our securities to pay off what we owed them. The up side is that now that the securities were sold, we own the house outright.

This was the primary reason for the recent disaster. After Stowell’s departure, however, a few other events contributed to the portfolio’s decline. Changing clergy led to a halving of membership and a conflicted parish. The church offered two severance packages, totaling nearly $200,000 to departing clergy. In 1997 and in 2000, the endowment suffered the first two of several crashes: we didn’t adjust our spending when our income was decreasing. In 2001, the four largest donors left. By this time, our endowment had halved.

Coinciding with this, our properties at 52 and 50 Sterling had not been maintained for more than 50 years. After researching the best way to develop the properties, looking at long-term development, the vestry decided to renovate. Fortunately, we received a loan from the diocese – in addition to funds from the endowment – to improve our rental properties. While the income properties are now in excellent shape, we lost more than $6,000 a month in income during the renovations. During this time we spent from the endowment because we did not want to permanently hobble our ministry.

We did curtail spending: the vestry, to accommodate these new realities, at one time eliminated its paid choir, eventually adapting to its current low-budget music program. We eliminated our full-time sexton and full-time secretary. The vestry was would not hobble our ministry, realizing that it needed to spend wisely for growth (and last year we had an increase of 20% in our membership!) Furthermore, we now have a steady income of $6,400 from our rental properties. They are now in good shape, and we have shed the reputation as slumlord.

In hindsight, we could have made other choices. We considered, six years ago, paying off the line of credit with a mortgage, but because the process for mortgaging church property is burdensome and complicated, we only began the search in earnest last year when a parishioner volunteered his legal services. Our agreement was in diocesan hands when the market crashed. We feel that we now have the ability and need to press our case more urgently, and the diocese has indicated its inclination to approve a mortgage with favorable conditions.

We could have also, invested in church growth earlier. We might have invested in paid Sunday School teachers or called a full time music director, but only by withdrawing from our endowment. These are choices we could not have recognized as being so urgent or worthwhile. And we are here now, substantially poorer although we’ve got the foundation of something glorious.

This is our time. No more must we rely on the generosity of the dead. Now we are grounded in the generosity of one another. There is a way to build the church, but it will take the full commitment of everyone who desires that St. Bartholomew thrive. I have mentioned the outlines of such a path: build upon our strengths; work to be more than merely friendly, but truly welcoming; create ways the church can be more involved in serving the community.

The answer isn’t more money, although I could easily spend one million dollars for various projects. The real answer is more ministry. The more ministry in the community, the more evident our reason for existing. The more we care, the more we thrive. Our redeemer came to free us from the anxiety of the world, constantly urging us to remember each other first. In faith based economics, money follows ministry. For many years St. barts looked inward, and it was dying. Over the last year, we’ve looked outward, and we’ve found ourselves with new faces, people eager to do the work of caring.

We will briefly discuss our future on January 25th, 2009 after church at St. Bartholomew’s. I hope you can join us in an open discussion about the state of our finances and our future prospects.

Blessings,
Fr. Gawain