Laity leads church to goal

The fact that they were between incumbents did not hamper the parishioners of Epiphany and St. Mark, Parkdale, as they tried to reach their target in the Our Faith-Our Hope campaign.

In fact, not only did the volunteer committee of six people meet the $85,000 target, they exceeded it by almost $35,000. The achievement is even more remarkable, considering that there are only 82 families on the parish roll.

When the parish’s incumbent retired earlier this year, it was immediately apparent that the burden of fundraising would fall on the shoulders of the laity. Bishop Philip Poole asked parishioner Kennedy Marshall if he would be prepared to lead the campaign. Mr. Marshall said yes, provided he could have another parishioner, Dorothy Peers, working with him.

“I wanted someone who would commit to something and deliver on that commitment,” Mr. Marshall says. “She’s involved with everything in the parish.”

With Ms. Peers in place, Mr. Marshall received invaluable assistance from Br. Reginald Crenshaw of the Order of the Holy Cross. Br. Crenshaw had been acting as mentor to the parishioners as they began their search for a new incumbent, and since he had just completed the Our Faith-Our Hope campaign at his own church of St. Paul, Runnymede, he agreed to be an adviser and supporter to the team.

“He was a tower of strength,” says Mr. Marshall.

Additional help came from the interim priest-in-charge, the Rev. Jim Houston, and assistance from the sidelines was provided by Archbishop Michael Peers, the former Primate, who is the husband of Dorothy Peers.

Mr. Marshall says he was not surprised that the parish reached its goal and surpassed it. “What has surprised me about the whole exercise is the enthusiasm and commitment exhibited by the campaign executive,” he says.

But it was not so easy in the beginning. Dorothy Peers says the campaign team has come a long way since the fundraising started in the fall. “In some ways, we were leaderless,” she says. “It was a very scary place to be in, and to think of starting a major campaign in that space was really daunting.”

While the six members on the campaign executive committee knew each other, she adds, they had not asked people for money before, and that was intimidating. However, the thing that gave the group courage to go on was the process outlined by the diocese for parishes working on the Our Faith-Our Hope campaign.

“It was really excellent,” Ms. Peers said, explaining that the process trained the volunteers and gave them an idea of what was expected. The fact that they were to work in pairs also took some of the fear out of the challenge. “After we’d done one or two visits, we really got very excited about it,” she adds.

By mid-November the group, with some volunteers from the congregation, had raised $119,930 from 20 pledges. They had not yet started the telephone campaign, and still had six weeks before the campaign was to end on Dec. 31.

Apart from raising the funds— and few of those approached declined to give—the volunteers experienced many satisfactions, says Ms. Peers. There was the recognition that other people had a strong faith and a strong commitment to the parish, and that the parish has a strong commitment to the diocese.

Many of the parishioners expressed deep appreciation for the visits, including some who were housebound. Out of that experience, Ms. Peers says, the parish will find a means of visiting these parishioners more frequently.

Being able to visit parishioners in their homes, and see their pictures, treasures and memorabilia, gave the volunteers a different appreciation of their fellow parishioners, she says. All in all, she concludes, the campaign that started with trepidation is ending on a note of triumph. “It has been a success,” she says.