Snowbirds boost givings to campaign

The congregation at All Saints, King City, really didn’t think it could achieve its $240,000 fundraising goal in the Our Faith- Our Hope: Re-Imagine Church campaign.

It was the beginning of January, and the pledges were coming in very slowly. The Rev. Nicola Skinner, incumbent, was worried. Many parishioners are snowbirds, and they fled south as soon as the cold weather appeared.

Things didn’t look much better by the beginning of April. The campaign had raised only a small amount in pledges, but a dedicated core group of six volunteers tried to remain positive.

Then the snowbirds returned just as the campaign was winding down at the end of April and, says Ms. Skinner, “the donations flowed in. We had a very small amount of money, and it suddenly went up very quickly. That really encouraged people and it was much easier to finish off the campaign.”

By the time the campaign ended, All Saints had raised not just $240,000 in pledges, but $271,000.

Ms. Skinner says she and her committee found the campaign materials extremely useful in persuading the congregation to support Our Faith-Our Hope. The most important thing, she explains, was to encourage everyone in the church to read all the information and to watch the accompanying video in which Archbishop Colin Johnson explains the reason for the campaign.

Once people realized that the campaign benefited every parish in the diocese, she says, people became involved. “If they’d thought the campaign was going to fund infrastructure, they wouldn’t have been so excited,” she adds. “But because they could see that 40 per cent was coming back to them and that this money would help themselves and other churches, they were very positive.”

King City is a small town and All Saints is a large church, so 50 per cent of the money that reverts to the parish will go into a maintenance fund for the building. As well, King City is growing. There are currently three subdivisions under construction and the town’s population is expected to double in the next 10 years.

“We want to put money towards reaching out to newcomers and welcome packages, and making ourselves known to all the new people in the neighbourhood,” says Ms. Skinner. Some of the money will also be put toward youth ministry.

Now that the campaign is over, she admits to being surprised at its success. “We went in at the beginning not sure how we would do, and we were very, very pleased with the results,” she says. “It was a pleasant surprise.”

Campaign on target

The diocese’s Our Faith – Our Hope: Re-Imagine Church campaign is on target to reach its goal of $50 million.

As of Sept. 7, just over $19 million had been pledged by parishes and individuals. That number is expected to increase significantly over the next three months as 135 more parishes join the campaign.

“What is most evident is that when parish leadership prayerfully reflects on the future of the church and embraces a theology of abundance, much can be achieved,” says Peter Misiaszek, the diocese’s director of Stewardship Development.

“Again and again, it is those parishes that trust their campaign staff, are consistent in following the campaign plan and believe in the capacity of people to be generous, that not only meet their campaign goal, but exceed it,” he adds. “I am hopeful that this campaign experience will embolden and energize Anglicans across our diocese.”

Anglicans are once again proving to be generous. As of Sept. 7, the average gift has been $5,855, higher than similar campaigns in other churches. “People in the pews are supporting the vision of Archbishop Johnson,” says Mr. Misiaszek.

The campaign has four goals: to strengthen local parishes ($17 million); to build the church for tomorrow ($14 million); to revitalize the church’s inheritance ($14 million); and to give to others ($5 million).

Forty per cent of funds contributed to the campaign in each parish – up to its goal – will be returned to the parish to meet the needs it has identified. In addition, each parish that exceeds its campaign goal will receive 75 per cent of the funds raised over their goal.