[Holy Trinity Church, Inwood] The vestry of Holy Trinity Church took an important first step to secure the future of the parish by adopting a resolution to explore a partnership with the Diocese of New York.

According to the resolution, Holy Trinity plans to “pursue a partnership with the Diocese to investigate the potential to develop the property.”

The resolution was passed during a meeting and discussion with the Rev. Canon Blake Rider, Canon to the Ordinary, on May 15. In the Episcopal Church, a canon to the ordinary serves as the executive officer to the diocesan bishop.

Such a partnership could result in new construction, or in much-needed renovations to the church’s aging physical plant, or both.

As part of the proposed arrangement, the diocese would continue to pay for the salary and benefits of a full-time minister and front the money to obtain legal and other professional advice as well as the surveys and studies needed to begin a development project.

In exchange, the diocese would hope to recoup these upfront costs and tap some of the money generated by the deal to support its mission work throughout the region, which includes the Lower Hudson Valley, Westchester, and New York City.

“The Episcopal Church is 100% committed to staying in Inwood,” said the Rev. Jake Dell, Holy Trinity’s interim vicar. “We are committed to operating a church and community theater ministry that is safe, accessible, and well-maintained,” referring to both the congregation and the popular Pied Piper Children’s Theatre which draws young people from all over upper Manhattan.

Bishop Allen Shin, Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of New York, confirmed the church’s commitment to maintaining an Episcopal presence in Inwood at a coffee-hour conversation with parishioners and members of the theater community during his visit to the parish last Sunday.

“If you look at the map, you are the only Episcopal church within 20 blocks,” Shin noted.

Dell, who was appointed last December and is the first full-time priest to serve the parish in nearly two decades, said Holy Trinity cannot continue on its current path, especially because the buildings and grounds are suffering from the clear effects of years of deferred maintenance.

Furthermore, the Congregational Support Plan, which has paid to staff Holy Trinity with a part-time priest since 1996, will end on December 31, 2016. This affects all parishes on the support plan and not just Holy Trinity.

“These are the things we have to remember in explaining why things cannot continue the way they are,” Dell explained. “People often confuse us with the other Trinity or think that we’re landmarked,” Dell continued, referring to Trinity Wall Street, which has real estate holdings valued in the billions in lower Manhattan, “but the fact is that we’re neither rich nor landmarked.”

“It is like any other complicated process,” Kevin Kunkel, one of the parish’s wardens, explained. He likened it to “looking for a job or buying a home,” adding that “it is a careful process.”

“The wardens and vestry are all long-time residents of the Inwood and upper Manhattan community,” Abigail Snow, Clerk of the Vestry, said. In an Episcopal parish, a vestry is akin to a board of directors.

“We are committed to investigating our options with care and doing everything we can to put the church back on a stable financial footing in order to continue our presence and services in Inwood and to expand our outreach to the community,” Snow continued.

In order to give the congregation, the theater community, and local residents a voice in the process, the parish invited members from each constituency to participate in several recent events, including a series of Appreciative Way of Inquiry workshops and an event designed specifically to “listen” to what might be best for the land on which the church and theater sit.

Dell said he is thankful to all who participated and helped bring the parish to such a mature moment in its history.

The parcel on Seaman Avenue and Cumming Street was purchased in 1922 for $25,000. Today, the property is worth much more. Yet now $25,000 barely covers the annual heating bill.

“This partnership is for survival,” said Yvonne Bill, Managing Director of the Pied Piper Children’s Theatre, “to preserve the oasis that is our sacred and artistic space.”

The Rev. Jake Dell can be reached by email at vicar@holytrinityinwood.org.

[Holy Trinity Church, Inwood] Members of the Holy Trinity community gathered last week in the parish garden with a singular focus: to listen to the land.

“It occurred to me while I was out on a run,” said the Rev. Jake Dell, Interim Vicar, “that in the process of listening to all the voices in our community concerning what they appreciate about the parish and what they wish for its future, we had left out some important voices: the trees, the flowers, the very land on which our sanctuary sits. I asked myself, have we listened to what the land wants?”

Dell organized two informal opportunities for parishioners to gather in the garden in quiet reflection and contemplation.

He introduced the groups at each session to the custom of Rogation Days, an ancient Christian rite dating back to the 5th century.

On Rogation Days, members of a parish would perform a ceremony known as the “Beating of the Bounds,” in which a procession of parishioners would walk the boundaries of their parish and pray for its protection in the coming year. The practice is still prevalent in some Anglican parishes in England.

Dell organized one session after worship on Sunday, May 8 and again in the early evening of Tuesday, May 10.

After a brief Rogation blessing from the Book of Occasional Services led by Dell, participants spent 15 to 20 minutes meditatively walking the property. The group then gathered in a circle and recited the Lord’s Prayer before sharing their observations with one another.

Vestry member Leslee Warren said, “It’s amazing to see how much things have grown over the years. I have been coming here over 18 years and I can remember when the pine tree was small enough that I could look over it. Now it’s taller than all of us!”

Others voiced concern for preservation and sustainability. “If developing our land means that we end up needing to remove any trees I would really like to find a way to relocate them, perhaps to the park or another church,” said Maitri Butcher. Other parishioners gathered agreed that moving, rather than destroying the trees, if possible, would be important.

Others commented on the large diversity of flowers in the garden, including lilacs, lilies, and roses, and were surprised to learn that there is a culinary herb garden on the grounds that includes wild oregano and chives.

Raised planter beds in the northwest corner of the garden once held edible plants including lettuce and tomatoes.  “We grew food that was shared by our community,” said Jeanne Ruskin. “It would be great if we could do that again.”

“Beating the Bounds” gave members of the Holy Trinity community a new perspective on its property – as a sanctuary, as a source of inspiration and of spiritual and bodily nourishment, as a resource to be respected, and as an important part of the parish’s history.

[Holy Trinity Church, Inwood] Lay people in the Diocese of New York got an opportunity to learn about and respond to the strategic plan being developed for the diocese through a series of listening sessions on May 5-6.

The decisions being made by leadership will impact the diocese’s governance, finances, and mission, and may especially affect the diocese’s smaller, struggling, and poorer parishes.

Holy Trinity parishioner Cecilia Malm attended the May 5 session held at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Manhattan.

Last August, the Diocese of New York began a process of developing a new strategic plan, the first time it has undertaken such a review since 1974, Malm reports.

Malm says that according to the diocese, “the purpose of the strategic plan is to recommit ourselves to the mission given to us by God, to assess the work we do in the name of God, and to create good, sustainable structures to shape and support that mission. The work of the coming year will identify opportunities, strategies and vision for the mission we have been given that are sustainable, innovative and accessible.”

Task Forces
The first step taken by diocesan leadership was to establish dedicated Task Forces.

Task Force A, chaired by The Rev. Bradley Dyche, is charged with examining the governance and structure of the diocese.

Task Force B, chaired by The Rev. Claire Woodley is working to define a common understanding of the marks of a healthy congregation.

Task Force C is charged with examining the diocesan budget, including whether the budget reflects the stated mission of the diocese, and proposing a revised assessment formula.

Governance/Structure
The draft plan proposes reducing the number of people on the Diocesan Council from 40 to 20, which the group widely felt would be more effective. The council will also create a centralized calendar to better coordinate events and activities affecting all congregations.

A revamped Standing Committee of 8 individuals (elected, not appointed) will advise the bishop and will review all property transactions while the diocesan Trustees (20 individuals) will oversee the budget and be the principal fiduciary body. (At present this responsibility resides with the Council.)

Healthy Congregations
The plan proposes that healthy congregations have these characteristics: all leadership positions are filled and have regular turnover; the congregation can meet its financial obligations; the buildings and grounds are well-maintained; and ecologically sound building methods are used whenever possible.

Healthy congregations should also have programs and procedures for invitation and welcoming, communication, Christian education, and fellowship.

Budget and finance
The Task Force is actively studying Canon 18 and the formula for determining annual congregational assessments. The goal is to be more equitable, with poorer parishes responsible for a smaller assessment based on a percentage of their normal operating income than parishes with higher operating incomes.

Congregational Support Plan
The Congregational Support Plan, which partially supports the operations of 22 parishes in the diocese including Holy Trinity, will officially terminate December 31, 2016.

Nonetheless, the presenters emphasized that the diocese is committed “to continuing to provide appropriate and needed support to small, struggling and poor congregations” and views “an effective church presence in poor communities” as a central aspect of its vision going forward.

Detailed financial reports for the diocese are available online at http://www.dioceseny.org/the-diocesan-budget/ and the presenters noted that there would be more efforts to create transparency and accessibility of financial records for the diocese as a whole.

Following each presentation, the participants were invited to write and submit their reactions. These comments will be reviewed by each task force and considered as they work toward final documents, which will be presented at the Annual Convention of the Diocese of New York in November 2016.

A recording of the session can be found at: http://www.dioceseny.org/spls/.

[Holy Trinity Church, Inwood] – 33 participants gathered in the auditorium on March 13 and March 20 for a series of workshops to listen to members of the congregation, families from the Pied Piper Children’s Theatre, and others from the Inwood community as they discussed the future of Holy Trinity Church Inwood.

The workshops were led by the Rev. Joanne Izzo, using a method called the Appreciative Way of Inquiry.

The group activities enabled participants to identify commonly appreciated facets of life at Holy Trinity Church, as well as key strengths and challenges affecting the future of the parish.

Strengths include a commitment to worship and Christian community life and a community outreach centered around the arts. Challenges include significant capital needs and our reliance on the Diocese of New York for financial support.

Through this process of discussion and discovery, the group articulated the following for further consideration:

• Holy Trinity’s mission is to be a sanctuary of sacred spaces for the community of Inwood.
• Holy Trinity’s core value is to be an open and inclusive spiritual community centered in Jesus Christ which understands that worship can take many forms, from traditional Episcopal worship to supporting the arts and advancing social justice.
• Holy Trinity’s present reality is that we are a small, but dedicated parish with limited financial resources and a physical plant requiring extensive repairs. The Congregational Support Plan, in its present form and upon which the parish has relied financially since 1996, will terminate at the end of 2016. This affects all churches in the plan and not just Holy Trinity.
• However, we can envision a future that includes our site being home to a sanctuary for worship, a thriving community center and theater, and a beautiful garden and green space. Ideally, we would build on our commitment to the arts by increasing the use of the space by local artists, and possibly offering additional programs benefitting families and children in upper Manhattan.

Holy Trinity’s vestry is tasked with working with the interim vicar and the Diocese of New York to develop a plan that can help fine-tune and realize this vision. The vestry will meet to discuss and agree on next steps at its next meeting on April 17. Vestry meetings are held immediately following the 10:30am worship and are open for anyone to attend.

April 11, 2016