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Exciting Times Ahead!

Exciting Times Ahead!

by The Reverend Dr. Roman D. Roldan on July 06, 2022

TLDR: Although change is hard, we will soon expand our ministries and programs to be more responsive to the needs of our immediate community. Please pray for us and our new members.

Change is hard for some people, yet life often requires us to reassess, examine, re-orient, and if necessary, change. The problem is that most of us really don’t like change. We want life to unfold in predictable patterns we can expect, adjust to, and even control. We want garbage collection to take place the same day of the week, prices to remain as stable as possible, people to behave in predictable ways, spouses and children to be a certain way, and churches to preserve the rhythms, programs, and services we have gotten comfortable with. Sadly, this is not how life works. Change is inevitable: people come and go, spaces are used in accordance with current need, buildings are often torn-down, rebuilt, or expanded, and programs change in accordance with population density, community need, and finances. This is just part of life.

Change can be exciting and uplifting. Take our case at Saint Dunstan’s as an example. After a few years of declines, there is ample evidence that our congregation is once again growing. This growth is the result of demographic changes in our neighborhood, the hard work of our staff, and the great generosity of parishioners who have contributed abundantly to our major maintenance fund, outreach, mission, and Hispanic ministry. As a result of these contributions, and with the great support of our Diocese, we have recently hired an Associate Rector for Hispanic Ministry, whose first day of employment will be July 14. What this means is that we have gone from one full-time clergy person to three! We now have the personnel and funding to start an ambitious process of ministry creation to respond to the needs of our community. I now want to anticipate some of the growing pains we will encounter in the near future:

  1. We will see many new faces among us, and some of them will speak little to no English. We will soon have a service at 1:00 pm completely in Spanish, but I don’t want a segregated church. I want any of you to feel free to attend any of the four services we will have on Sundays and this will mean that some of our new Hispanic members will visit or choose to attend the 7:45, 9:00, and 11:00 am services. Please introduce yourselves, be hospitable, and celebrate with us the growth of the Body of Christ. Likewise, join some of the 1:00 pm services and experience a different style of worship, music, and preaching.
  1. With four services every Sunday, the possibility of joined coffee hours becomes problematic. To prevent isolation and build community we will rely heavily on events like Street of Shoppes, Parish Picnic, Blessing of the Animals, Holy Smokes, etc. As these new ministries grow, we will add Cocinas Comunitarias (Ethnic potluck suppers,) Latin-American Dances, Quinceaneras, etc. Please do all in your power to attend these events and introduce yourself and your family to the newcomers. Even though each of our four services will continue to have a very specific ethos (culture, liturgy style, music, etc.) it is important that we remain ONE church and not allow ourselves to become four distinct groupings. Help us to build community by getting out of your comfort zone and attending these events. 
  1. We are not planting a Hispanic church, creating a Mother-Daughter congregation, our reaching out to Hispanics (in a traditional sense of doing something for “them.”) What we are doing is opening the doors, creating space, including our neighbors into our church community. What this means is that we will welcome our new members into all the ministries of our church, including Altar Guild, Acolytes, Youth Programs, Music, Brotherhood of Saint Andrew, Street-of-Shoppes, Kids Hope, Finance Committee, Vestry, etc. This level of inclusion will be hard for some, but if done well (and we will do it well!) this model of inclusion will revitalize our church abundantly. In many ways, the Diocese is allowing us to implement a vision of church growth which has unique blessings and challenges. The vestry and I believe this is the right model for Saint Dunstan’s and our community. 
  1. Not two separate budgets but one: I sound repetitive, but it is important that we go into these new ministries with eyes wide open. Our new members will be invited to pledge toward the single budget of Saint Dunstan’s. Any services and ministries needed to care for our new members will be funded under the same budget. This level of budgeting will prevent the most common mistakes of churches with Hispanic congregations: Rich Congregation Vs. Dependent Congregation, Powerful Congregation Vs. Vassal (less-powerful) congregation, Congregation with full representation in important committees Vs. Congregation with no representation or token representation, etc. One Saint Dunstan’s, one budget, one Church! 
  1. As you all know, our Price Fellowship Hall has very limited capacity, no industrial-size kitchen, and no direct access to a parking lot. What this means is that we will not have sufficient space for the types of activities we are planning to have. Both your vestry and I have been thinking about this issue. We have engaged the voluntary services of the same building manager who built the BEC for us. He is helping us look at our existing space. Pray that we may be able to come up with a plan to expand or rebuild our Price Fellowship Hall and do a kitchen expansion. We have secured some seed money for this and we will let the congregation know of additional expenses well in advance of construction. 
  1. Creating a new set of ministries requires great support from staff and our congregation. It is for this reason that the Vestry and I have created a Hispanic Ministry Support Committee. This is a group of folks different in age, gender, experience, and time as members of Saint Dunstan’s. We have met for an introductory meeting and they know what is expected of them. The Committee will meet with Fr. Pinzon on a regular basis to break bread, plan, assess, and implement new initiatives. The members are Chuck Juhasz, David Florez, Vivian Young, Connie Maxwell, Hamilton Arellana, Jessey Bravo, Diana White, and Fr. Roldan. Most of the members of this group are bilingual and the rest are fully bicultural and speak the language well enough to be of great assistance. Please let us know if you are bilingual or bicultural and would like to be seen as a resource for this committee.

More information about these exciting programs will be available soon. Please plan to attend church on Sunday, July 17, as we will be introducing Fr. Pinzon to the community at all of our three current Sunday services. You will be able to listen to Fr. Pinzon preach before the end of the month. Finally, please feel free to call me directly if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. If you feel God is leading you to contribute financially to these ministries, please call me directly.

Blessings to all,

Fr. Roman+

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