The Narrative Budget —
your parish’s sacred story
By Ana Watts
Narrative is at the heart of storytelling, and stories are at the heart of our history, faith and lives. Little wonder Peter Misiaszek and others of his ilk insist a narrative budget accompany the parish line-item budget —it translates the figures into the story of mission and ministry. The Director of Stewardship Development for the Diocese of Toronto brought that and many other stewardship messages to the Diocese of Fredericton in late April as leader of the Essential Parish Stewardship Workshop 2011 at Christ Church Cathedral Memorial Hall.
In "The Narrative Budget: A workbook for writing your parish’s sacred story" that he developed and presented to participants of the conference, Peter wrote: “As parishes we come together each week to celebrate the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This transformative story has touched the lives of countless people over two millennia. It is a story that speaks of profound generosity and it challenges us to live our own lives in response to God’s abundance. A narrative budget shows the purposes and goals of the congregation and focuses attention on mission and ministry.”
During the lunch break he told this reporter: “Stewardship conferences like these give guidance to parish leadership on how to introduce and sustain stewardship programs, to ensure the parish has the time, talent and treasure resources necessary to sustain its vibrant ministry.
“As the demographics of our country have changed and the number of people worshipping in our parishes has declined, we have become more and more aware of stewardship, but the need for stewardship is not new. There may have been many more people in the pews in the 1950s, but the decline in offerings is not proportional to the decline in people. Today’s Anglicans want to be in church, they are passionate about ministry and need to be assured of the resources necessary to support their ministry. Stewardship is not about fundraising, it’s individuals living out Christian discipleship and giving through the church to support ministry.”
Peter’s duties in the Diocese of Toronto include responsibility for parish stewardship education, annual giving, legacies of faith, the Bishop’s Company of Toronto, and oversight of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation. He is also the architect of the largest ever fundraising effort in the history of the Anglican Church of Canada.
Only 32 New Brunswick Anglicans registered for this valuable conference. While that may have been a disappointment to the organizers, those who attended the conference were not disappointed at all. They were delighted with the insight they developed and the solid skills and information they learned during the day.
“For me it was a blessing to be able to attend the conference, a way to continue learning on my faith journey,” says Jocelyn Green of the Parish of Tobique. “It was very interesting to look at stewardship in an entirely different light and I am hopeful some of the ideas that were shared with all of us can be implemented in our parishes in the future.”
Christine Greer of the Parish of Woodstock found the conference informative and enlightening, even eye opening. “What really resonated with me was the fact that it doesn’t take a church with a large congregation to carry out this program and that the steps to be taken had a Biblical foundation. It was also useful to rate the performance of my parish regarding stewardship. This gives us a starting point and shows what steps need to be taken.”
“The main theme of the day to me was ‘donors do not give their money TO the church; they give THROUGH the church to touch the lives of other people,’” says John Crossley of Christ Church (Parish) Church in Fredericton. “We should not ask for support because we have to balance a budget, correct a deficit, repair a roof, or resolve a crisis. We should ask for support because the church's work touches the lives of many people. People will support that work with their time, talent, and treasure out of a sense of discipleship.
“This message offers both a challenge and an opportunity for our parishes. The challenge is to change the way many of us have traditionally approached giving and church finances. This gives us the opportunity to encourage discipleship and increase the clarity of our mission.”
Diocesan Council recently approved a stewardship/development officer position for this diocese. Applications for the position closed in mid-April and it is anticipated the position will be filled this summer. This effort and many others ongoing in the diocese are in support of transformational change as embodied by the Nicodemus Project that grew out of Synod 2009 recommendations.
Diocesan Communications
10 May 2011
