Thanks for your transparency. Sorry to hear about the outcome. Marketing is sadly not the be-all and end-all (and yes, this coming from a marketing guy!). There was clearly a lot of historical downward momentum prior to your efforts. I for one think that marketing ties closely to vision. If a church has strong leadership, with strong vision, and passionately conveys that vision people are compelled into action. Marketing entwined with that vision builds strong momentum. People "on the outside" see the excitement and passion. If they too are moved by the vision then something special happens.
I am not saying the "product" of the church was bad...because that after-all is Jesus. I just wonder if the leadership was united in a strong vision for living out the assignment God had for that church. Just my 2-cents.
captaindigital
· 7 months ago
I hear what you're saying. But while I'm a little too close to the trees to be able to see the forest, I'm fairly certain that wasn't it. You see, years before we joined, a couple of parishioners sued for control of the church, against the majority of the congregation, the vestry, and the rector. The church won, but ended up having to sell their building in order to survive. They chose to rent space from another church in town, but in the process, lost their "presence" in the community. The REC is a small denomination - an offshoot of the "mainstream" Episcopal church. When we joined, membership was down to about 60 people total - not families - people. The church budget was in the red every month, and that was a year ago. We needed about 100 people in order to get in the black, and we just couldn't find them.
I'd thought that our conservative theology would be attractive to disaffected Roman Catholics and those from the "mainstream" Episcopal churches that couldn't condone some of the things going on in their denomination. Unfortunately, they stayed away in droves. Turns out there was another "startup" Anglican church, very similar in theology to my church. Amarillo couldn't support two such churches, apparently, so one had to go. Ours was the one.
We had a vestry that was tireless in it's commitment to making things work, and a church family that was willing to do whatever they could to help our church grow. Unfortunately, I think by the time we joined, it was already too late - things had reached critical mass (no pun intended).
We're going to check out this Anglican church next week, and I hope we find a home there. Sadly, no matter how good it is, it won't be the same as what we've had. I'll miss our Rector and his wife, and all the friends we've come to know as family at our church. And I'll always wonder if there was something else we could have done that would have made the difference.
cowdog
· 6 months ago
I recently discovered your parishes website via the Ohio Anglican blog and added it to my weblog. I was very saddened to see your parish is closing. My parish is also 1928 bcp and rents from a Presbyterian church. You are all in my prayers.
Could you meet as a parish and maybe decide join another one as a group? Its seems like you all shared something very special.
It may be too late, but could you make an appeal to other ACNA partner churches for help? I don't have much money,but would personally send what I could.
captaindigital
· 6 months ago
Wow. Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, we held our last service on Trinity Sunday, then followed it up with a really wonderful luncheon/party/celebration at a local restaurant. The Vestry made a (painful) decision to shut down when we did, because if we'd kept going, we would have had to have renewed our lease on the Presbyterian church as well as risked not having enough money to pay our Vicar. The timing was also being driven by the fact that a seminary/church in Houston has an opening, and our Bishop recommended our Vicar for the position - we felt it would have been selfish to insist on continuing to the very end, when he has a shot at getting another position, and we knew we would soon run out of money.
The good news is that, even though Amarillo is pretty small, there is another Anglican church here - oddly enough, meeting in another Presbyterian church's chapel. They aren't REC (and the celebrate Holy Communion only one Sunday per month, unlike All Saints) but they do use the 28 BCP and are not a part of the TEC. I suspect that my family and many of the other All Saints parishioners will end up at this church. It won't be All Saints, but I hope we will find a home there.
Some of our members (actually two members of the Vestry) are relocating to another city (job relocation). With the current economy, that's probably not surprising. Most of the families will likely check out this new Anglican mission.
I'm really touched by your comments, and your willingness to help us. If you don't mind, I'd like to forward your comments on to our (now former) Vicar. I'm sure they will warm his heart as they have mine. I also appreciate the fact that you discovered our website. The site was my project (I'm a web designer/marketer/advertising guy, and I had hoped that a really nice website would help us attract members). Didn't quite work out the way I'd hoped, but perhaps another church will see the site and find some useful ideas on it for their own online presence.
Anyway, thanks for writing, and do keep our parish in your prayers.
Godspeed,
- Brad
cowdog
· 6 months ago
Brad, Please share it with anyone, I hope and pray the new church will be a good fit for all, and you can help support each other in the faith.
All Comments
I am not saying the "product" of the church was bad...because that after-all is Jesus. I just wonder if the leadership was united in a strong vision for living out the assignment God had for that church. Just my 2-cents.
I'd thought that our conservative theology would be attractive to disaffected Roman Catholics and those from the "mainstream" Episcopal churches that couldn't condone some of the things going on in their denomination. Unfortunately, they stayed away in droves. Turns out there was another "startup" Anglican church, very similar in theology to my church. Amarillo couldn't support two such churches, apparently, so one had to go. Ours was the one.
We had a vestry that was tireless in it's commitment to making things work, and a church family that was willing to do whatever they could to help our church grow. Unfortunately, I think by the time we joined, it was already too late - things had reached critical mass (no pun intended).
We're going to check out this Anglican church next week, and I hope we find a home there. Sadly, no matter how good it is, it won't be the same as what we've had. I'll miss our Rector and his wife, and all the friends we've come to know as family at our church. And I'll always wonder if there was something else we could have done that would have made the difference.
Could you meet as a parish and maybe decide join another one as a group? Its seems like you all shared something very special.
It may be too late, but could you make an appeal to other ACNA partner churches for help? I don't have much money,but would personally send what I could.
The good news is that, even though Amarillo is pretty small, there is another Anglican church here - oddly enough, meeting in another Presbyterian church's chapel. They aren't REC (and the celebrate Holy Communion only one Sunday per month, unlike All Saints) but they do use the 28 BCP and are not a part of the TEC. I suspect that my family and many of the other All Saints parishioners will end up at this church. It won't be All Saints, but I hope we will find a home there.
Some of our members (actually two members of the Vestry) are relocating to another city (job relocation). With the current economy, that's probably not surprising. Most of the families will likely check out this new Anglican mission.
I'm really touched by your comments, and your willingness to help us. If you don't mind, I'd like to forward your comments on to our (now former) Vicar. I'm sure they will warm his heart as they have mine. I also appreciate the fact that you discovered our website. The site was my project (I'm a web designer/marketer/advertising guy, and I had hoped that a really nice website would help us attract members). Didn't quite work out the way I'd hoped, but perhaps another church will see the site and find some useful ideas on it for their own online presence.
Anyway, thanks for writing, and do keep our parish in your prayers.
Godspeed,
- Brad
Please share it with anyone, I hope and pray the new church will be a good
fit for all, and you can help support each other in the faith.
Richard
My parish link: www.graceslipperyrock.com