In the past few months, the parish has made five changes to our Ministry Council Leaders. Let’s take this opportunity to thank the outgoing leaders for their service and welcome the new leaders by volunteering to help them.
Jada Hill Replaces John Nolan as MCL of Outreach
Jada took over Outreach from John effective February 3. Jada has been a member of the Outreach committee and led the Matthew25: Ministries activities. She has also served on the Vestry.
John has served as MCL for three years, the first to chair this committee, formerly called Serving Community. The team collectively accomplished a great deal. A major accomplishment was joining the Interfaith Hospitality Network, an organization that helps homeless families find homes and jobs.
Since 2016, St. Barnabas has regularly participated in Matthew 25: Ministries.The Blue Ash-based organization provides water, clothing, and other needs to help poor people and disaster victims all over the world. Participation drastically dropped off before Jada Hill sparked interest in making it a family project.
Outreach supports community ministries including Findlay Street Neighborhood House, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Habitat for Humanity, Matthew25: Ministries, Operation Give Back, North East Emergency Distribution Services (NEEDS), and Barney Bears.
Martha Seagram Replaces Jim Hill as MCL of Administration and Finance
Martha replaced Jim back in March 2018. She served as Education MCL from 2015–2017; she sings in the choir, has served on the Vestry, and served as Senior Warden.
Her goals include continuing to focus on stewardship, to increase the number of pledge units, and maintain and reward the staff in a productive environment.
Jim served as MCL for two years (February 2016–February 2018).The key accomplishments of this ministry during those years included:
Stronger parish finances: balanced budget, investment in youth ministry and communications staff, and contributions to the parish capital account anticipating major capital expenses in the coming years.
Significant growth in parish pledging: up 8.5% over the two years, breaking record giving levels each year (surpassed again in 2019... well done, Martha!)
Cottage meetings in 2017: A joint endeavor with the Vestry to engage members of the parish about long-term plans and to raise awareness and knowledge of our parish financial health and budget. Over 100 parishioners participated.
Endowment: Established the Barnabas Legacy Circle (2017), and continued growth of our parish endowment. Re-established the staff performance review process.
We have a very talented and committed parish staff. Bruce is a steady and extremely capable parish treasurer. Martha is leading the ministry to a new level of parish leadership and results, in partnership with our stewardship and endowment committees. Jim said he is proud to have been involved with these great people in this capacity.
Jeff Boyle Replaces Julie Colegrove as MCL for Strengthening Parish Life (SPL)
Jeff replaced Julie Colegrove on November 1, 2018. He has previously served on the Vestry, as chair of the socialites, and is still a greeter. According to Jeff, his goal is to support the existing, very successful, committee by not meddling with anything they’ve done. (Smile)
Julie served as SPL MCL for two years. This ministry encompasses many varied ministries including book club, men’s and women’s fellowship, O.P.A.L.S. and socialites. Julie believes the team accomplished improving communication between the many groups and church staff, primarily Nicole, the communications director. This resulted in an organized bulletin board which is one-stop shopping for anyone interested in activities.
Nancy Nolan Replaces Dave Seagram as MCL for Strategic Planning and Organization Development (SPOD)
Nancy replaced Dave as MCL of SPOD as of January 1, 2019. Prior to that, Nancy served as MCL for Communications and was also co-chair of the self-study and discernment committee which chose Pastor Nancy as our new leader in 2014. She worked with Dick Davis, Bill Talbot, John Byrne, and others on a new venture called Intentional Transformation, which was designed to moved St. Barnabas toward becoming a program church (membership of over 150 regular attendees with more responsibility given to the laity for programming).
The SPOD team’s goals include designing a strategic way for the church to set priorities and manage a yearly plan of action. In addition, the team was given the job of introducing new Vestry and MCLs to their leadership roles. They’ll continue to observe trends in our communities and beyond to better prepare St. Barnabas for the future. The committee will ask parishioners for their opinions on particular areas of church life. Most of all, they want to be a stabilizing force for growth and sustenance as the church goes forward. St. Barnabas will be 40 years old next year. Nancy hopes to look into the future to see what 50 and beyond will bring us.
Dave was the first MCL of SPOD, so he spent the first nine months of 2018 working behind the scenes. In October, his role became official. This MCL assists the rector in planning and organizational development of areas not covered by other MCLs or Vestry and reports directly to the rector. The focus is to help develop a three-to-five-year strategic plan to develop themes, look at trends, implications, organization structure, staffing, plus building and facilities needs. The organizational development portion focuses on assisting with Vestry and MCL transitions, recruiting, leadership skills, and training.
The 2018–2019 plan identified 14 key action projects and 13 projects to study as time permitted. A number of these projects have already been completed and significant progress made on a number of others. The Vestry reviews progress each month. The plan is posted on the Vestry bulletin board.
Bethanie Van Camp Replaces LaVerne Montgomery as MCL for Education and Formation
Bethanie took over from LaVerne in December 2018. She also serves as a Eucharistic Minister.
She has only been on the job for a month and is still very new, but she is open to any ideas you might have for Education and Christian formation.