TABLE OF CONTENTS
Board
3 Update on Partners: Profiles of New Success
Members; New Dollars/New Partners
FROM THE PRESIDENT
It’s fair to say that a congregation’s work
to broaden its funding base, share its
building in new ways, partner with the
community and, ultimately, ensure its
future, can be complex and challenging.
No argument there. That is why the depth
and comprehensiveness of Partners’ New
Dollars/New Partners for Your Sacred Place
training program and other resources have
such value to churches and synagogues
across the nation.
Story
15
FEATURE STORY:
A Friend(s Group) Indeed
19
Funding Brief: Lessons from Friends of
Trinity Cathedral
Professional Alliance Spotlight:
Church Restoration Group
22
23
Professional Alliance Directory
ABOUT PARTNERS
Partners for Sacred Places is the only national,
nonsectarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to
the sound stewardship and active community use
of America’s older religious properties.
Partners’ Programs and
Services Include:
•
Training. New Dollars/New Partners for Your
Sacred Place is an intensive program that gives
congregations with older buildings the skills and
resources to broaden their base of support.
•
Regional Offices. Partners offers training,
technical assistance and capital improvement
grants through its Pennsylvania, Texas, and
Chicago Offices.
•
Workshops and Conferences. Partners’ staff
speaks on a variety of topics at national and
regional conferences.
•
Publications. Some of Partners’ books include:
- Your Sacred Place Is a Community
Asset: A Tool Kit to Attract New Resources
and Partners
- The Complete Guide to Capital
Campaigns for Historic Churches
and Synagogues
•
•
Information Clearinghouse. This web-based
resource provides information related to the care
and use of older sacred places.
(www. sacredplaces.org/information_center.htm)
Advocacy Initiatives. Partners works with civic
leaders, funders, and policymakers, urging them
to adopt policies and practices that provide new
resources to older religious properties.
COVER PHOTO: Friends of Trinity Cathedral
(Miami, FL) hosts its annual fundraising gala
and silent auction in the cathedral’s soaring
nave. Photo courtesy of Al Ricketts Photo.
THUMBNAIL PHOTO: Church Restoration
Group works to repair the damage caused to
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy in Ft. Pierce,
FL. Photo courtesy of Church Restoration
Group.
On the other hand, congregations can take
some important steps that are simple and
highly effective. One of those initiatives is the creation of a friends
group. Every congregation has natural friends and allies – they may be
former members who have moved away, neighbors who don’t attend
worship but care about the church or synagogue, others who care
deeply about the outreach of the congregation, and community leaders
who want to keep the neighborhood vital. Each and every one of them
may be willing to become a “friend,” connecting to the congregation
in a new way and contributing to the care of its building.
A friends group can be assembled in a day. It doesn’t require
incorporation, legal work, or expensive consultants. It only requires a
congregation to articulate the purpose of the group, identify a leader,
and invite people to join. A friends group can host events or issue
newsletters that help the public appreciate a sacred place, and it can
encourage gifts that support its repair and restoration.
Our New Dollars/New Partners training program includes a very
lively exercise that asks each congregation to spend a few minutes
identifying 10 or 15 people who could be invited to join a new friends
group. We find that congregations are highly energized by this
experience, and have no problem coming up with lots of prospects. I
bet that your congregation – or one you know – could do the same! It
only requires that someone gets the conversation going.
Many of the congregations we have helped have created friends
groups, and this issue tells several of their stories. We also have
publications that get into more detail about such groups, so if you’d
like a copy, just ask us. Sometimes an easy step like this will help you
undertake a longer journey that will ensure the future of a sacred place
you care about!
BOB JAEGER
Sacred Places • Fall 2011 • 2