MBCC Blog

Yo yo, remember Maundy Thursday tomorrow night at Noe Valley Ministry. 6:30 footwashing and/or 7:00 dinner and service. Be there or . . .

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CALENDAR ALERT - Today: Palm Sunday and Congregational Meeting; Next week: Holy Week; and 04.11 Worship moved to the Morning, 10:30 w/OAPC!

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Examination for Ordination

Many of us know Abby King-Kaiser, perhaps as a former intern at Mission Bay Community Church, as a pastoral assistant to the Moderator of General Assembly, or from her present role at Fruitvale Presbyterian Church.  Well, mark Tuesday, April 13 on your calendar!  Why?

As part of the process to become a minister in our denomination, candidates appear before Presbytery in what is called an Examination for Ordination.  She will be asked questions about her Christian faith and views on theology, the Bible, the Sacraments, and the government of the church.  Presbytery will then vote on proceeding with her ordination.  We anticipate that, while meeting the requirements, she will make a Statement of Departure (conscientious objection) regarding G-6.0106b (Book of Order section related to LGBT ordination).  Therefore, there could potentially be a wide range of questions being asked during the examination.

The April 13 Presbytery meeting would be an ideal time for all of us to show our support for Abby, as she proceeds through the steps for ordination and installation as a minister in the PCUSA.  I would particularly invite members and friends of her current faith community, Fruitvale Presbyterian Church, as well as her previous affiliate, Mission Bay Community Church, to attend the April 13 Presbytery meeting and witness the examination.

It will be held at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 25 Lake Street (at Arguello) in San Francisco.  While the Presbytery meetings typically start in mid-afternoon, we expect that Abby's Examination for Ordination will hopefully be scheduled for after dinner break, to allow attendees to come after work.  I'll provide updates, as details become available.

I can be contacted at marc@missionbaycc.org to help you with any questions about location, public transit options, etc.  See you there on April 13!

Join @breyeschow at an Immigration March and Rally tomorrow 4:00-6:00?

Anyone up for an Immigration Rally tomorrow with CLUE- California?   I am finally in town to take part in one of these demonstrations so if anyone want to try and connect, let me know. - Bruce

Stand Up For Our Communities

4:00pm– Gather Justin Herman Plaza at Embarcadero BART

4:30 march up Market Street to Senator Feinstein Office at One Post St. Near Montgomery BART

5:00pm Rally at Senator Feinstein’s Office

Let Senator Feinstein and Boxer know that we need Just and humane Immigration Reform in 2010

Sponsored by: Reform Immigration for America, SIREN, CCISCO, BOCA, PIA, SEIU, UFCW Local 5, Dolores Street Community Services, Asian Law Caucus, EBASE, ICIR, and Padres Unidos.

FACEBOOK INVITE

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Holy Week 2010 at Mission Bay Community Church

Just wanted to give you a heads up about services at Mission Bay Community Church starting this Sunday, Palm Sunday.  Needless to say, this is a significant time on the life of the church, so hop you can carve out some time to join us for any or all of our services.

PALM SUNDAY | Sunday, March 28, 2010 | 5:30
@ Mission Bay Community Church
We remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem with a create time of worship and communion. Please stay for our congregational meeting afterward to elect new elders and discuss our on-going Tentmaking and Staffing plans.

MAUNDY THURSDAY | April 1, 2010 | 6:30-8:00
@ Noe Valley Ministry
RSVP via Facebook
This will be a joint dinner and service between three San Francisco congregation: Noe Valley Ministry, Ocean Avenue Presbyterian Church and Mission Bay Community Church.  In sharing dinner, footwashing and communion we remember the last supper and Christ's walk to the cross. We begin at 6:30 PM with foot washing.  We will gather at table at 7 PM and share a meal, table worship, that special “visitor” from the Bible, and communion. We will drape the outside cross and be completed about 8:30 PM.  Childcare provided.

GOOD FRIDAY TAIZE | April 2, 2010 | 7:45-8:30
@ Mission Bay Community Church
RSVP via Facebook
Through prayer, scripture and song this is a contemplative time to remember the death of Christ.  We will enter and leave in silence as we reflect upon the depths of sorrow and brokenness that Christ and humanity experience.  If you are unable to attend our Good Friday service, we have listed other services that are taking place in the area.

EASTER CELEBRATION | Sunday, March 28, 2010 | 5:30
@ Mission Bay Community Church
RSVP via Facebook
There is not much more to say than this is the day that we celebrate the amazing life-giving and hopeful presence of Christ in the world. There will be dinner afterward and we welcome back for a second straight year our Disco-themed Easter Egg Hunt for Middle School and younger.

Other local Good Friday Services

Old First Presbyterian Church, San Francisco
Good Friday - Tenebrae Service of Shadows and Stones
Friday, April 2, 2010  8:00 p.m.

Lakeside Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, is providing two separate services.  The noon to three service is built around the "Sounds of Good Friday."  There will be nine different meditations focused on the sounds that were present on the original Good Friday--The Sound of Soldiers, Cock Crow, Falling Silver Coins, The Roar of the Crowd, The Sound of Silence, Sound of Pouring Water, Hammer and Nails, Crying, and the Souind of a Rolling Tombstone. Our second service will be offered at 7:00 pm and will be an hour of worship and meditation.

Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church
Good Friday, April 2 at 7:30 pm
A CONTEMPLATIVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE
in the Style of Taize
with with Prayer Around the Cross
concluding with a Service of Tenebrae/Service of Darkness

At Bethany Presbyterian Church in San Bruno, the sanctuary will be open from noon to 3 p.m. for personal devotions. Material will be available as an aide and 3X5 cards will be left, some with prayers written and others for worshippers to add prayers for those coming in later. Brief led worship will be at noon, 1 and 2 p.m. Except fot the led worship, the environment will be silence.

Calvary Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, has services from noon until three in the chapel.  We cover each of the seven words.  People may come and go as they wish.  Bus lines are pretty bood and getting to Pacific Heights.

St. John's Presbyterian Church: at 6.30pm reflection & music.  25 Lake St (on Arguello) SF, 94118
before folks settle into their evening. All of course are welcome.

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We are "GREEN" for potluck today, both environmentally as well as St. Patrick's day-ly.

Remember that our monthly potluck is today and the theme is GREEN so bring our goodies to share with the rest of the crew. If you want to RSVP, here is the FB Event and while you're at it, tell your friends about our Easter Celebration and Disco Egghunt.

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Summary and Recommendations: Congregational Tentmaking Survey

First and foremost we all need to thank the MBCC Personnel Committee for their amazingly faithful and diligent work over the past few months.  Over the final few months of this process, we continue to lift all involved in prayer: the personnel committee, the congregation, current staff and our future staff members.

THANK YOU: Joe Callahan, Katina Miner, James Van Zoeren, Leslie Veen & Katherine Williams

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The SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS below were received and Approved by Session on Thursday, March 18th with the following next steps:

• share with and receive feedback from the congregation on March 28th
• develop more detailed job descriptions of the Worship Coordinator and Administrator.*
• post Job Descriptions no later than May 24, 2010
• receive Applications by June 15, 2010
• conduct the first round of evaluations/interviews by July 1, 2010
• conduct  the final round of interviews by July 21, 2010
• set an Start Date: TBD to allow for some overlap with outgoing staff

*Session reaffirmed our need to support our Church School program and will look at ways to support this area as the first two positions are more clearly defined.  We will also begin the process of notifying our local Presbytery of our plans.

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INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

In November 2009, the Personnel Committee ("Committee" or "The Committee") distributed a survey to the congregation in hopes of collecting insight and input on current and future MBCC staffing and a possible shift to a tentmaking¹ staff model after Bruce's term as PCUSA Moderator ends.  The Committee received thoughtful survey responses from 18 people and spoke in person with all elders.  We also talked in small (focus-type) groups after Sunday services. 

Overall, the congregation is open to the possibility of tentmaking and wants to create a staffing arrangement that allows us to retain Bruce as our Pastor.  Although the survey highlighted how our congregation is open to change and willing to be flexible, the responses also shed light on some reservations.  Our impression is that our community yearns for more stability after a year of being in flux.  The Committee recommends adopting a tentmaking staff model, but advise ensuring that it provides for consistent pastoral presence.  The most feasible model would probably entail having Bruce as the called Pastor and leader of our congregation with a partner positions for a lay administrator and worship coordinator.

The following sections summarize what we learned from the survey.  While we have strived to be objective in preparing this summary, we will also share the verbatim survey responses with Session.

DETAILS

1. MBCC's Strengths: - "What is MBCC doing well that should be continued?"  These responses emphasized MBCC's friendly, open, welcoming, and accepting community.  In that vein, some responses mentioned weekly sharing of communion and community-building congregational dinners.  Many people also complimented the Food Pantry and the worship environment.  For elders and worship leaders with "behind-the-scenes" knowledge of worship coordination problems, it was somewhat surprising to learn that we are masking problems and that things looks more smooth to the community as a whole
2.  Pastoral Requirements:  - "What do you/MBCC/our community need from a pastor?"  "Consistent pastoral presence" was the recurring theme in these responses.  Many responders also mentioned the importance of the pastor being approachable and available to members of the church.  Several responses also expressed a desire for preaching and Biblical teaching.
3.  MBCC's Weaknesses: - "At present, are any of these needs not being met?  How so?" - Responders indicated that the church needs Bruce around more.  The general sense seems to be that we are "holding on" and "keeping it together," but we are not thriving.  Bruce's absence has been felt on Sundays and also on a relational basis.  People are concerned that without Bruce around consistently, our oversight and organization has slipped and our growth has slowed due to a lack of momentum.  Children's education was also listed as a missing piece by a couple of responders.
4.  Where should we go from here? - "What are your big, audacious dreams for the congregation?" - Even though we only recently moved to the Excelsior District, the survey responses indicate that our congregation already has a heart for serving our immediate community.  Many people also hope to expand the Food Pantry.  In addition to these service-related goals, people also want our church to grow in membership, involvement of regular attenders, and diversity.  Some responders mentioned that a larger community with additional lay leaders would help us reach out to the community and care for Christ "in our midst."
5.  What do we need in a new staff person - "If an associate pastor were hired, what traits should that person have to complement Bruce's strengths/gifts?" - The way we framed this question confined the responses to a certain degree.  Since it sought feedback on an associate pastor, we did not deliberately ask people to think outside of the pastoral box.  Perhaps this also led some people to express reservations about bringing on someone new, due to the history of MBCC being unable to support a second pastor.  The majority of responses envisioned a new staff person taking on administrative and ministry duties currently performed by Miriam and Erin.  The responses stressed a need for the staff person to have excellent attention to detail and administrative follow-through.  A few people also emphasized a desire to have a consistent worship leader.  This was especially important to a couple of elders.  Preaching and teaching also surfaced as desired qualities for a new staff person.
6. Other concerns - Responders shared their concerns openly and eloquently.  People desire growth for our church and more education for our children.  All of this plays into a general concern about our "sustainability."  People want to pursue any staffing changes carefully and prayerfully and want to focus on bringing new attendees into the congregation so we can develop into a more involved, and inwardly and outwardly focused group.

The survey also included multiple choice questions to solicit input about priority areas for an associate pastor's leadership and to discuss both excitement and reservations and about tentmaking.  The top priorities for an associate pastor's skill set were (1) "organization and coordination skills;" (2) "Adult Seminars (Bible Teaching or other subjects);" and (3) missions (both in terms of local community outreach and activities like the Food Pantry).  Top concerns about tentmaking are whether there will be adequate funding for two people, whether the Pastor will be as "available to the congregation," and whether more involvement, leadership, and energy will be required from the congregation in a tentmaking model. 

RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION

We knew this before, but the survey confirmed that our congregation is tired from the past year and Bruce, no doubt, is also exhausted from his term as Moderator.  It seems that our community is in need of some self-care and and a focus on growth to ensure that we remain viable.  While we need to work on our internal growth, the Food Pantry is a testament to how we may be best able to build community by reaching out and serving others. 

Once Bruce's term as Moderator is over, our finances will change significantly when we lose stipends from the General Assembly.  Miriam and Erin's positions also end in August.  The Committee recommends working with Bruce to change his call to a part-time position so he can pursue his other interests in social media, radio, and writing.  Financially supporting another called pastor would require the church to cover PCUSA pension benefits for that person.  We are concerned about that cost and about putting the congregation in a precarious financial situation.  The Committee also received comments that raised concern about whether our church was ready to try having two pastors again.  Long-term members, in particular, have serious reservations about such a plan.

Despite those reservations, the responses to the survey indicated an interest in finding additional staff.  While this may introduce new financial challenges, we present the following four options, some more ambitious, some more practical, for staffing as we move forward.  We also note that it has been several years since Bruce was the sole staff person at MBCC.  Our church is big enough now that it would be impossible for Bruce to carry out all the duties our staff performs on his own.  For that reason also, we recommend hiring additional staff.  In addition to keeping Bruce, we see the following four possibilities moving forward into tentmaking: 

1.  Search for a second called Pastor:  In this model, Bruce would take on enhanced responsibility in areas that the congregation considers to be his strengths (teaching, personal relationships, maybe SF community ties).  To fill in the gaps (administration, worship leading, etc.) we would shoot for the moon and send out a job description that asks for everything else.  In other words, we would look for a dream candidate and would pay them as a called pastor - PCUSA pensions and all.  Pros:  The ideal candidate would fulfill all our requirements in one fell swoop and we'd get the benefits of a called pastor (preaching and teaching) along with administrative skills.  Cons:  This is a very idealistic solution and impractical on a financial level.  It's also unlikely that we could find a candidate willing to take on primarily administrative work who is ordained.  
2. Find a strong administrator and a pastor:  Since there is a possibly that our responsibility for the 32 Ocean Avenue property could increase*, we would take this shift to tentmaking as an opportunity to find a strong church secretary who will get us organized and help run the building.  We would also find a second pastor who could lead us in worship, teaching, and mission activities.  Pros:  If we do grow into the entire Ocean Avenue space, it is likely that we'll need to increase staff anyway.  This option would allow us to hire a dedicated administrator and a called pastor without trying to push administrative duties on a person who is more interested in teaching and ministry.  Cons:  This would be even more financially out of our reach than the first option.
3. Hire an intern(s):  In the past our church has worked with interns and some have stayed on past their internship period to serve the congregation.  We could search for interns to support different areas, like missions, children's education, etc.  Pros:  Working with interns would cost less than hiring a staff person.  Some seminaries (like Harvard) even pay for their own interns.  Cons:  Bruce's time spent mentoring would cut into his time with the congregation.  MBCC clearly needs and desires more time with Bruce.  If we were to pursue this option, we would want to be certain that the intern relationships would not suck up too much of Bruce's energy and time.  We would also want to find a good fit with interns who perhaps could help with music, administration, teaching, etc.  A final concern about this option is that it still seems like a bit of a stopgap solution.  The survey responses were something of a call for us to get our act together, and hiring interns does not seem stable or forward-looking.
4. Hire a church administrator and worship coordinator/leader:  This option differs from (2) since it would focus only on looking for a for a tech-savvy, highly organized and coordinated, church administrator and a lay worship leader.  In other words, neither new staff person would need to be ordained and we would not be paying them as a called pastor.  With Bruce present on Sundays much more consistently once he is no longer Moderator, he could use his time at MBCC to focus on fulfilling teaching, preaching, relational, and leadership roles.  The administrator could deal with billing, office and building issues (which would increase should our responsibility for the care of 32 Ocean Avenue increase*), Sunday worship coordination, church school coordination, and our local mission efforts (the Food Pantry).  A worship coordinator and leader could bring our worship experience the consistency it has been lacking and could help with behind-the-scenes logistics.  Pros:  Financially this option should be feasible since by spreading job duties around across positions, hours for each employee can remain low, and we can thereby afford reasonable compensation.  By retaining Bruce as the sole, called pastor, we meet the church's desire to maintain Bruce as our leader, we avoid any shared leadership problems, and we only pay pension/health care benefits for one person (Bruce).  Hiring three people would also round out our staff and achieve our main objectives:  to keep Bruce and to administer the church effectively.  We would also achieve the goal of improving worship coordination .  Cons:  The option may still be costly and the hiring process may be more involved as we'll be searching to fill two positions.  This option will not result in another called pastor, and Bruce (along with Session and other members) will still be tasked with priorities like church school and missions.

CONCLUSION

The Committee recommends moving into a tentmaking model but treading carefully as we make this transition.  The Committee further advises ensuring that Bruce's presence and expectations for his role as our pastor are very clearly defined.  With Bruce no longer serving as Moderator, his schedule will open up for him to spend more time at MBCC.  Even with a reduced schedule due to tentmaking, Bruce will spend more time with us than he did over the past two years.  As a tentmaker, we hope and expect that Bruce will have the energy and time to focus on preaching, being present at Sunday worship, teaching, and leading our congregation.  In partnership with a gifted administrator and worship coordinator, we also hope that our church will get organized and ready for growth and that our experience in worship will be enhanced and invigorated.

Financially speaking, if we move ahead with the recommended option #4, we would still need to support Bruce with pension and health care benefits of $15,750.  We are also required to provide study leave, mileage and professional expenses for Bruce which total $3,700.  Bruce currently earns $50,000 per year and if he goes half-time at MBCC we would reduce that salary to $25,000.  GA funding has been providing Bruce and his family with a childcare stipend and covering the salaries of Abby & Nick (previously) and Erin and Miriam (now).  Although GA funding will end when Bruce is no longer moderator, we will have $25,000 in our budget from the salary Bruce earns from his other endeavors to devote to new staff people. 

It seems reasonable to pay a worship coordinator at least $800 per month, considering that we will require presence at Sunday worship and coordination of other musicians.  Just being around on Sundays will probably take 4 hours and coordination will take another 2 hours or so for an average of 8-10 hours per week.  Given that an average month has four weeks, this would work out to between $20-25/hour.  Over the course of the year, that will total $9600.  If we can find a music coordinator at that rate, then we would have $15,400 to devote to a church administrator.  That salary works out to about $1300 per month, or in a four-week month, $325 per week.  If we required our administrator to work on Sunday (for probably 5 hours that day) we could reasonably require in office presence for 4 half-days, 2 full-days, or some other combination reaching 16 hours.  At an approximately 20 hour workweek, this person would be earning around $16.25 per hour.  Considering that we have to pay workers' compensation insurance and cover payroll taxes, even paying these salaries will require us to bring in more offering to break even.  All the same, this rough proposal would allow our church to flex the money that Bruce was earning as a full-time pastor to bring in two new staff positions even as we lose funding from the GA.

NOTES
¹ At the outset, we learned that we should have defined "tentmaking" more rigorously.  For purposes of this report, "tentmaking" refers to a shared job structure wherein a called pastor works less than full time with another staff person or staff people working to fill out the pastoral position and serve the church.

* In the first draft of the paper, there was some confusion about MBCC's assumptions about the future of 32 Ocean Avenue.  While there have been conversation about our increase responsibility of the care of the building there has been no official conversations about MBCC assuming primary responsibility of the facility.

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Congregational Meeting on March 28, 2010

Just want to let folks know that there will be a congregational meeting in TWO Sundays, March 28th. Session approved yesterday a few things that we need to take care of as part of our congregational life. First, we will be voting on two more Elders and second we will received the report from the Personnel Committee on our future "Tentmaking Plans" and staffing suggestions. Please be sure to come to plan on staying for the meeting immediately following worship. You should be receiving more info in the next few days so watch the blog and a special eZine! - Bruce

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Excelsior Community Food Pantry goes to bi-monthly distribution!

March marks two important landmarks for the Excelsior Community Food Pantry!

First, March is our one year anniversary.  One year ago this month, the food pantry went from an idea in a bible study group to a monthly event where clients throughout the community could come for produce and dry goods free of charge.  In that year, the food pantry has grown from around 150 clients to nearly 200, increased our numbers of volunteers, and developed relationships over coffee and cookies!

With a very successful year under our belts, the steering committee made the commitment to expand the food pantry to a bi-monthly distribution.  The Excelsior Community Food Pantry will now have distributions on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month from 10:00-11:30, doubling our efforts to strengthen the Excelsior community by distributing food to families in need.

How can you help?  There are many ways you can get involved with the ECFP.  We always need volunteers for our 3rd Saturday distribution (9:15am to noonish), though our 1st Saturday distribution is covered by a volunteer coordinating group, One Brick.  We can also use volunteers for other tasks including shopping for the food, making connections with local businesses, providing baked goods, to name a few.  Finally, we can always use donations as it costs about 3 dollars to provide the produce and dry goods to each family.

Want more information?  Check out our website or send us an email: foodpantry@missionbaycc.org.