Pastors Face a Perfect Storm by Frank Brown
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from the dean Dear Alumni and Friends of Yale Divinity School, As the cover of this issue of Spectrum indicates, the Yale significant gift to the cam- Divinity School community welcomed back into service in paign came from Robert August of 2009 the “back buildings” on the eastern end of McNeil, Yale College ’36, the Quad. They have been “mothballed” since the recon- to endow the deanship in struction of the Quad at the beginning of this decade. On the honor of his grandfather, southeast side, the space that had housed the old basketball Henry L. Slack, YDS 1877. court and was later converted to the ISM’s Great Hall now Such wonderful generos- has lovely new o∞ces for the Center for Faith & Culture; an ity is a sign of hope for the o∞ce for the Tony Blair Faith Foundation (which, as you successful completion of may know, is in partnership with Yale University to explore the campaign. issues of faith and globalization); space for visiting faculty; and much-needed new instructional space. On the northeast One of the things that will side, the old Common Room and Refectory have been par- change in our e≠orts to tially restored for temporary use by the School of Music as streamline operations is early as next summer. In the meantime, we have been using our annual communication those old familiar spaces for special events, while we hope with alums. We shall increasingly rely on electronic distribu- for their final restoration to our physical plant, perhaps in tion of our information and are planning to move Spectrum connection with new student accommodations to replace the online for the future. That change is part of a larger strategy Canner Street apartments. to take advantage of new media. Part of the shift has already taken place, with the alumni books and obituaries sections, as Renewing the Quad is an ongoing process and will no doubt well as other features, of Spectrum online at www.yale.edu/ continue into the years ahead. More important than our divinity/spectrum/. buildings are the faculty who come to teach in them. In the fall of 2009, we welcomed to YDS four exceptional new We know that the financial crisis is not confined to the Quad, colleagues, Clarence Hardy (American Religious History), and the lead article in this issue of Spectrum describes how Vasileios Marinis (History of Art and Architecture, with alumni pastors are coping. Despite the challenges, there are ISM), Chloë Starr (Chinese Religion and Theology), and good grounds to be optimistic for the future. Most reassuring Tisa Wenger (American Religious History). In January we are the students who have joined us this year, in one of the shall also welcome a new colleague in Ministerial Studies, largest entering classes in recent memory. Their energy and Janet Ru∞ng, as a specialist in spirituality and spiritual commitment to the project of combining faith and intellect direction. Searches continue in ethics, theology and pastoral in the service of the Church and World is an inspiration to care—positions we hope to fill for 2010. all of us here. The other ground of our hope is the generosity that our alumni and friends have continued to display and for While we continue to move ahead on various fronts, we have which we are all enormously grateful. With your continued to do so these days with caution. The reduction in the value support we shall continue our mission of helping our stu- of Yale’s endowment means that endowment revenues will dents become the religious leaders of the future—the pastors, be significantly lower in coming years than what we were the teachers, the scholars who will guide communities of faith projecting 18 months ago. We anticipate that the revenue through the 21st century. shortfall this year and next will be over $2 million combined. Sincerely, We have already tightened our belts this year, reducing non- salary expenses by some 12 percent and sta≠ salaries by some 5 percent, the latter mostly by attrition. We shall make similar cuts in next year’s budget. We are grateful for all the support Harold W. Attridge that our alumni and friends have given in these di∞cult times. The Reverend Henry L. Slack Dean and To date, the Yale Divinity Tomorrow capital campaign has Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament raised some $28 million toward our goal of $38 million. One Advent, 2009 spectrum 1 Pastors Face a PerFect storm by Frank Brown HeN PeGGY NIeDeReR ’01 M.DIV. became es polled reporting having to make budget cuts. This figure pastor in 2003 of Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in was even higher in congregations with only one minister. Leonia, NJ, she knew that the small congregation’s Wsurvival might, one day, come into question. By But, even as this perfect storm of diminishing resources and late 2009, that day appeared to be growing closer as the power- heightened need is visited upon congregations across the ear in review ful forces of the recession ravaged the church’s finances. Holy denominational spectrum, YDS alumni leaders are o≠ering Spirit was forced to dip into its endowment, and at the worst models for how to not only survive but also prosper in such Y possible moment. an environment. It is a time, they say, when churches can fill their congregants’ needs and o≠er prophetic leadership “The stock devalued at the same time that we needed to with- in ways that secular institutions cannot. And, the ongo- draw from it. We took a double hit,” says Niederer. “We may ing crisis is also an opportunity to move along the some- never recover from that. It may shorten times glacial process of reforming and the life of the congregation. It could be streamlining the business side of local five years instead of ten or two years in- church operations. Above all, they say, stead of eight. It’s hard to know.” focus on a core Christian message must win out over the clamor of worried voices The recession, which o∞cially began in and distractions. late 2007, has taken a harsh toll on Holy Spirit Lutheran, an eLCA congregation “In 35 years of ministry and teaching, where about two dozen people attend a I’ve never lived through anything where typical Sunday service. The congrega- churches are as preoccupied with the econ- tion’s president, a faithful tither, was omy as they are today,” says Dan Bonner out of work for nearly a year. Giving was ’76 M.Div., ’77 S.T.M., a Methodist pastor down by eight percent for the fiscal year who heads the Center for Urban Congrega- that ended June 30, 2009. The church’s Shepard Parsons ’84 M.Div. tional Renewal in Georgetown, TX. “What preschool, founded in 1967, struggled I encourage folks to do is to keep our eye on along, with Niederer filling the director’s position until our mission and not fret, certainly publicly, over things we December 2009. Then it closed, after 42 years. cannot control in our environment. The institutions that are staying the course and even expanding around the edges are Across the country, YDS alumni pastors are struggling with the ones staying on mission. The mission of the church is the the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. good news, the peace and justice, the whole bundle.” Shepard Parsons ’84 M.Div., a United Church of Christ minister in Shelton, CT, took a 63 percent pay cut and went The Lake Institute’s study, the “2009 Congregational eco- part-time as the sole pastor. Ruth Ann Chartier ’93 M.Div., nomic Impact Study,” found that churches that have older a UCC pastor, is moving from one financially struggling members, are more dependent on endowment income, and church in Massachusetts to another in Pennsylvania, in part are smaller in size are faring worse than their counterparts. because she is impressed with the new congregation’s gritty The good news from the Lake Institute, which polled mostly survival skills. local Protestant churches, seemed to be that, overall, giving was up from 2007 to 2008, although the rate of increase was These experiences mirror the findings of a 2009 national not as high as in previous years. study by the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving that captures the extraordinary economic pressures at work. Just as endow- Jerry Henry ’80 M.Div., chair of the Development Committee ment dividends shrink and church members themselves are of the YDS Alumni Board, parses such numbers for a living squeezed financially, local churches are witnessing a jump in as an Atlanta-based partner with the Alexander Haas fund- demand for the social services that they have historically pro- raising consulting firm. “Giving to religion is one of the last vided. According to the study, nearly one-third of the church- things to decrease. I think it has to do with the deep spiritual 2 Yale divinitY School across the country, YdS alumni pastors are struggling with the worst economic downturn since the Great depression. ties that we feel. We are sharing the abundance of God,” says The sort of networking and sharing of experiences that Rob- Henry, who specializes in consulting with religious groups. inson’s Roundtable facilitates is essential for all pastors as Another recent study, “Faith Communities Today 2008: A they face hard decisions First Look,” was released in October 2009 by the Hartford forced upon them by Institute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary. While the recession, some YDS the data from over 2,500 congregations of every major faith alumni suggest.