Christ Church

Christ Church
Hilda’s receives 90% of its operating budget of
$130,000 from the fees paid to the program for
the interns’ work by partner work sites (there
were 6 interns in 2014-15, and we expect 8 in
2015-16). A major challenge of Saint Hilda’s is
funding the remaining 10% of its budget, which
must be raised through grants and gifts, and,
more generally, becoming independent of the
parish as a source of funding. This year we
launched an initiative called the Friends of
Saint Hilda, which is an attempt to build an
individual donor base, and we have put together
an Advisory Committee to help raise funds
and build a strategic plan for a stable future.
The Vestry has also established an oversight
committee to monitor the program, especially
its financial health.
The Rector of Christ Church serves as the Executive
Director of Saint Hilda’s House. In that
capacity, the Rector is responsible for the hiring,
supervision, and evaluation of the Program Director.
The Rector works closely with the Program
Director to recruit Saint Hilda’s House
residents, and serves the residents pastorally.
Because the residents live on campus, the Rector
interacts with them on a daily basis, including
participation in the Friday formation colloquium.
The Rector is also responsible for cultivating
the Advisory Committee, a group of
clergy and lay professionals dedicated to the
mission and sustainability of the program.
Parish Community
We currently hold coffee hour after the 11 AM
Mass and gather at occasional potlucks after
Holy Day High Masses, but our focus groups
and survey reveal a hunger among us for greater
communal life and more opportunities for social
connections. The parish is sometimes seen
as unwelcoming and unfriendly, a standoffishness
that can also be interpreted as respect for
individual privacy and a wish not to disturb
another’s worship. As is clear from many comments,
however, we need to find better ways to
welcome and embrace new and potential members
of our parish family.
An annual Inquirers Class is offered by the
clergy, and there is a Sunday Forum series, held
between the 9 and 11 AM Masses, that includes
Bible study, questions of faith and practice, and
presentations by clergy and parishioners on
their own research and work. Beyond these
programs, participants in the focus groups and
respondents to the survey indicated that more
is needed. There is a strong desire for instruction
in practices of spiritual formation, for support
of our individual lay ministries, and for
learning who we are as Anglo-Catholics, where
we come from, and why.
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