Parish Life at Calvary

Committees and Cores

In the early 2000s, Calvary worked to define its mission through a series of self-studies, parish retreats, and focus groups. These resulted in a vision statement — "a spiritual oasis where all are healed, transformed, and empowered to serve God" — and subsequently, a new mission statement: "to cultivate the God-given gifts of all in order to share the living water of the Calvary oasis.

It became clear during this self-analysis that the parish was moving from the traditional smaller pastoral church model toward a programmatic model in which the leadership is more widely spread among the members of the congregation. As a result, the parish reorganized into four "core" administrative groups which facilitate lay leadership in directing Calvary's work and mission:

• The Worship Core includes music, all the service groups that assist with worship (lectors, chalices bearers, etc.), and seasonal festivals and dinners.
• The Faith Formation Core includes Sunday School and adult education, the nursery, youth groups, and small study groups.
• The Service Core is responsible for all outreach and mission work, as well as "in-house" pastoral and newcomer visitations and fellowship.
• The Administration Core oversees work related to finances, such as stewardship and planned giving, and maintains the church building, garden, columbarium, and archives. It also includes both the personnel and technology committees.

Each core has a volunteer chair, who works as a team member with the staff person for that area. Core meetings are held once a month and include representatives from the wardens and vestry.