A Quiet Christmas

This has been the quietest Christmas
that I have ever spent.
Memories of past celebrations
flood the memory banks.

In an unheated stone church in Germany,
built during Charlemagne's reign,
a children's choir in dirndls and lederhosen
sang a touching, "Stille Nacht!"

Eleven o'clock evening services
or thereabouts in eight Episcopal churches;
one in which I began a tradition
of ushers in black tie and dinner jacket.

Then the return to the house for
a midnight repast, mostly alcoholic,
with guests, usually oddball characters
whom we barely knew and promptly forgot.

Early on, Mr. and Mrs Santa Claus
labored into the wee hours.
In later years, a designated slave
assembled the do-it-yourself items.

Ma and Pa staggered down 
the stairs as late as possible
to see the stockings being emptied,
get some stollen in their stomachs.

After the Santa Claus days were over
a strict order of opening presents was imposed.
One by one, each person in turn
selected a gift, and opened it for all to see.

I forget when the standing rib roast tradition began
but it was a welcome change from turkeys.
The only problem was that it took all day to cook
while Pa again failed to master Yorkshire pudding.

Dessert was often a flaming pudding
which was both hazardous and hard to eat.
By late afternoon, chaos had faded to stupor.
The progeny then scattered to various venues.

This year, Barbara and I were alone,
attending a Christmas Eve service at seven.
In bed by ten as usual, we had
a leisurely pancake breakfast next morning.

Our major presents were already in use,
so we took pictures holding the boxes
of a Canon Power Shoot camera for her
and a 40 inch Panasonic Smart TV for me.

God bless you all, have a Happy New Year,
and forgive my lengthy lucubration!

2014 photos

Christmas 2014

Cape Cod's famous hydrangeas, view from the deck of our house

USMA Class of 1949 65th reunion at West Point, alumni in dark blue blazers

North rim of the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park (it really blew!)

Christmas 2014

F. Scott Fitzgerald was wrong.  
There are second acts in American lives.
Barbara and I are privileged to enjoy
a second act in very long lives.

I will be 87 in March, God willing;
she just turned 85 in November.
We experience as much good health
as people our age can reasonably expect.

Looking at the picture attached,
you see part of the enormous garden
Barbara has created, in a bank of
Cape Cod's famous hydrangeas.

Every morning and throughout the day
we see a view of marsh and tidal waters,
an ever-changing sea sky to the east,
and the antics of native wildlife.

The reunion at West Point was a
bittersweet occasion for the forty some
classmates who attended, showing the
mental and physical ravages of age.

From Phoenix to Rapid City, SD
we toured eight of the national parks, 
took hundreds of pictures of the sights 
survived long and hectic days.

Barbara made two arduous hops to
attend family reunions, so we were glad
to have two of her daughters here
to celebrate a real family thanksgiving.

Christmas and New Year holidays 
will find us alone again, but with 
numerous cultural events beforehand
to get in the spirit of the season.

Our attention is focussed on saving
the two institutions we follow closely,
the art museum Barbara helped to found,
and our troubled local church.

May you have good health, good times,
and good friends this holiday season, and
the peace which passeth understanding
all throughout the new year 

Conclusion

Conclusion

This is the end of the analysis of the situation of St. David's Episcopal Church 
in South Yarmouth, MA.  The objectives of the Diocese of Massachusetts and
of the current leadership of St. David's have become clear.  As it has for the 
three little churches profiled under "Church Finances" below, the diocese 
recommends that St. David's use as much of its endowment as necessary to 
hire a new rector, probably paying only 3/4 of prescribed compensation.  

There is apparently no limit to how much a parish can withdraw from its 
endowment annually, although a limit of four percent has been the norm.
Thus the diocese finds positions for as many clergy as possible, and the little
churches, including St. David's, keep the doors open for declining congregations.
The diocesan assessment thereupon becomes a transfer of funds from parish 
endowment to the diocese, which was 32K in 2013.

St. David's is now a prisoner of the diocese, which controls the disposition of
part time clergy as well as full time.  If the parish sought to continue with only
part time clergy filling in occasionally, the diocese could stop them.  A full 
time "rector" would have to be fully vetted by the diocese, regardless of how
much that person is paid.  The default to any action taken by the parish that
does not meet diocesan demands will be the seizure and forfeiture of assets
and buildings.

Church Analysis

Church Analysis

Analysis of the spreadsheet, “Church Statistics”

The spreadsheet is a compilation of bar graph charts available at http://pr.dfms.org/study.

The figures contained therein were supplied by each church annually.

All the ten Episcopal churches on Cape Cod have a clergyperson listed as “rector.”

The minimum compensation required for a full-time rector by the Episcopal Diocese of 
Massachusetts is 100K per year, which is composed of salary, health insurance, and pension contribution.  

Therefore, it is doubtful that the three churches at the bottom are paying, or could pay that

amount to their rectors.  Some other arrangement must be in force.

Based on the operating costs of St. David’s, about 180K per year is required for staff,

utilities, and maintenance at most churches. The bottom three are well below.

Churches five through seven have insufficient funds, also, and must rely on withdrawals from
endowed funds to achieve a balanced budget of 280K per year.

Churches one through four should be operating in the black, so long as the annual collections

continue at the 2013 level.

Levels of attendance have held steady for the past five years, with some ups and downs

during periods of transition in leadership. Trends vary for collections.

Reported levels of membership are grossly inflated in the underlying documents.  To be

accurate, they must be pruned of deceased, departed, and disaffected members.

Church Statistics

Attendance -- Collections	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Holy Spirit, Orleans	250 -- 430K	240 -- 435K	240 -- 485K	230 -- 450K	230 -- 430K
St. Mary's, Barnstable	170 -- 260K	260 -- 240K	160 -- 235K	180 -- 240K	200 -- 310K
St. Chrisopher's, Chatham	220 -- 410K	240-- 440K	230 -- 460K	220 -- 500K	200 -- 480K
St. Barnabas, Falmouth	200 -- 290K	210 -- 275K	210 -- 290K	200 -- 275K	190 -- 280K
St. David's, S. Yarmouth	140 --200K	120 --200K	140 --200K	140 --235K	150 -- 230K
St. John's, Sandwich	240 -- 260K	230 -- 240K	220 -- 230K	180 -- 250K	150 -- 210K
St. Peter's, Osterville	130 -- 240K	160 -- 300K	110 -- 290K	100 -- 270K	100 -- 230K
Christ, Harwich Port	90 -- 115K	110 -- 150K	100 -- 135K	110 -- 140K	100 -- 145K
St. Peter's, Buzzards Bay	75 -- 85K	80 -- 85K	85 -- 90K	90 --100K	100 -- 100K
St. Mary, Provincetown	80 -- 130K	70 -- 135K	75 -- 160K	75 -- 190K	70 -- 170K
.

Four Little Churches

Four Little Churches

Four little churches in a
large Episcopal diocese
are in  transition, searching
for the next rector.

None of them have
sufficient mesns to pay the
compensation for clergy
required by the diocese.

The diocesan consultsants
remommend that each church
withdraw large sums from
endowed funds to cover.

Inasmuch as the attendance and
collections at each church have
been declining for years, there
is little chance of replenishment.

The diocese pursues two aims:
Keep clergy employed while
insuring that the assessments
continue to flow to the diocese.

The consultants have suggested
paying only 3/4 of the prescribed
compensation for clergypersons
but retaining full assessments.

Faced with little prospect
of expanding their congregations,
the little churches will eventually
run out of endowed funds.

When this happens, and the
church closes its doors, the
remaining assets and buildings
revert to the diocese.

Not only does the church vanish,
but the buildings which the
people paid for over the years
are sold on the open market.