Tips for Successful Annual Parish Meetings

Looking for ways to increase interest and participation in your parish’s annual meeting? Three rectors recently shared strategies that work at their churches.

 

Since we are a worshiping community and campus ministry, we don't have an annual parish meeting. Instead, we host a “Gathering of Friends” in early spring of each year, to talk about the previous year and to show a PowerPoint presentation with photographs and events highlighted.

 

 

St. Paul’s has a successful annual meeting based mostly on the highlight of the event: the awarding of the Rector’s Cross. This award, begun by my predecessor, is an almost annual honor that recognizes and rightly praises an individual (sometimes more than one, and sometimes a couple) who have provided “significant and sustained” ministry in the life of the parish and/or diocese. 

 

They are awarded a specially designed cross which they are encouraged to wear each Sunday from then on.  Their portrait is hung in our parish hall for posterity to recognize their ministry among us, and they become part of the team that suggests to me those worthy of being future recipients.  Since it is kept secret until the event, a lot of enthusiasm is built in the days and weeks leading up to the annual meeting. I am aware that this is not unique to St. Paul’s, but it is the key to enthusiasm and participation at our annual meeting.

 

 

 

On the day of the annual meeting we hold one combined worship service at 9 a.m. We advertise this day as one of a gathering of the church family. The women of St. Andrew's have provided some great finger food for the meeting and coffee and punch, which follows the worship service.

 

We publish an annual meeting booklet well in advance of the meeting with complete reports including the rector’s report of the state of the parish. Rather than have each of the reports read by the committee heads at the meeting, each person in charge of a particular area makes a brief statement and answers any questions that arise from their report. Also of real interest each year is the election of new vestry members.

 

Prior to the meeting I make a tongue-in-cheek promise that the annual meeting will be expeditious and definitely not boring. We have had real success in getting many of our parishioners to attend.