Rector’s Report: Celebrating 2025 and Stepping Faithfully into 2026
The Year of Intentional Involvement in God’s House and the Growth of His Church
Rector’s Report: Celebrating 2025 and Stepping Faithfully into 2026
The Year of Intentional Involvement in God’s House and the Growth of His Church
i. Preamble
We began our pastoral journey together on August 16, 2023, and you are hearing this report on a Sunday morning in 2026. The period from 2023 to 2025 was very much a time of building relationships—getting to know one another and discerning together what the Benefice system looks like in practice, not only in theory.
My predecessor, Mother Meghan Fahr, served faithfully during the height of COVID-19 restrictions and never had the opportunity to experience the Benefice functioning fully outside of shutdown. Father Dave Bauer, our interim priest, helped to hold things together and keep our church doors open during a very fragile season. For a time, therefore, we were operating more in survival mode than in growth and flourishing.
When you, as a Benefice, called a full-time rector, you saw the possibility of a shift—from survival to stability, growth, and intentional functioning. As we worked through this transition, we also came to recognize that a shared rector at 100% across four churches required clearer structures. We identified the need for governing bylaws, a Rector’s Letter of Agreement, functioning vestries at each local church, and a strong connection between vestries and the Benefice Board.
One important step forward was the addition of a standing agenda item at all vestry meetings, allowing the Benefice Board to report directly and remain accountable and representative of the local churches. Vestry meetings across the four churches were successfully regularized and generally held at least every six weeks, barring circumstances beyond our control such as illness. The Benefice Board met quarterly, a rhythm we intend to maintain, with fewer meetings during the summer when appropriate.
During this same period, we also transitioned from the Diocese of Eau Claire into the Diocese of Wisconsin. As with the Benefice model, this required learning new diocesan expectations and ways of working. As a newly ordained priest entrusted with the role of rector, one of my early responsibilities was to help establish governance structures for both the individual churches and the Benefice as a whole. Because this four-point parish model is still relatively new, its long-term viability rests in our shared commitment to make it work—and to show that it can thrive.
I am optimistic that 2026 will be a year of further solidifying the Benefice model, while also intentionally focusing on the distinct needs of each local church so that we may grow and extend our reach into the wider community.
ii. Spiritual & Pastoral Care
This year, we witnessed meaningful spiritual growth through weekly Bible study, seasonal Advent and Lenten programs, daily Morning Prayer led by Deacon Bramwell, and Evening Prayer offered by Deacon Marlene. I am especially proud of the intentional work undertaken to support our deacons, postulant Monte Lewis, and the Benefice clergy team in providing thoughtful and coordinated pastoral care.
I was able to step away on vacation with confidence, knowing the Benefice was in good hands. My hope—and my dream—is that we continue to work so seamlessly together that it does not matter which clergy person someone reaches, because in every encounter our parishioners and those in need are fully heard, truly seen, and deeply cared for. I also hope to continue empowering my team, and pray that they feel both empowered and respected in their ministry. No financial gift could ever fully honor the depth of heart, care, and devotion that clergy pour into their ministry. Their work is measured not in dollars, but in love, service, and faithfulness.
We made every effort to visit parishioners in hospital and to follow up when we learned someone was struggling. The Benefice also benefited from the gifts of various clergy members, each bringing different strengths and skill sets to serve our congregations.
My hope moving forward is to see this culture of care extend more deeply into the whole parish. If you notice someone who has been absent, seems distant, or may be struggling—and you have access to them—please reach out, and also let the clergy team know. Because of the structure of the Benefice clergy schedule that tries to make the rector accessible to all four churches, we may sometimes miss things that you, as fellow parishioners, are better positioned to notice as regular Sunday attendees.
When care and kindness flow through the whole church, they create a ripple effect. As leadership offers care, others are empowered to care for one another within the church, in neighborhoods, and throughout the wider community. This is how we grow into being a true church family.
iii. Mission & Outreach / Attendance & Membership
I deeply love our church buildings and am grateful for all who give their time, energy, and resources to maintain them. Thank you for the many often-unseen acts of service that keep our physical spaces welcoming and functional.
At the same time, I feel called to speak honestly and pastorally, both as your Rector and as the Diocese of Wisconsin’s Chair of Congregational Vitality. Attendance across our churches is declining, and in some cases remaining static, with few new members being added. At times, our furniture outnumbers our Sunday parishioners. While we do welcome visitors periodically, we have not always been consistent or effective in following up with a welcome call, card, or message to help newcomers feel truly seen and invited into relationship.
If this kind of outreach is a gift or interest of yours, I warmly invite you to reach out so that we can begin strengthening this important ministry together.
This reality has led me to reflect deeply on what we might do differently in the coming months and years if we hope to keep our doors open and our ministries vibrant. Historically, many of our churches were known for particular ministries—soup kitchens, outreach to the unhoused, after-school programs, or opening space to NA/AA groups. These ministries were not only acts of service; they were expressions of identity and mission.
So, I want to pause and ask: What is your church known for today? And what is God calling us to be known for?
I know many of you are involved in community outreach and charitable work as individuals. I ask whether there might be room to intentionally connect some of that good work to the life of your church. These connections are often how people first encounter a faith community. Have you ever invited a friend to come along to church—to experience the place that feels like home to you?
While I, as rector, can do some of this work, there are spaces and relationships I will never be able to reach alone. If each of us takes even a small part in mission, outreach, and invitation, we increase our collective impact and help safeguard the future of our churches.
Christ’s mandate was never simply to attend church, but to make disciples. As we hear in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” And in Matthew 25, we are reminded that feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, and visiting the sick are not abstract ideals—they are tangible, everyday acts of faith. Outreach is not complicated, but it does ask for our time, presence, and willingness to share ourselves.
We need to ask clear and honest questions: what needs do we see around us, and how can we address them? While this may resemble a business-minded approach to church, it may also be the most faithful way for us to act strategically and move forward with intention rather than remaining stuck.
iv. Stewardship
This brings me to stewardship, an essential part of our year of intentional involvement in God’s house and the growth of His Church. In 2025, we held our first Benefice-wide stewardship campaign, welcoming Craig Fowler and Tyler Gruetzmacher to speak across the four churches. We plan to continue this annually.
Ideally, stewardship will become an ongoing part of our culture, supported by a standing committee with representation from each church. If you feel called to help organize or lead such an effort, I warmly invite you to reach out to me.
Craig and Tyler reminded us that biblical stewardship is about managing all that God has entrusted to us—for His glory and the good of creation. This includes not only finances, but also time, talents, relationships, and care for the world around us. Everything discussed in the sections on mission, outreach, and membership reflects this broader understanding of stewardship.
To our outgoing vestry and board members, and to parishioners who may never have held a formal church position yet have faithfully served the Church: thank you. Thank you for your leadership, your financial generosity, and the gift of your time. Thank you for the many often unseen and thankless tasks and chores that sustain our church life.
To our incoming vestry and board members: God and this Church have entrusted you with positions of leadership. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23). May you serve faithfully, guided by prayer, wisdom, and a deep love for God’s people.
We are in this together. As you know, in any home we are each gifted differently, and we see the world from different angles and perspectives. Different does not mean wrong—we need all of your ideas. I encourage you to reach out to your vestries and Benefice Board representatives and to serve as faithful stewards of the Church, so that together we may make, build, and maintain a church of which we are all proud to be members.
It will take intentional collaboration and shared effort to move our Benefice model from merely surviving to truly thriving. Within our Diocese—and indeed across the country—we are among the first to be a four-point parish. This gives us extraordinary room for creativity and places us in a unique position to become a model that may serve the future of the Church.
The mandate entrusted to us as a Benefice is greater than we can fully imagine, yet God has trusted us as stewards. With that trust, I invite us into a year of involvement, a year of teamwork, and a year of excellence and growth—rooted in Christ and sustained by prayer.
Support where you can, and help when you are able. Please do not overextend yourselves, for compassion fatigue is real. It is appropriate—and faithful—to say no when necessary. Only you can discern your own limits, and honoring them is not a failure of commitment, but an act of wisdom and responsible stewardship of the life God has entrusted to you. At the same time, we are mindful that if we do not love and care for the Church as we care for ourselves, the Church cannot flourish. For generations, the Church has been sustained through generous giving and faithful stewardship, continuing its mission as a non-profit body rooted in charity, service, and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Happy New Year and God’s Blessings!
Your Rector:
The Rev Dr. Mother Nozi Princess S. Dlodlo+
