More than 60 clergy of the diocese attended an all day session held in the Conference Room of the Synod Offices on Thursday, March 30, 2017. The day was titled “Money, Memorial Gardens and Sacraments – One of the Toughest Topics: Clergy and Talking About Money".
Bishop Skelton facilitated this clergy day that explored the unique role of/and issues surrounding clergy and money. Areas that were explored included: theology of money, the unique role of a clergy leader in financial matters and in financial stewardship in the lives of faith communities, reading and understanding parish budgets, clergy roles in stewardship and capital campaigns and the ongoing dilemma of whether or not clergy should know who gives what and how much.
Speakers included: Peter Misiaszek of the diocese of Toronto who was in Vancouver to participate in the diocesan stewardship day, April 1; the Very Reverend Peter Elliott; Rob Dickson, business administrator of the diocese and personal financial planning expert, Kevin Chui. There were opportunities for small group brainstorming and lots of Q&A.
The event got going at 9am and wrapped about 2:30pm. The general consensus was that it was a rewarding day with a lot of important and helpful information shared.