Great News!!

We have wonderful news for the St. Mark's community! St. Mark's has been awarded a grant of $41,504 from the Lilly Endowment to enable our rector, Dean Taylor, to participate in the 2007 National Clergy Renewal Program.

This endowment is funded by the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. With the receiving of this grant, St. Mark's becomes one of 133 congregations across the country that will support their ministers in the program, which allows pastors to step back from their busy lives and renew their spirits for the benefit of their ongoing ministries.

Now in its eighth year, the program invites congregations and ministers to consider and plan a period of "intentional reflection and renewal." It provides a time for ministers to take a break from their daily obligations and gain the fresh perspective and renewed energy that a carefully considered "Sabbath time" of travel, study, rest, and prayer can provide.

As one Lilly Committee member puts it, "Renewal periods are not vacations, but times for intentional exploration and reflection, for regaining the enthusiasm and creativity for ministry, for discovering what will make the pastor's heart sing."

The St. Mark's Sabbatical Committee originally met two years ago, but had to put sabbatical plans on hold because of an unexpected change in the Assistant Rector's position. Last spring, however, the sabbatical concept was passed enthusiastically by the vestry, and plans were submitted to the Lilly Endowment. Word of the grant award was just received this week.

Dean will use these funds, from March through June of next year, to fund several projects which all relate to the theme, "Telling the Sacred Story."

"The art of storytelling has been an important part of my family for generations, as well as my present ministry," he says. "I have often wished that I had more time and opportunity to pursue special projects in the area of storytelling, and this gives me the perfect opportunity."

Dean will begin his "sabbatical" time in March by studying storytelling in the Old Testament at CDSP Seminary in San Francisco. He will then lead an "Abraham Walk" with representatives from the Muslim and Jewish faiths, leading to a time of reflection and study with Dr. David Landon, professor of drama at the University of the South at Sewanee. There he hopes to create a drama featuring the figure of Abraham addressing his descendents. Time will also be given for prayer, rest, and reflection at Sewanee, and for recording the stories of his own family in Eufaula, Alabama. In May, Dean and Jane will travel to rural France and Greece, where they will take a "Footsteps of St. Paul" tour led by the National Organization of Biblical Storytellers.

While Dean is away, St. Mark's will use $14,885 of this grant for specific related projects, including a Parish "Family Storytelling Retreat," Lenten Speakers from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths, and clergy support for Elizabeth Roles.

St. Mark's will provide space on its web page, www.stmarksdalton.org, to keep parishioners updated on the progress of the sabbatical. Information on the Lilly Endowment itself can be read at www.lillyendowment.org.

"I am so grateful to the Lilly Endowment for this opportunity," says Dean, "and to this hard-working Sabbatical Committee, and to my wonderful parish family of St. Mark's."

"We have heard wonderful stories from the pastors who already experienced the sabbaticals," said Craig Dykstra, Endowment senior vice president for religion. "Their time away has freed them up to pursue personal interests and needs in ways that have given them new energy for ministry - and their congregations have discovered that they didn't fall apart without their minister around. Indeed, they too experienced refreshment and a few-found sense of their own strengths."

The Endowment's larger goal is to bolster the good work that America's pastors and congregations accomplish day in and day out, to reinforce and build upon important work being done on both sides of the pulpit. "In our religion grant making, we hope to strengthen the efforts of today's excellent pastors because it is no secret that pastors who have reconnected themselves to the passions that led them to the ministry in the first places are more likely to lead healthy and vibrant congregations," Dykstra said.

Other recipients of year's Endowment represent 19 denominations and 37 states. The 133 grants this year total nearly $5 million.

Stay tuned for further details!