Forma’s Response to the Preliminary Budget
This is Forma’s response to the preliminary budget drafted by the Executive Council’s Finances for Mission Committee . You can see this budget here. Forma is thankful to be listed into the preliminary budget for $50,000 in the next triennium, recognizing that this is in response to the consistent work we have done supporting, advocating, resourcing and celebrating Christian formation in our churches, diocese, and other settings. We are a growing organization with over 450 dues paying members across the Episcopal Church who are both lay and clergy, paid and volunteer. This year we began two certificate programs, a Certificate in Family and Youth Ministry, and a Certificate in Leadership of Lifelong Formation. We have over the past few years rebuilt our website and membership system to handle the growth and diversity of our organization. Our annual conference engages more than 200 individuals each year with resources from the conference available to non-conference attendees. Forma offers free resources to everyone, moderated forums and an active list-serve for our membership, and active social media engagement for the whole Church. These resources consistently engage the Christian formation networks of the church and invite collaborative network creation across The Episcopal Church and beyond. We are a fast growing organization and believe we can do more to inspire and support Christian formation leaders all over the church, but we have reached a point where we are severely limited by operating as a volunteer led organization. Our board and membership serve the organization on a voluntary basis, with large churches and dioceses providing the majority of board members, due to the larger fiscal resources available to their paid formation staff. We believe $200,000 in the triennial budget would enable Forma to radically increase our effectiveness. Our goal would be to match this funding with an additional $100,000 to fund a full-time executive director to supplement the work of our entirely volunteer board. This full-time position would be an executive director who would work with our board to fund-raise, grow and expand the diversity of members in Forma, and take on the day-to-day operations of the organization, in order to give the membership and board the ability to engage the work that they are called to do,to teach, baptize and nurture new believers.” The director will coordinate and work with the existing expertise of the board and membership to continue to dream the present and future of Christian formation in The Episcopal Church and the wider world. Thank you for reading with this and working with us. At Forma we believe that christian formation does not just form people, but forms the church of today and what the church will be tomorrow. The Forma Board