THE IONA SOCIETY
Planning for our future.
Content 3
Iona Society - Planning for Our Future
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Mission, Values and Priorities
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Our Purpose
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Strengthen Community
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Practice Faith
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Embrace Our World
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Build Capacity
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Ensuring Our Future
Photo credits: Barbara McGowan, Bronwyn Roy, Charles Taylor, and Jay Treadwell.
THE IONA SOCIETY Planning for our future.
St. Columba’s Episcopal Church has stood as a landmark for the community and a spiritual home for nearly 150 years. The church owes its existence to the generosity of many hundreds of friends over the past century. The preservation of its buildings, its ministry to those within the commuity and neighbors near and far, and the success of its programs all depend on such continuing support. The Iona Society is an honorary society of St. Columba’s parishioners who have chosen to support the life and work of St. Columba’s through charitable bequests, life income gifts, trusts, and other planned giving arrangements. Members of the Iona Society play a cruicial role in providing for St. Columba’s future through their gifts. In gratitude for these donors’ farreaching generosity, St. Columba’s Church accords them special recognition.
Members of the Iona Society play a crucial role in providing for St. Columba’s future through their gifts.
Our Mission Understanding where we’ve been helps us understand where we’re going. In 2019, St. Columba’s ventured to re-evaluate our mission, vision and priorities. Through a process that involved parish-wide participation and discernment, a new strategy was created. With a gift to St. Columba’s in your will, you enable this church to live into our renewed mission to Live God’s Love.
Our Values Our values inform our parish life, guide us in our mission, and lead us to realize our vision for the future. We are: • • • • •
Open-hearted Growing in Faith Grateful Stewards Innovative Called to Bold Action
Our Priorities As a beloved community and disciples of Christ, our vision is to: • • • •
Strengthen Community Practice Faith Embrace our World Build Capacity
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I’ve been coming here for 45 years and I can’t imagine being anywhere else. The friendships, the warmth, and the intelligence of the people around - there’s so much that fulfills you here. Why would you go anywhere else? Elsa Skaggs, parishioner
Our Purpose St. Columba’s is a welcoming Christian community of all ages that encourages spiritual curiousity, celebrates children and youth, and embraces the world in the spirit of God’s justice and love.
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There’s been a continual expanding of my spiritual experience here - it’s become informed here, it’s become animated here, it’s become fun here. Scott Pritchett, parishioner
STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY
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e will strengthen the bonds of our intergenerational community by emphasizing fellowship in our ministries, programs, and parish life. We will be open and welcoming, creating deeper connections with one another as we journey inward and extend ourselves outward to be God’s hands in the world. We will: Connect more people to one another through transformative faith experiences and a deeper religious practice, such as St. Columba’s Circles. Create more opportunities for fun and fellowship to build community and celebrate God’s love. Work with parishioners, ministries, and our partners, seeking new ways to open our hearts and doors to all people. Establish and nurture a culture for enriching and replenishing leadership. Increase accessibility and presentation of our physical space to offer a warm and inviting place for ourselves, our neighbors, and the wider community.
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One of the things I love most is the sense of community. I would go even further than that and say the sense of family. Chris Schumann, parishioner
PRACTICE FAITH
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e affirm our commitment to spiritual growth and formation by building on the strengths of our current worship and formation programming. We will:
Proclaim and celebrate God’s love through excellence in our worship, music, programming, ministries and outreach. Follow the call of our presiding bishop to reclaim christianity as a faith that is grounded in love, compassion, and justice. Equip parishioners of all ages to embrace discipleship in daily life. Invite children, youth and adults in to a deeper relationship with God. Expand our programs, align our leadership, and leverage our facilities and resources to honor and express the many ways we experience spiritual growth and formation. Invite and create expressions of vulnerability such as our series of faith stories. Leverage social media to expand accessibility to and awareness of our messages and programs, to meet parishioners and the religiously unaffiliated where they are.
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St. Columba’s for me is the well where I draw the water of life. It’s the place that gives me all I need in my professional life, in my personal life. Deborah Kennedy Coster, parishioner
EMBRACE
OUR WORL A
s a beacon of God’s justice and love, we are called to embrace our city and the world, leading through acts of service. We believe that meaningful engagement with people with whom we share our city and our world is a compelling way to live out Christ’s first commandment and to share the good news of God’s love. We will:
• Define the position, hire, and onboard a Missioner for Community Engagement who will strengthen our existing programs and provide the capacity to build for the future. • Invest in internal infrastructure to harness and leverage the talents and interest of the parish in our service to others.
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Create new opportunities to grow spiritually and to draw us closer to God and one another through serving others. Launch a comprehensive and integrated parish-wide initiative around family homelessness that provides parishioners different ways to engage and establishes long-term re-
lationships with families and persons in their community and with our partners. • Implement a strategy to invite and engage our neighbors and the wider community to bolster our efforts, build excitement and create bold action in the spirit of giving in service to other.
BUILD CAPACITY A
chieving the ambitious goals to which we are called will require additional capacity within our staff and across our congregation. We must be intentional about securing the additional resources we need and equipping ourselves to pursue even greater opportunities for impact in the future. To ensure that the church is the catalyst for peace and justice we need it to be, we will: • Align staff resources to meet strategic priorities. • Increase our annual pledges at a rate that exceeds inflation to ensure we have the resources to fund our operating budget. • Build an endowment to secure our financial future in part by significantly increasing membership in the Iona Society, our planned giving initiative. • Develop a comprehensive master plan for our campus and facilities that identifies how we can best use these assets to support our mission. • Conduct a capital campaign in conjunction with our 150th anniversary to fund our future priorities.
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There are likely institutions in each of our lives that have enriched us and our families institutions that will continue to enrich the lives of those who follow us. St. Columba’s is certainly one of those institutions in our family history. By remembering St. Columba’s in our estate planning, we feel good knowing others will follow our path to be connect and supported as we have been.
Chandler Tagliabue, parishioner
ENSURING OUR FUTURE
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n organized end-of-life plan is one of the greatest gifts you can offer your loved ones. Dying intestate can create
problems for your family, and it means a missed opportunity to donate to the institutions you care for. A charitable bequest is the most common form of providing an ultimate gift for a charitable cause and to perpetuate a donor’s life interest and influence into the future. A bequest can also be made by simply adding a codicil to an existing will. Consider making St. Columba’s a prioirty in your charitable giving when assessing your end of life plans. Together, we can ensure the future of St. Columba’s and invest in your legacy.
IONA SOCIETY Sample Bequest Language A charitable bequest is the most common form of providing an ultimate gift for a charitable cause and to perpetuate a donor’s life interest and influence into the future. A bequest is a provision in one’s last will and testament where a gift or property is transferred from an estate to a charitable organization. A bequest can also be made by simply adding a codicil to an existing will. Specific Bequest: I hereby give, devise and bequeath to St. Columba’s Episcopal Church the sum of $________. Or I hereby give, devise and bequeath to St. Columba’s Episcopal Church the property described as ___________________________________Residual Bequest: I hereby give, devise and bequeath to St. Columba’s Episcopal Church the rest, remainder, and residue of my estate, or ____% (or fractional interest) of the rest, remainder and residue of my estate. Contingent Bequest: If any or all of the above named beneficiaries do not survive me, then I hereby give the share that otherwise would be (his/hers/theirs) to St. Columba’s Episcopal Church. General Bequest: I hereby give, devise and bequeath to St. Columba’s Episcopal Church the sum of $_________, or ________%, or ___________ fractional interest of my estate. Provisions under the will can also be structured in such a way as to utilize and fund additional life income gifts or deferred gift arrangements.
St. Columba’s Church, 4201 Albemarle St NW, Washington, DC 20016 , 202-363-4119, Columba.org
St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, 4201 Albemarle St NW, Washington, DC 20016 , 202-363-4119, Columba.org