May 2021

Pastor’s Annual Report

Dear CrossWalkers,

What a year! What an understatement. At our Board of Stewards meeting in April 2020, we prepared ourselves for a dismal year, not knowing how long we would remain closed, or how many CrossWalkers would be directly impacted in their health or employment or housing or all of the above. We took a conservative, wait-and-see stance, putting in place some immediate financial controls to limit our exposure, while taking advantage of the resources made available. All the while, we provided the same amount of ongoing direct ministry to CrossWalkers as when we were on campus, except everything was virtual. Services saw good and steady attendance across Zoom, YouTube, and our podcast. New people found us and engaged with us. With the campus empty, we made a wide range of improvements using Capital Improvement funds created for that purpose over many years. Lots of areas have been refreshed, new flooring has been installed, some rooms reconfigured, others totally redone (HUGE thanks for Loren Haas, Jim Della Santa, Ted Valencia, and Lynne Shaw). The gym is still on its way as the kitchen, locker rooms, lobby and lobby bathrooms are getting renovated. A range of grants have come in from outside CrossWalk to help with these projects – isn’t that great? Thanks to your generosity, CrossWalk has come through the past year with flying colors. We are stronger now than we were then. We are better equipped to serve than we were before. We have felt the sting of death, yet we have also experienced hope and are choosing to lean into it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Annual Meeting Items and Information. As our Annual Meeting approaches, I wanted to give you some information so that when you attend the meeting on May 23rd, you are prepared to vote or ask any questions you may have.

When: May 23, 2021 @ 11:00. As has been our practice for many years, the Annual Business Meeting will open before our 11:00 service begins, with the first agenda item being worship! CrossWalk Active Members will be mailed a ballot to cast their vote. You can return it in person or mail it in. If you did not receive a ballot, we may have made an error. Please contact Dar for assistance.

• Church Officer Election. The Board of Stewards has once again nominated Linda Smetzer to remain as our Church Clerk, and we newly recommend Stephen Corley as Treasurer. Stephen Corley was appointed to the Treasurer role by the Stewards last June after Michele Corley resigned from the position. While a Steward, Stephen sat on the Finance Team as the appointed liaison for the Board. He was an obvious choice and has done a great job.
• Stewards Nominees. The Stewards asked a range of CrossWalk Active Members to consider running for these three-year terms. The three nominees we present today are outstanding. CJ Prutch is just finishing a year filling a vacant space on the Board and is eligible to run again. Karen Kenny has served on the Board as well and will continue to be an excellent Steward. Becky Peterson is recently retired from her career largely on the Executive level of critical Non-Profit Organizations. While in retirement, she will continue to consult with NPOs. What a gift to have her skillset onboard! We thank Beth Cortez, Bruno Bardet, and CJ Prutch for their service as their terms come to an end.

• 2021-2022 Proposed Budget. The Stewards are recommending a modest increase to the budget, from $382,354 to $388,690. There is one big, exciting change in the budget that deserves celebration. We will no longer be squirreling away funds each month to eventually pay off our solar energy system because we have now saved $50,000 to pay the contract off when it comes due in 2023! This means we are ahead of schedule! Yay! It also means we can allocate funds toward ministry, in this case, a half time Children’s Ministry Director. Our search will be methodical, informed by the feedback of CrossWalk parents of younger children as well as from a few community members. Yay! Also, know that the budget reflects a 2% COLA increase to keep up with inflation, which is roughly the same amount. Even though it is a little more money, it is not a raise – it simply keeps us current. To not provide COLA would essentially be a pay cut.

  • Payroll Protection Programs. CrossWalk qualified for and pursued both rounds of the Payroll Protection Program and was awarded both. The first round funded nearly a year ago and provided a protective buffer for our uncertain economic future (as it was designed). We kept all staff throughout the past year. Recently we received a letter stating that the first round has been completely forgiven – the loan became a grant. We received a second round in March and anticipate that it will be completely forgiven as well since we are abiding by its terms. These funds were extremely helpful and greatly appreciated!
  • Restricted Funds. The biggest news to share about what we were able to do here has to do with our Reserve Fund and another, newly created Children’s Ministry Director Fund. We were able to double our Reserve Fund and establish the Children’s Ministry Director Fund. The Reserve Fund is tapped when our contributions do not meet our contracted needs, which happens from time to time. The newly increased amount provides a more adequate buffer given the size of our budget. The Children’s Ministry Director Fund was created because in years past, we have not been able to sustain the position due to lack of funding. While the compensation for this role will come from the General Fund, this dedicated reserve fund provides an extra cushion to guarantee the role’s sustainability. Also, if we believe we have found a candidate that requires us to offer more compensation, this fund could be used for that, too. The fact that we never needed to touch our Reserve Fund during the past year is amazing. The fact that we were able to double it and create a new fund is truly incredible and is why we can feel confident going forward with a new hire.

  • Inclusive Church. Recently, the Board of Stewards adopted the following statement of inclusivity and asks you to formally affirm it as well:

  • We, Crosswalk’s Board of Stewards and Leadership, believe in inclusive faith community. A faith community which celebrates and affirms every person and does not discriminate. We will continue to challenge discrimination against people on grounds of disability, economic power, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, learning disability, mental health, neurodiversity, or sexuality. We believe in a faith community which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which is scripturally faithful; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.

CrossWalk Goals. When considering how effective we are as a church, we use the life and ministry of Jesus as our primary reference point. One word is associated with Jesus more than any other figure in world history: resurrection. More than just life after death, this word also refers to Jesus’ work in the world, bringing life to dead places, bringing the renewal that comes with shalom, restoring people with the very Good News that God is love and that all people are loved. Embracing this quality and experience of eternal life is a choice that falls into five major areas that we pursue with significant intentionality: embodying grace that stands for justice while helping the broken rise, kneeling in service to others, stretching in our understanding, connecting with God to foster deepening spirituality, and incarnating the Spirit of Christ with each other in community. Here are some highlights from the past year:

• Grace: Justice, Mercy, with Humility. How did we embody Good News?

  • We reached a growing number of people over the past twelve months. Every Sunday we held virtual services on Zoom, YouTube, and also on our podcast. On Zoom, we welcomed roughly 30 homes onto the screen each week (between two services) to watch together and discuss afterward. Our YouTube channel followers increased from not much over 100 to 477. That doesn’t mean they watch every week, but it does mean they are watching us. Our Facebook followers also increased from 1,116 to 1322. The meaningfulness of these numbers has more to do with our “reach capacity” more than anything else. The numbers on YouTube and Facebook represent interested people who will hear what we say.
  • Stories. There has been a recurring theme in the stories that come our way. They almost always refer to people who didn’t realize there was a way to embrace faith like we do. They are finding acceptance, inspiration, and despite our virtual approach, they are also finding community. Amazing. One really cool thing was that I received the Excellence in Leadership Award from the Center for Volunteer and Non-profit Leadership (CVNL). Most Napa NPO’s are aware of it. It was such a great honor to be recognized outside of the church world. Of course, a leader who has no followers is just a person taking a walk, so the award really represents Team CrossWalk – I just got to receive it – thank you for being awesome!
  • Solidarity. CrossWalk, either through her pastors, or signage, or campus, or in the community, has taken stands for greater inclusivity in Napa. Last June, I helped organize a Healing and Grieving Vigil with Napa clergy to honor George Floyd’s murder, which went well. In the Fall we officially joined Common Ground, the local affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), which is a community organizing group that works to effect important social change. Recently, the Board of Stewards unanimously voted to affirm legislation, The Equality Act, which is aimed at providing and protecting rights for the LGBTQ community. Stephen Corley has been engaged with the Evergreen Association in a training program designed to help us increase our understanding and influence regarding racial equality and equity, with the hopes of bringing the training to CrossWalk.

  • Kneeling in Service. We weren’t able to kneel in the same ways as we did prior to the pandemic, but we still did a lot!

  • Food Pantry. The heavenly crowns for Karie Nuccio and Linda Smetzer are getting so loaded with jewels they are going to need neck braces when they arrive! These two put in multiple days each week collecting, organizing, and distributing food to those who would otherwise fall through the cracks! We expanded their space this year, too, which meant they had to help make that shift happen. Thanks to Ben Neuman, Jim Della Santa, Ted Valencia, and others (sorry if I missed you) who helped expand their space!

  • Sanctuary Childcare Center. In the summer our campus was used by the Boys and Girls Club for childcare for essential workers. It all happened quite safely.
  • Evacuation Center and Charging Center. We were called on twice to open up as a shelter. During the LNU Fire, we had very few guests. The Glass Fire, however, brought hundreds to be processed into hotels, while we housed around 30 for a week or so. We also opened during the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events as one of PG&E’s designated charging stations in Napa. At PG&E’s expense, a generator and automatic switch was put in place during fire season. We have contracted with them for the next four years regarding this role.
  • Emergency Pet Pantry. We welcomed this important partnership with Jamieson Animal Rescue in the summer, which now provides pet essentials to those in need every week.
  • COAD. Dar and I both gave (and give) an enormous amount of time to help lead different areas of the COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster). Dar is the Co-Chair of the Food Services Sub-Committee. I am the Co-Chair of the Mental Health and Faith Leaders Sub-Committee and am currently the Vice Chair of the Executive Committee. The first three months of the pandemic were absolutely grueling but tapered off some since. It is very important work, bringing the immense resources of Napa’s NPO’s together to meet the need the County cannot meet alone. Napa County’s COAD is the envy of all CA counties!
  • CrossWalk Campus Feasibility Study. We are in the middle of a feasibility study in partnership with Human Good that will give us some ideas of how we might leverage our property to do even more to serve Napa in the area of affordable housing. Nothing to share yet, but we will once the study is complete. Could be very exciting, or terrifying, or both, and neither!
  • Stretching our Understanding. We are a church that takes learning seriously. Even though we have been virtual for a year, I have tried to bring in some voices that offer fresh perspectives. A year ago, I offered a resource featuring Richard Rohr, followed by a teaching series on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. In the Fall I did a series called Go Be Jesus, which examined what Jesus was really about in his ministry (hint: social justice was a HUGE piece). I probably did something about Christmas in December – can anybody remember? In January I offered a different voice, Barbara Crafton, on the subject of Forgiveness. Very powerful series and incredible follow-up discussions. In February I focused my teaching on racism which likely made everyone uncomfortable. In March we focused on Grief with the Spring Cleaning series, to help us take stock, deal with our grief, and move forward. In May we will feature Wakoh Shannon Hickey, Ph. D., who will teach us about Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhi. Do you feel stretched?
  • Connecting with God, Deepening our Spirituality. Honestly, this year has been tough for measuring this one, except that we tried hard to encourage meditation as a means to reduce pandemic-related stress. We did receive feedback that it was helpful.

  • Incarnating Christ in Community. Like the above, this was not easy given COVID-19. I celebrate something I also kind of hate: Zoom. Zoom worked reasonably effectively to keep our relationships intact, and still does. As much as we would prefer to see each other beyond a tiny square on our devices, can you imagine how much worse it would have been without it?

  • In Remembrance. We grieve the loss of Bill Swanson, Dot Hoover, Roger Langley, Larry McCart, Max Proteau, and Kenn Vigoda. Wonderful people who are dearly missed.

  • New Members! This past year we welcomed Colleen Chappellet, Ed Edwards, and Keith Ridenhour into our membership! Hurray!

In conclusion, it has been quite a year. If asked a year ago what I would be happy with by this time, I would have said “survival.” Literally and figuratively. Despite the challenges, we have prevailed over the past year. Thank God. Thank God. Thank God.

Let’s keep moving forward.

In this glorious journey together,

Pete Shaw, Pastor