Presbytery of Southern New England

Presbytery of Southern New England: who are they?

The Presbytery of Southern New England is comprised of 26 congregations, each of which is a unique community rooted in the love, peace and justice of Jesus Christ.

One of the ways the Presbytery seeks to support these congregations is by empowering leadership for each community to guide their congregants as they discern how to use and maintain their properties in service of their various needs, ministries, and priorities.

We’re providing support for presbytery leadership, and working with three congregations exploring land and property possibilities. We've organized this complex work into two phases.

Phase I: congregation + property assessment

• assess the needs and opportunities in the three individual congregations

• engage in congregational and community listening

• communicate with member churches about potential property strategies

Phase II: theology, core values + strategic filter

• articulate a theology of land and property that is rooted in their context

• discern core values that will reflect that theology

• develop a strategic filter for property decision-making based on these values

St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church

St. Cyprian’s: who are they?

St. Cyprian's was founded in 1866, and is both the oldest and first Black Episcopal parish in North Carolina.

Known for their legacy of creating spaces of refuge and belonging for people of color in their local community, St. Cyprian’s has been described as the "center of ripples" throughout New Bern. This community welcomes all people to join them for worship and ministry. 

Strategy + vision

After Hurricane Florence in 2018, St. Cyprian’s building was severely damaged and the congregation was not able to meet. Then, after a long period of building repairs and years of being closed due to the pandemic, St. Cyprian's partnered with us to ask deep strategic questions about their identity.

To support this congregation in their work toward reconnection and deepened engagement in their community, we:

• engaged their leadership planning group in measurable goal-setting

• identified problems of gatekeeping and systemic racism to be addressed

• provided an analysis to both the leadership group and the judicatory body as to how variables within the system impact the ability to proceed

Sycamore Collaborative

Sycamore Collaborative: who are they?

Formerly known as Schenectady Inner City Ministry or SiCM, Sycamore Collaborative is a thriving organization committed to social justice and equity.

They serve Schenectady County through the largest food pantry in the region, 2 acres of community urban farmland, the county-wide Summer Meals program, and a safe space for all.

Phase I: communications audit

Serving Schenectady County in upstate New York, Sycamore Collaborative (formerly Schenectady Inner City Ministries, or SICM) has been a lifeline in a time of increasing food insecurity and an inspiration for community engagement to volunteers and clients alike. Embracing their decision to become intentionally interfaith, we walked alongside the organization to look across all its communications to understand more clearly what they want to say, to whom, when and how. 

In our communications audit, we: 

• reviewed all current communications

• conducted key interviews

• led a retreat among organizational leaders and key staff

• organized and analyzed data

• reviewed staffing capacity

• made recommendations and provided reflective language to move the organization forward

Phase II: strategic plan, renaming + rebranding process

As our communications audit concluded, we entered Phase II. In this iteration of our work, we:

• articulated core values

• created a strategic filter for decision-making

• collaboratively created a far-reaching strategic plan

• created a new visual identity, name, and website

Judson Memorial Church

Judson Memorial Church: who are they?

Judson Memorial Church seeks to be a just, diverse, vibrant, and worshipping spiritual community through the pursuit of social justice, creative expression, and sacred exploration of its own Protestant church roots and the wisdom of other traditions.

Fundraising

We are pleased to have engaged in a partnership with the Heller Fundraising Group to support Judson Memorial Church in New York City as they consider a capital campaign to make their building more accessible. Judson supports countless community arts, justice and religious groups in the thriving Washington Square neighborhood. So often it is hard to know where to start with a project of this size, and we’re helping them do just that: start!

Not So Churchy

Not So Churchy is a place of healing and hope, where queerness and curiosity expand the spiritual journey beyond boxes and binaries. This eclectic community also happens to have been started by Mieke, and is where she currently serves. We engage as their regular designer, including the beautification of annual reports and the website that serves as a spiritual home for this geographically diverse community.

Synod of the Northeast

The General Assembly of the PCUSA asked synods around the country to answer the question of why they should exist. We worked with Synod of the Northeast to come up with their response.

---

“We are glad to be working again with Vandersall Collective on branding our biennial worship, learning and fellowship gathering. Working with Vandersall Collective is accessing creativity, diligence, and passion commitment to radical welcome and pursuit of justice.”

— The Rev. Dr. Amaury Tañón-Santos, Synod of the Northeast

Several years ago, the Synod of the Northeast of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was responding to a mandate from its national body to examine its effectiveness and purpose. While being open to complete disbandedment, they learned that they have particular gifts to share, and that the diversity of the gathered community was too important to lose. To emphasize the gifts of this gathered body, they worked to refocus their energies, flipping the balance so that gathering received more emphasis than governing, allowing the gathering time to be filled with energy and the governing time to be filled with purpose.

In three key areas, we have been honored to work with the Synod to help implement its new strategic vision.

COMMUNICATION

We created and implemented a cohesive and cross-platform communication plan in consultation with the Synod, and as a result of a communications audit. The website was used as a community hub where information was shared clearly and effectively. A video was created to communicate the personalities and the impact the Synod is having on the life of its constituents. An eblast schedule and template (both visual and content) was created to further tell those stories, driving traffic back to the website. Finally, we created special branding for their two biennial conferences, known as Come to the Table. 

To effectively communicate their vision, and the new ways of engagement that come out of that vision, their website needed to become a vital location centralizing communication and provide opportunity for community-building. After completing a communications audit and report, we took their existing logo and vision, flushed out a verbal and visual brand identity, and created a new, easy to update website.

To communicate with their constituency in between events, as well as to communicate the weight and importance of their work with current and potential donors, we created a robust package of print materials. Their Robert L. Washington Scholars & Fellows program was established to provide leadership opportunities for young and/or people of color, and we also created a gorgeous and hefty annual report.

The Synod also needed a way to personally and persuasively communicate their vision and warmth to the people in their large geographic area without physically having to be present. Our creative team reflected their story back through a short video. Working with a team from the Synod we wrote a script, gathered leaders from throughout the Synod together for a day-long shoot, and then edited together a video currently used in their local communities, and at fundraising events.

Stories of hope and innovation that exemplified the Synod’s deepened purposed needed to be shared persuasively and effectively. We created a communication schedule and guidelines, integrating the website, social media and new eblast templates to reflect the new brand identity. We also worked with the staff to train them to take their design templates and do it on their own.

Finally, as the Synod's focus shifted to gathering, the first non-governing event was a major undertaking. Our services were contracted to help the planning team create and execute a hospitable, organized experience for their guests. We took the branding platform and guidelines and implemented them through the creation of a registration process and conference booklet. We also worked with the worship team to align our worship time with the new vision of the Synod. Mieke Vandersall, Derrick McQueen, Paul Vasile, and Larissa Kwong-Abazia of the Vandersall Collective were instrumental in making this event a success. 

GRANT-MAKING

In their process of re-visioning, the Synod reallocated significant funding to support innovative ministry within their geographical bounds. When we began our work with the Synod they asked for help in reconstructing their grant applications, application process, and review process. Using best practices, putting more trust in the applicants, and encouraging them to explain their needs in their own words, we first wrote a report after speaking with various past grantees with recommendations for change and then worked with the Mission and Ministry Commission (their Board-equivalent) to refresh their process and encourage a more mutual relationship between the applicants and their Synod. The stories of the applicants were also the basis of our communication strategy.

FUNDRAISING

With so many new people, congregations and organizations seeking funding from the Synod, and the heightened communication about the granting opportunities, the generous funding set aside in the Synod’s budget was being spent faster than ever before. In order to understand how best to raise funds, we completed a development audit, and then began a robust major-donor program, integrating the opportunity for giving on the website, organizing multiple cultivation events throughout the northeast, and launching the Synod's inaugural year-end campaign highlighting the impact of the grants made to innovative ministries.