The Rev. Canon Charles LaFond is the Canon for Congregational Life in the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Ordinary Staff of Bishop V. Gene Robinson. Charles began his vocation in the corporate no-profit sector as a Senior Vice President for financial development and communications/marketing for an urban corporation of 14 YMCAs. More recently Charles has eight years experience as a parish priest and lived for the three years as a novice and monk at the monastery of the Society of St. John the Evangelist where he did spiritual direction, dishes and retreats. His current ministry combines a decade as a fund raiser and non-profit management executive and a second decade as a priest and monk. Charles comes at stewardship, congregational development and spiritual conversion of life not so much as logistical issues, but rather as a pastoral, spiritual and theological issues in a country weighed down by wealth and power, in a world weighed down by poverty and illness and in a church which seems unable to have a bold conversation around money and spirituality. We live in a society over-burdened by words, over-caffeinated by stimulants and over burdened by schedules. Charles’ interest is in calling the Church to a deeper awareness of how much we are loved by God and to a simpler and more aware life in that context. A master potter of 25 years, preacher, teacher, stewardship and management consultant, speaker and Adjunct Professor at Virginia Theological Seminary; Charles lives on a farm with a pottery studio in the woods of New Hampshire with his black lab named “Kai,”
What you will find in this area:
· Stewardship
o Excel Newsletters
§ Year I, II, III
· These newsletters are published 8-10 times per year and are sent to clergy, wardens and lay stewardship leaders in the Diocese of New Hampshire to assist them with their work in stewardship. The newsletter is designed to provide pertinent information and new ideas about stewardship campaign planning or management depending on the time of year in which it is published. The name comes from the call in scripture to “excel in this grace of giving.”
o The View from Blackwater Bluff
§ 2007 & 2008
· These articles are written monthly 10 times each year for The New Hampshire Episcopal News; one having recently won a Polly Bond Award. They are all written by Canon LaFond from his farmhouse in rural New Hampshire and each works to consider one or more aspects of stewardship and spirituality using the farm as a point of departure.
o Stewardship Resource Manual
§ Complete Manual
· This manual is not yet fully edited but has been published in order to get the information into the hands which need it. A fully polished version will be published in February, 2009 under the same title. The manual is designed for parishes of all sizes. Some small parishes use it as effectively as larger ones do but with smaller numbers in volunteer rosters etc. Each chapter handles a different aspect of stewardship and are all a work in progress. Each chapter is ended with a series of appendices which compliment the text and provide working samples of various documents sited in the text.
o Stewardship Videos
§ Stewardship as Spiritual Formation: A conversation of conversation
§ The Stewardship of Bounty
· These videos were produced with no money except for the copies of the DVDs themselves. All filming, writing, design, strategy, editing and polishing was donated. The videos were done so that parishes could show them in place of sermons or in the adult forum. Sometimes one needs an outside voice to say hard things and so these videos were designed to get right to the heart of the issues around conversion of life in stewardship. The video entitled The Stewardship of Bounty was our first one, done in 2006 for the 2006-2007 season and was a bit too long (20 minutes) but has some good content. Our second video Stewardship as Spiritual Formation: A conversation of conversation was done in 2008 for the 2009 season, is shorter at 9 minutes and is set in a pottery studio with clay being used as a metaphor for spiritual conversion of life.
o Stewardship of Finances (Annual Campaign)
· This is the second part of the whole Stewardship Manual (see above) and applies only to the management of the annual stewardship campaign. It and its appendices are reprinted here for ease of location. Everything you might want to know about one way to raise funds and encourage conversation around the spiritual life in the context of our place as recipients of God’s gifts can be found here. This is both the spiritual content as well as the praxis content.
o Stewardship Preaching and Teaching Notes (Lectionary – based)
§ Trip to Bountiful – The Psalms Year B
§ Stewardship Through Faith – The Gospels Year C
§ Stewardship of the Vineyard – The Gospels Year A
· These biblical commentaries and exigentical notes are an outline which will provide the basics for using the Gospels or, in one case, the psalms, assigned to the lectionary for the Sundays of October and November in Years A, B, and C..
· What is included here is a primer and you may choose to adapt or change it to fit your style and interests. This material is meant simply to save time and energy by cutting directly to Stewardship of Finances materials in the Gospels as a time-saver. This material is best used BOTH from the pulpit and then again in the adult formation classes. We suggest strongly that when stewardship themes are preached from the pulpit, they are echoed in adult formation classes. The material is designed to allow each adult formation class to be a stand-alone class (in the event that a parishioner is able to attend one or some but not all of the Sunday series.) The design allows for:
o Notes for the leader:
§ Exegetical notes and commentary for general study of the Gospels.
§ A consideration of “Stewardship of Finances” themes in and around each Gospel.
§ Discussion questions are provided. Notice that the questions demand that the leader decide in advance on how to inspire conversation.
o Planned Giving
§ Planned Giving Committee Roster
