Q1 2026: A Church Growing Stronger

As we close the first quarter of 2026, I find myself grateful for how much has been strengthened in the life of our church. This has been a season of serious work, clear movement, and real grace. We’ve been very busy, building the kind of church life that can hold growth, deepen trust, and support the ministry God is calling us to carry.

The Challenge Before Us

We began this stretch with momentum, and also with real pressures. The church needed to keep our spiritual life grounded while carrying a demanding season of planning, governance, pastoral responsibility, and outreach. We needed clearer structures for leadership. We needed stronger financial and operational discipline. We needed ministry systems that could sustain growth with care. With God’s help, this quarter we dedicated ourselves to resolving those pressures with intention.

We needed leadership bodies to move with greater clarity, coordination, and shared expectations.
We needed stronger systems for purchasing, approvals, reporting, and stewardship.
We needed our ministries to be supported by infrastructure strong enough to sustain growth.
We needed to remain spiritually grounded while carrying a season of intense work across the life of the church.

What We Set Out To Do

Across every layer of leadership, the work of this quarter has been aimed at a few clear goals: to clarify responsibility, strengthen stewardship, support ministry with better systems, and keep the congregation spiritually grounded as we moved from vision into execution. The Leadership Retreat helped establish a shared framework for that work. Ministry Council then carried important governance and policy decisions. Finance and staff continued building stronger operational rhythms. Together, these efforts have been helping the church move with greater coherence and steadiness.

The Leadership Retreat established a shared framework for how leadership bodies understand their responsibilities and work together.
Ministry Council approved updated job descriptions, adopted the Community Safety, Conduct, & Accountability Policy, and adopted the Conflict of Interest Policy.
Team appointments were confirmed, and shared governance expectations around service, presence, and accountability were clarified.
Finance and staff continued building stronger operational rhythms around purchasing, reimbursement, reporting, and grant readiness.

What Broke Through This Quarter

Our spiritual life has grounded everything.
From Epiphany into Lent and Holy Week, our congregation has been shaped by shared practice, prayer, worship, and preparation. That grounding has mattered deeply as the church has carried so much at once.

Ash Wednesday set a deeply grounding tone for the season.
Enough for Today prayer calls began establishing a steady rhythm of communal prayer.
Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Resurrection planning drew in Deacons, Elders, and other leaders in visible and faithful ways.

Our Worship Life is Drawing People In

Alongside the deepening of our spiritual life, worship attendance has continued to increase steadily, and we received new members into the life of the church on several Sundays this quarter. That is one more sign that people are not only encountering vitality here, but choosing to root themselves more deeply in the congregation.

The Park Sets the Table Reached A New Scale

This ministry received a $75,000 grant, doubled the number of families we were able to serve, and expanded from one school partner to two. The grant also includes funding for the remaining kitchen equipment we need. That is a major expansion of both capacity and reach, and a vivid sign of what can happen when faithful vision, disciplined planning, and shared labor come together.

We received a $75,000 grant from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We distributed 110 meal kits, more than double prior distributions.
We expanded from serving one school to serving two: Community Health Academy of the Heights and MS/HS 223.
The grant also supports the remaining kitchen equipment needed to strengthen the ministry’s long-term capacity.

We Built The PrayGround with Support From a UCC Grant

Submitted by one of our Members in Discernment, this investment creates a more welcoming worship environment for children and families, which is no small thing. It reflects the kind of church we are continuing to become.

A UCC grant directly supported the setup and resourcing of the PrayGround.
The PrayGround was launched for Palm Sunday in the rear of the Sanctuary.
This work is part of making worship more welcoming and inclusive for children and families.

The Buildings Team Was Re-Established

For the first time since the pandemic, the church now has a team focused on the stewardship of its physical space. That matters at a moment when building use is increasing, infrastructure needs are clearer, and the church needs stronger coordination around safety, maintenance, technology, and documentation. This is one more sign that important institutional supports are coming back into place.

The team began focusing on facilities usages & risk, safety & security practices, and the growing demands of space and event usage.
Its work is helping the church move toward stronger building oversight, clearer processes, and more reliable support for ministry.

A Longstanding Institutional Burden Was Lifted

The charges connected to a long-running building dispute were removed, bringing resolution to a matter that had caused real strain over time.

All charges previously assessed against the church in the signage dispute were removed.
The church remained actively engaged in broader building stewardship conversations with the Tower Board.
This brought both practical relief and greater stability around shared building concerns.

Our Internal Life is Stronger

Important policies were set. Leadership structures were clarified. Purchasing, reporting, and approval systems have been built. All leaders are now required to submit Conflict of Interest affirmations. We have now begun an independent financial review of our finances, an important step in strengthening accountability and preparing the church for future opportunities. This work may be less visible on the surface, but it is essential. It helps the church act with greater clarity, trust, and accountability.

Job descriptions were adopted to guide orientation, accountability, and shared leadership going forward.
The Community Safety, Conduct, & Accountability Policy was adopted.
The Conflict of Interest Policy was adopted, with disclosure and acknowledgment required across governance bodies.
We have now begun an independent financial review, an important step in strengthening accountability and readiness.

Why This Matters

What encourages me most is that this quarter’s work has begun to resolve real strain in the life of the church.
We are becoming clearer in how we lead.
We are becoming steadier in how we steward resources.
We are becoming better able to support the ministries we already have and the ministries still ahead of us.
That is worth celebrating. And it is visible now, in our structures and in our spirit.

Leadership now has clearer action plans, defined responsibilities, and near-term milestones.
Regular reporting rhythms and cross-team coordination are established across leadership bodies.
The church is already seeing what becomes possible when every layer of leadership is moving in one accord.

What Comes Next

We now move into the next quarter with clear goals across every layer of leadership. Some of that work will focus on follow-through: strengthening reporting rhythms, deepening hospitality, clarifying summer ministry plans, and continuing to build durable support around giving and The Park Sets the Table. Some of it is longer-range and strategic. Here’s a teaser: we have a major initiative now underway that’s especially significant, and we look forward to sharing more about it at the close of next quarter.

Leadership teams are moving from retreat insights into team-level action plans and milestone work.
Reporting rhythms, hospitality practices, and summer ministry planning will continue to take shape.
The Park Sets the Table will continue strengthening logistics, partnerships, and sustainability.
A major strategic initiative is already underway, and we look forward to sharing more at the close of next quarter.

By next fall, when we formally gather as a congregation to share our strategic and financial progress across the year, we expect to be able to celebrate both what God has built among us and the tangible fruit of this season of faithful work.

For now, what I want to say most simply is this: Park Avenue Christian Church is much stronger. We have not seen this kind of alignment in years, and it is a major reason so much has been able to move forward in these few short months. I thank God for the faithfulness, discipline, and generosity that have carried us through this quarter, and I thank God for what is still unfolding in our church.

Yours in Christ,

Vanessa Lindley
Moderator, Park Avenue Christian Church
In the City of New York