Sorrento Centre - The 'Next 50' Campaign

The ‘Next 50‘ Campaign for Sorrento Centre

Transformation

The Mission House owned by the Cowley Fathers (SSJE) was sold to

provide fund to help found Sorrento Centre in 1963

Spes Bona ‘near Notch Hill, BC,‘ 1926

Spes Bona was rebuilt in 1926 to replace the original estate house

after a fire in 1926


Transformation

MISSION STATEMENT, 2012SORRENTO CENTRE

As Bishop of Kootenay, Ted Scottwas instrumental in fostering the growth of the Centre.

We will follow Jesus in seeking to love God with all our heart, will all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength; and loving our neighbour as ourselves.

• Encouraging physical activities that honour the body and enable all people to express the sacred according to their ability.

• Exercising a ministry of compassion, hospitality & justice; encouraging personal and communal reflection for the sake of learning and healing; and by sharing our resources with our neighbours.

We will do this by

• Encouraging encounters with the sacred through the Arts, encouraging creativity, and encouraging feeling.

• Becoming an open, intergenerational sacred centre well known for our work with young people, developing innovative and creative music and worship, and by embracing our experience of the Divine in Creation.

• Engaging in accessible theological education and theological reflection on the pressing issues of our time.

Sorrento Centre is a holy place of transformation for learning, healing and belonging.

Sorrento Centre was founded in 1963. In 2013 we are celebrating our 50th anniversary. For 50 years we have been enjoying the gifts provided by the previous generation. What gifts will we leave behind to nurture the next generation of leaders?

At Sorrento Centre memorable experiences can stimulate profound changes in understanding self-perception and relationship. Such life-changing experiences transform us.

People are drawn by its tranquility, serenity and peacefulness.

Psychologically, emotionally and spiritually we all seek wholeness, we all seek healing. Central to that search is our need for community. When guests come to Sorrento they find an ongoing but ever changing community that is welcoming and accepting. They quickly feel they belong.

It is this combination of holiness, learning, healing and community that makes Sorrento Centre unique.

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A Family Estate

Sorrento Centre is located on the traditional lands of the Shuswap First Nation (Secwepemc).The property was assembled by J.R. Kinghorn as a working commercial orchard and family estate. The original town site was called Trapper’s Landing and he changed it to Sorrento in 1912. The breathtaking view of Copper Island in Shuswap Lake reminded him of his honeymoon sighting of the Isle of Capri which he saw from Sorrento, Italy.

James Reid Kinghorn built a magnificent house for his bride out of Douglas Fir which he named ‘Spes Bona’. Translated from the Latin, it means ‘Good Hope’. The original home burned down and in 1927 the second ‘Spes Bona’ was built of Enderby brick.

A Lay Centre

Steps toward the establishment of a provincial lay training centre began as early as the 1950s and in 1962, the Provincial Synod approved the establishment of such a centre at Sorrento, B.C. Initially called Sorrento Lay Training Centre when the property title was acquired in 1963, the name was changed in 1971 to Sorrento Centre for Human Development. In 1982 the name was changed again to Sorrento Centre, Anglican Church of Canada.

• When the original mission house of the Society of St. John the Evangelist was sold so the funds could be used to help purchase the Kinghorn estate, the blankets, sheets & pillows were stored in Mrs. Bridge’s attic and then used for bedding in the Sorrento Lay Training Centre.

• Rev. Ray Bray was the first person to run Sorrento Centre in 1963. The first Director hired was Rev. Jim Cruickshank in 1965. He later became Bishop of the Diocese of Cariboo.

• Two other former Directors went on to serve as Bishops in the Anglican Church of Canada: Ken Genge became Bishop of the Diocese of Edmonton; and Barbara Andrews became Bishop of the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior.

Today most people know it simply as Sorrento Centre. It is an independently registered charitable non-profit society administered by a Board of Directors with representatives from the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and the Yukon, the Dioceses of Edmonton and Calgary and members of the society, called Associates.

• 633 Associates paid membership fees in the Sorrento Centre Society between 2009 and 2012.

• In 2011 we had 112 guests stay on site who were not registered in a Sorrento program or a private booking; in 2012 we have had 149 guests in this category.

• In 2011 there were 46 bookings for private groups at Sorrento of which 8 were new to the Centre; in 2012 we have had 56 bookings for private groups of which 22 were new.

• Our largest private events are the one-week BC Swing Music Camp and the two-week Nimblefingers Bluegrass and Olde Time Music Camps. Bluegrass Music has been coming to Sorrento Centre every summer for 13 years and Swing Camp for 12 years.

• Our one day Bluegrass Festival attracted 750 people in 2011 and over 800 in 2012.

• We had 782 registrations in Sorrento Centre programs in 2012 – up 26% over 2011.

• In 2011 we had 2,162 guests in private bookings and stays; in 2012 we expect a total of 2,339 guests.

• In 2012 between 4,000 and 5,000 people had their lives enriched by their time spent at Sorrento Centre.

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On the occasion of our 50th anniversary, we need to strengthen the financial and physical foundations of our work and reinvest in our mission and vision.

We must ensure we have the ability to meet the needs of our communities over the next 50 years.

Sorrento Centre started as an innovative attempt to extend serious theological education to the general Church population.

Fifty years later, the proportion of adult Canadians who either have no religious affiliation, or who say they do but haven’t attended worship in the last year, has grown to 43% (as of 2004). In British Columbia that figure stands at almost 60%. Young adults are the age group most likely to have no religious affiliation.

Religion is not disappearing, but it is going through a radical change. People are less likely to seek help from their local congregation and more likely to seek help with their own spiritual practices.

The largest segment of our society is struggling with deeply spiritual questions about meaning, healing and belonging but does not automatically recognize the Christian Church as an authority on these questions.

These changes in our institutional, cultural and social context mean the Sorrento Centre needs to re-imagine its role as a Spirit-filled institution engaged in the educational process of personal and social transformation.

The Centre now envisions itself as a drawbridge between the more formal expressions of the Church’s life and the secularized multicultural society; a place of meeting, a place of dialogue, a place of engagement, a place of understanding.

While the Centre has enjoyed considerable financial support from the institutional church in the past, we anticipate reduced revenues from these sources in the near future. Currently institutional church grants constitute less than 3% of our revenue.

Our campaign is ambitious, but we don’t expect to do it all at once. It is our intention to raise 50% of our target amount within the first two-year timeframe of the campaign, with the balance collected from the pledges over the following three to five years.

The Sorrento Centre ‘Next 50’ Campaign

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Christopher LindExecutive Director

In 2011 we undertook a survey of our associates, asking what people appreciate about the Centre and what they want to see going forward as we prepare to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2013. A slogan that we used in the past describes Sorrento Centre as ‘Anglican in tradition, ecumenical in programming and inclusive in welcome.’ One piece of feedback we received was that people thought this was our mission statement.

It is not our mission statement. It is an advertising slogan. In May of 2012, after consultations with the Provincial House of Bishops, our new Mission Statement was approved.

Our new mission statement says ‘Sorrento Centre is a holy place of transformation for learning, healing and belonging’ and there is no question that this is a place where people experience the divine in a way they don’t experience it normally. It is a holy place of transformation.

We had a lot of feedback about how important children and young people were in the life of Sorrento Centre, and we heard people talk about how this is a place you can come to and all dimensions of the family are present. We also heard a lot about the children’s programs, and how important youth staff is as a leadership development program. One value highlighted in the survey was intentional community; this is about belonging.

2013 is our 50th anniversary, and for some time there has been an expectation that we will have a capital campaign.

At the AGM in May, where they adopted our new mission statement, the Associates also endorsed the proposal to launch a capital campaign.

Why do we need a capital campaign? When people ask me this I say, first of all after 50 years, Sorrento Centre needs to be re-capitalized. Our oldest building dates back to 1927 and is nearing the end of its life, and we have some hard decisions to make about what we are going to do with our buildings, which won’t last forever.

Another example of re-capitalizing is creating endowment funds. We currently have no financial shock absorbers, so when we have a deficit we go into debt. We need money for program endowment funds and we need money for infrastructure. We also need money for growth – in terms of both buildings and programming.

The transformation we try and make possible for our guests is the same transformation we need to embrace for the Centre as a whole. It involves risk and it involves profound change. In order to maintain the values we have cherished for the last 50 years we have to make an accurate assessment of our current resources and opportunities. We will then be in a position to re-invest and re-dedicate ourselves to our mission for the next 50 years.

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Anglican Young Peoples’ Association(AYPA) Work Camp, 1964 led by Marilyn Fane (top right)

Walking Sorrento Centre Labyrinth

The following strategic directions represent a road map for expansion and renewal. They are not in any order of priority, nor do they imagine that we are all things to all people. Rather, they assume a closer relationship with the Anglican Church of Canada, a redirection of existing resources and an investment of new resources in programs generated by Sorrento Centre.

Youth Leadership Development

• Build the summer youth staff as a leadership development program

• Create a Winter Youth Leadership Development program (WYLD) in partnership with PWRDF, Sorrento Centre farm & others

Retreats

• Enable a Sabbath experience & reflective practice for diverse audiences: clergy & laity, families & parishes, writers, musicians & artists, non-profits and community based organizations

Learning

• general education for seekers and parish members, that nurtures our relationship with God, strengthens relationships across all generations & overcomes the separation of humanity from the rest of Creation

• Accessible education for licensed lay leaders and vocational deacons

Healing & Wholeness

• Promoting attention to spirituality as a path toward healing & wholeness

• Encouraging physical activity that integrates the spiritual and material worlds and that encourages us to listen to our feelings and our bodies

• Engaging with Aboriginal communities to facilitate reconciliation

• Healing our relationship with the rest of Creation by practicing ecojustice

Creativity & the Arts

• Develop the Red Barn Art Studio using skilled artists in the company of others; and invite artists to be in residence throughout the year

Property

• Nurture harmonious relations with all Creation by organically growing diverse crops on our farm, sharing our abundance with those most in need in our community and engaging people with a wide range of learning opportunities

• Review our current property holdings to ensure all assets are employed with maximum effectiveness in relation to the mission & vision.

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Christopher Lind and John Privett

David Crawley

Herbert O’Driscoll

A Place For Tomorrow

The world has changed dramatically over the past 50 years.

Every facet of the life of our society, including the thousand year link between Christian faith and western culture, has changed almost beyond recognition.

A new generation is no longer powerfully drawn to traditional church worship and activities, but this does not mean that it does not long for the holy. There’s a new longing that is demanding that human affairs long seen as merely social and political might now be seen as spiritual: matters of human life itself from conception to death; our seeking for justice and peace, our recognizing that the created order in which we live must be borne tenderly between our human hands.

However, there is a place where these things have been known, spoken about, shared, discussed, celebrated, and acted upon long before many in congregational life had recognized them as the outriders of a future Christian spirituality. That place is Sorrento Centre.

Much has changed since Sorrento was born into the church’s life, including the reality that the church cannot continue to support us as generously as it once did. It has become necessary that each of us decides whether or not we are part of an ongoing company of Anglicans committed to the future, and, within that future, committed to the life and role of Sorrento as a place for tomorrow.

Sorrento can become as great as we choose to make it. But we must choose now.

Herbert O’Driscoll and David CrawleyCampaign Co-Chairs

Message from the Archbishop

For 50 years Sorrento Centre has been a source of inspiration, creativity, new found faith and renewal in the life of the Church.

In the name of Christ, leaders have been identified and nurtured, people in pain have found solace, young people have found faith and vocation, the questing have found a community of faithful exploration, and the weary have found rest and refreshment.

In each generation the Centre has responded to a changing world with renewed vitality and vision. I believe that at this time we have the opportunity to ensure that this remarkable legacy continues to be a resource to a church that is being shaped for new challenges and a new sense of mission.

Archbishop John PrivettAnglican Church of Canada

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Lance Richardson Reconstruction of cabanas 1995

List of supporting parishes Thanksgiving at the Sorrento Centre Farm

Everything at Sorrento Centre has been built by gifts.

It started in the 1950s when the Society of St. John the Evangelist (the Cowley Fathers) donated a house in the village of Sorrento to the Diocese of Kootenay to be used for Christian education. The Diocese then sold that house and donated the proceeds to help found Sorrento Centre.

It was joined in the early 60s by a gift from the Church’s General Board of Religious Education and another gift from Derek and Monica Arnold who purchased the land on the west end of the site on which now sit the stage, field, cabanas, orchard and campsites. They then sold it to the Centre for $1.

Youth volunteers donated their labour to build Nova Vita under the direction of Lance Richardson who gave up his job to lead them. 20 years later his gift helped pay off the mortgage and the building is now called Richardson Lodge.

The original cabanas were built by volunteers and when they were rebuilt in 1995, people again donated their time and labour to make it happen. Caritas was built by volunteers as was the Red Barn Art Studio. The Sorrento Centre Farm that is helping transform our relationship to Creation was a gift of Mary Rawson.

The Anglican Foundation has made grants to help us with both the farm and the Art Studio. All of its assets come from donations. Generations of volunteers have helped repair or build every building on site. Every floor you walk on, every chair you sit on, every bed you lie on has been donated by someone just like you.

The success of our ‘Next 50’ Campaign for Sorrento Centre, and indeed the future of the incredible place, will once again depend on generous gifts from those who believe in its future.

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Transformation

Our overall campaign target is $6.64 million.

The ‘Next 50’ Campaign encompasses the priority needs of four areas: our Financial and Physical Infrastructures, our Buildings, and our Programs. In achieving our campaign goal, we will have re-established the foundation on which we can continue to create opportunities for physical and spiritual growth that transform the communities we serve.

1st Pillar: Financial Security

Financial Infrastructure - $2.35 million

• $750,000.00 to eliminate debt and bank overdrafts

• $1.6 million in program endowment with income to pay for current youth leadership development programs

Debt and Overdraft

As of 2011 we have had four years of economic recession and that has meant four years of deficits. In 2011 our deficit was $168,000.

In 2012 we undertook measures to increase our income and reduce our expenses. As a result our registrations increased by 20%. While we still anticipate a deficit in 2012 it will be much smaller than in previous years. Because we have no endowment funds, the only way we can absorb deficits is by borrowing money.

Endowment for Youth Leadership Development

We currently develop youth leadership through three different programs. Our plan is to create dedicated Endowment Funds that would fully support all three of our significant youth leadership development efforts.

1. Keep Calm and Wait This new program, designed for teenagers and young adults, was held for the first time on the February long weekend in 2013. It has been developed in conjunction with the Diocese of New Westminster and the BC and Yukon Anglican Youth Movement, with the expectation that it will become an annual youth leadership event.

2. Young Sojourners Every May, young people from across BC and Alberta are invited to te Centre for a long weekend to contribute their labour on site and participate in a program to develop their spirituality and sense of Christian community. Developed in partnership with the BC and Yukon Anglican Youth Movement, the 2011 program attracted 40 participants. The following year that number increased to 60, and in 2013 we saw it nearly double to 102. This event is subsidized, so the more successful it becomes, the more it costs to support it.

3. Leadership, Experience and Adventure Program (LEAP) Designed for 15-16 year olds, this 2-week intensive leadership development program run in July is limited to 10 participants. Graduates can then apply to become Summer Youth Staff the following year. This program costs $16,000 annually to run; we ask each LEAP participant to contribute half ($800) and we subsidize that by 50% from bursary funds.

4. Sorrento Summer Youth Staff (SYS) Each summer we hire 18-20 young people, ages 16-23, as staff members. Half of them develop and run our highly regarded children and youth program, and the rest work in the kitchen, grounds, housekeeping, office support, maintenance and as lifeguards. This is more than just a summer job; it’s also a program for community building and includes an introduction to spiritual practices and mentoring skills.

The ‘Next 50’ Campaign

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Physical Infrastructure - $900,000• $720,000 – Spes Bona• $100,000 – Farmhouse• $80,000 – Other upgrades

Spes Bona

Commonly known as ‘Spes,’ renovating this iconic building would require a new roof, proper insulation, a basement, new foundations, new plumbing and a modern electrical system. Since renovations cost 50% more than new construction, we plan to demolish the current building and construct a new one in the style of the original ‘Spes Bona.’ The new building will be repurposed as a retreat house, with common spaces on the main floor and modern suites on the second floor for small retreats..

Farmhouse

The oldest building on the site, the farmhouse is often used to accommodate summer youth staff. The building requires significant renovations to continue to be used safely, as the building envelope is badly deteriorated. These renovations would ensure that the building could be also be used for the Winter Youth Leadership Development program as well as for staff housing during the summer.

Other Upgrades

For years the budget has been balanced on back of deferred maintenance. Our “to do” list includes environmental initiatives to help us reduce the significant annual energy cost of operating Richardson Lodge. The lower washhouse needs updating; the hillside supporting St. Francis Chapel is unstable and needs re-enforcing; and we also need to renovate the lower level of Richardson Lodge once we move the kitchen.

New Buildings - $1.79 million

Communal Program Space

In the 2013 Winter Semester at Ryerson University in Toronto, Architecture professor George Kapelos taught a course titled Building Utopia. In February, he brought 12 students in that course to Sorrento for a Case Study design exercise.

Upon arrival, the students were given the new Sorrento Centre Mission Statement and told that their assignment was to take this utopian statement and turn it into a building, 6000 square feet in size and made of wood.

They were also told that it had to be situated on the north side of the site in order to allow for the implementation of Phase I of the 2008 Master Plan, which called for the redirection of vehicle traffic away from pedestrian areas.

The creative ideas, images and detailed feedback from this exercise convinced us that the new building we envision as the 3rd Pillar of the campaign needs to provide us with multi-purpose communal spaces.

It needs to allow for the hosting of large or small programs, artistic and creative events, and musical programs, as well as providing a dining hall for 160 people, a new kitchen with the capacity for teaching, a small private dining room for silent retreats, a new Welcome Centre reception area and administrative space.

This new building will also allow us to renovate the existing kitchen and dining room spaces to provide additional meeting rooms and storage areas.

This new building and the flexibility and efficiency it will offer is essential for the provision of new programs, and it will be a vital element in our plan to be financially self-sustaining.

2nd Pillar - Repair and Renew 3rd Pillar - New Buildings

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New Programs - $1.6 million• $500,000 – Winter Youth Leadership Development • $500,000 – Farming for Creation• $600,000 – The Centre for Sabbath and Renewal

The Centre for Sabbath and RenewalThe word Sabbatical comes from the Jewish word ‘Sabbath’ referring to the seventh day of the week, the day God rested from the work of Creation (Gen. 2:2-3).

Sabbaticals invite the discipline of reflective practice – a disciplined reflection on one’s work, one’s life, and one’s values. This reflection is a process of integration and leads to a deepening of one’s vocation. Sabbath can also provide opportunities to experience spiritual direction.

Through a Centre for Sabbath and Renewal we can lower the drawbridge to the majority of the population, inviting them to share in this aspect of the Christian tradition and demonstrating the effectiveness of a hospitality offered with an open mind, a generous heart and an inquiring spirit. Sabbath can also provide opportunities to be accompanied by a soul friend or to experience spiritual direction.

Even fewer understand that accountants and lawyers take them as well.

Clergy, artists, writers, and academics are typically on reduced incomes during their Sabbath leaves. They need financial support in order to stay focused on their creative, critical and reflective projects. The key support would be a Sorrento Fellowship valued at $1500 per month which goes toward the cost of housing and one hot meal per day. An endowment fund of $600,000 would provide enough income to enable 20 fellowships each year.

Winter Youth Leadership Development (WYLD) Sorrento Centre is known for the strength of its educational program for children and youth.

We now want to develop a personal development and vocational discernment program for young adults from 18 – 28 years of age, focused on young adults who might consider a gap year between high school and other forms of post-secondary education in order to sort out how their skills, abilities and passions relate to the world’s deepest needs.

Such a program requires a full-time staff person for the 5-year pilot phase, and additional funds to facilitate an international and cross-cultural component to such a program.

Farming for Creation In 2009 we were blessed by the gift of a farm with five acres of arable land and three acres of woodland. Eventually it will also include a substantial hand-made log home, though it will require renovations to make it suitable for year-round use. We grow food for the Sorrento Centre kitchen as well as for the Sorrento Foodbank and a local Senior Citizen’s home. Our long term plan is to use this for Creation-centred educational programming for a new generation. This vision requires more staff support. $100,000 will be used to repair and renovate the log home for year round use and to create educational program space. $400,000 will be used to create an endowment to support Creation-centred educational programming.

4th Pillar - New Programs

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Today, Sorrento faces a defining moment in its mission and ministry.Developments over the past four years have shown a crucial need for careful and immediate financial planning. As the charts below indicate, the financial base of the Centre is not sustainable. We share a collective opportunity and responsibility to understand why and to respond faithfully.

Our hospitality business can pay its own way but it cannot generate a surplus large enough to renew our infrastructure or enable our mission and ministry (Youth Leadership, Farming for Creation etc.).

We have increased prices for accommodation and meals and this has allowed our revenue to remain flat even though we had fewer guests due to the recession. The variability in program revenue is a good indication of fluctuating attendance. The cost of enabling our mission (enablement cost) continues to rise.

A New Way of Thinking About Funding Our Mission & MinistryOur cumulative cash (deficiency) surplus is listed in the sidebar on the right side of this page. Included is a column of numbers showing that if we had had an endowment of $1.6 million in 2004 producing a return of $80,000 annually (5%), we would have ended 2011 with a cumulative surplus of $249,837. That money could have been invested in infrastructure or bursary funds.

We are fixing up the foundations of the place so that we have a platform for growth and we must build the financial foundations as well as the physical ones. Sorrento is a ministry and a business. Sorrento is growing and our collective objective is to respond faithfully. In 2012 registrations for Sorrento Centre sponsored programs have increased by 26% over registrations in 2011. Expanding our excellent ministry requires new resources.

If we are to sustain and foster the future growth of Sorrento, we must plan carefully. The Campaign is committed to raising $6.64 million in new funds over the next five years, allowing us to grow and be sustainable.

Cumulative cash (deficiency) surplus chart

ESTIMATED WITH ACTUAL ENDOWMENT

2004 ($83,037) ($3,037)

2005 (109,267) 50,733

2006 (45,929) 194,041

2007 (9,464) 310,536

2008 (68,328) 331,672

2009 (116,887) 363,113

2010 (197,577) 362,423

2011 (390,163) 249,837

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Volunteers building Casita apartments

The Centre has never had an endowment fund of more than $30,000 and so the only ‘shock absorber’ is debt. For some years we have balanced our budget by deferring much needed maintenance and expanding the number of outside groups who use our facilities. This has increased our exposure to the volatile tourism industry. We’ve now had four years of recession and that means we have had four years of accumulating deficits. This is not sustainable.

In order to lay a new foundation going forward we must attend to the bottom line without trying to bend the circles of our ministry into a profit and loss box. We have chosen to do this the same way other charitable non-profits do. We are going to establish an endowment fund.

We need $80,000 per year in income to fund our growing youth leadership development programs. A $1.6 million endowment fund will produce the revenue needed to fund these activities.

The total investment needed to resource the strategic directions is $6.64 million. Our operating budget for 2012 is $976,000. $607,000 of that revenue comes from conference rentals and bookings by community groups. In 2011 we received $166,000 in donations from various sources.

Just over 3% of our income comes Diocesan and other ecclesiastical grants. It will be important that we continue to be attentive to the operating needs of Sorrento as we carry out the capital campaign.

Our intention is to raise 50% of the campaign target of $6.64 million within the two-year timeframe of the campaign. The balance of the target amount will be collected from pledges over the following three years.

In order to move forward, it would be helpful if contributors would provide an initial cash gift amount of about 50% of their total contribution, and then pledge the remaining amount over the next few years.

Having an initial sum of money in hand will allow us to pay off the debt and establish the Endowment Fund. We may then borrow against the outstanding pledged amount, which will be paid back by the end of the pledge period.

As is our custom, we will continue to include you in the conversation about the initiatives and the plans.

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Kekuli built by volunteers 1981

Our campaign is about transformation, gratitude and responsibility.When you invest in the ‘Next 50’ Years of Sorrento Centre, you are investing in a holy place committed to the transformation of people and society, and helping to grow a community of learning healing and belonging. You will be repaid in knowledge. You will be repaid in health. You will be repaid in a larger, more robust community that cares for Creation and for each other.

Gratitude is recognizing that everything we have is a gift from God. We are the inheritors and the trustees of these gifts. It is our responsibility to faithfully use what God and our forbearers have given us in the gift of Sorrento Centre. We have a chance to respond to God’s goodness by joyfully giving a portion of the abundance we have been given that others might benefit from the same.

Giving to Sorrento Centre’s ‘Embracing Transformation’ campaign is a way of building a community of love in this world – a community that is stronger than death. It is a way of returning to God a gift in recognition and thankfulness for what we receive from God.

Investments and Gifts

We live in what we could call the ‘Gift Economy.’

The primary place of the gift in society is the family. This is where gift giving is first experienced and the behaviours of gift giving first learned. Everything you see at Sorrento Centre is the result of someone else’s gift. Every floor you walk on, every quilt you pull over your head, every bed you sleep on has been given by someone else that you might benefit from it.

– Christopher Lind

Everyone participates in gift giving. Christmas, birthdays, when we move into a new home, take a new job or have children; we give them and receive them. One of the characteristics of gift giving is that no one is excluded. To some extent, everyone participates in the gift exchange.

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There are two ways to giveto the campaign:

There are two major categories of planned gifts:

Dioceses, parishes, individuals and households in British Columbia and Alberta are being asked to respond to the ‘Embracing Transformation: The Next 50 Years’ Campaign for Sorrento Centre. We ask you to be a partner in opening the door to a new future for Sorrento. Our goal through this campaign is to raise a minimum of $6.64 million. We are honouring as many parishes, individuals and households as possible with a conversation. However, visitors will not ask you to make a decision during the conversation about your financial support.

The decisions made now can provide the underpinnings for the ongoing health and growth of Sorrento locally, nationally and internationally.

We ask that you consider prayerfully your commitment to this future.

The key to a successful campaign is generous giving, which means something different to each person. With everyone giving according to equal generosity – not equal amounts – we can fulfill our vision and make all things new. The campaign will require a level of support not seen since our founders built Sorrento 50 years ago.

As you consider your pledge to the campaign, it will be helpful to remember that based on current income tax laws, like all giving to the church, you will save on your income tax. Contributions are tax deductible.

Immediate Gifts

• Marketable Securities: These gifts can take the form of cash, stocks, bonds, current life insurance policies or mutual funds. Making a gift of securities or mutual funds can reduce the accrued capital gains tax that you might owe. Since spring 2006, gifts of securities or mutual funds to charitable organizations in Canada can avoid payment of capital gains tax otherwise payable by the donor. The Canadian government introduced this initiative to encourage such gifts, benefiting both the charity and the donor; the appreciation in value of such purchases may be quite significant when they are transferred directly to the church

• Charitable Gift Annuity: You can receive tax-free retirement income along with an immediate gift to Sorrento Centre. This is a gift that gives back to you.

The campaign will require a level of support not seen

since our founders built Sorrento 50 years ago.

Gifts and/or Pledges: These include cash gifts over the

next three years by way of cheque, direct debit, credit card contributed

monthly, quarterly, or annually.

Planned Gifts: a gift funded from accumulated

resources or assets, rather than income. Under our current tax laws, there are

opportunities for you to make a significant gift to Sorrento from your

accumulated resources or assets. Because of the tax advantages,

this gift will not negatively impact your current financial circumstances.

Future Gifts

• Bequests Through a Will: Bequests are a very important and meaningful way to leave a final gift to Sorrento Centre. You can leave either a specific gift of cash, artwork or other assets, or a portion of your estate.

• Life Insurance: Making Sorrento Centre a beneficiary of a life insurance policy will give you a tax benefit today and provide a future gift to Sorrento Centre. With a modest monthly insurance premium for a new policy, you can leave a substantial legacy to the centre in the future. Your annual premiums are tax deductible.

• Charitable Remainder Trust: You place cash, property or securities in a trust for Sorrento Centre and receive a guaranteed income for life, with substantial tax savings.

Professional Support

Gifts in either category require careful planning to take advantage of Canada’s tax laws that are designed to encourage generous giving. As part of the campaign, we will have a professional financial advisor, knowledgeable in all aspects of charitable gifts and planned giving, available to meet with you to discuss specific giving opportunities.

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With everyone giving according to equal generosity – not equal amounts – we can uphold Sorrento’s vision. The following chart is one example of how the campaign objective of $ 6.64 million can be met through various levels of giving in Gifts, Pledges and Planned Giving.

Sorrento Centre Capital CampaignGiving Chart for raising $6.64 million

MonthlyAmount

YearlyAmount

of Pledge3-Year Pledge

Actual Monthly Cost

(after tax credit)*

Number of Pledges Required

Cumulative Total

$43 $ 500 $1,500 $23 100 $150,000

$83 $ 1,000 $3,000 $47 100 $450,000

$167 $ 2,000 $6,000 $93 60 $810,000

$250 $3,000 $9,000 $140 60 $1,350,000

$417 $ 5,000 $15,000 $233 26 $1,740,000

$694 $ 8,333 $25,000 $389 14 $2,090,000

$1,389 $ 16,667 $50,000 $778 10 $2,590,000

$2,778 $ 33,333 $100,000 $1,556 8 $3,390,000

$6,944 $ 83,330 $250,000 $3,889 5 $4,640,000

$13,889 $ 166,670 $500,000 $7,778 2 $5,640,000

$27,778 $ 333,330 $1,000,000 $15,556 1 $6,640,000

* based on an average marginal income tax credit of 44%. For corporate donors check with your tax advisor

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Transformation

As you consider the amount of your potential gift to the campaign, please remember that our current tax laws provide a tax credit of 44% for any donations to charitable organizations (including the church) in excess of $200.

This means that the net impact on your financial situation is much less than the gross amount contributed.

This is outlined in the chart below.

Gift to the Campaign

Monthly Cost to Giver*

Total Tax Credit**

Actual Cost to Giver

Approximate Net Monthly Amount***

$1,500 $42 $660 $840 $23

$3,000 $83 $1,320 $1,680 $47

$6,000 $ 167 $2,640 $3,360 $93

$9,000 $250 $3,960 $5,040 $140

$15,000 $417 $6,600 $8,400 $233

* Before tax credit ** Based on a tax credit rate of 44% (applicable to all contributions in excess of $200) *** Based on a commitment over 3 years (36 months) Please consult your financial advisor or accountant to determine your actual savings. If a gift exceeds 75% of net income, the tax credit for the gift can be claimed over five years.

Cumulative Tax Credits

Another very powerful option to maximize your gift is to give back the cumulative tax credits (43.7%). Giving back the cumulative refunds (or credits) of your gift can leverage your gift by nearly 1.7 times over the three-year pledge period. An initial gift of $1,000 in year one results in a $437 tax credit. $437 given back to the church in year two results in another $191 tax credit. The $191 given back results in a further tax credit of $83 in the third year, and if given back, the original gift of $1,000 becomes $1,711 (provided each year the donated amount exceeds the $200 threshold).

Memorial Gifts

Sorrento Centre is a sacred place that evokes memories of special people or times in our lives. Gifts in memory of a loved one are meaningful, appropriate and appreciated, and a special letter acknowledging your gift will be sent to the appropriate person(s). Naming opportunities are available upon request.

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Sample

Sorrento Centre

Name: ———————————————————————————————————————————————————

Address: ———————————————————————————————————————————————————

Postal Code: ———————————————————————— Telephone: ————————————————————

E-Mail: ———————————————————————— Date: ————————————————————

Parish/Congregation: ———————————————————————————————————————————————————

I/we wish to support the ‘Embracing Transformation: The Next 50 Years Campaign’with a total contribution of $______________ as follows:

$ ———— to be paid in ———— monthly/annual (please circle) instalments of $ ———— commencing ———— ———— .

$ ———— to be paid in a single payment on or by ——— ———— ————— .

I / We would like to make a gift of Publicly Traded Shares (the office will contact you) with an estimated value of $—————— .

Other gift: —————— —————— .

Method of Payment

My cheque is enclosed My post-dated cheque(s) is/are enclosed. [Make cheques payable to ‘Sorrento Centre’ and WRITE on the MEMO LINE ‘For Capital Campaign’]

Please debit my bank account automatically. My voided cheque is enclosed.

Please use my credit card: Visa Mastercard

Account # —————————————————————————————— Expiry Date: —————————————————

Please send me a reminder when my next payment is due.

I am interested in knowing more about these types of gifts:

Shares or Stocks Bequests Life Insurance Charitable annuities

Complete the following if applicable

In memory of —————————————————————— In honour of —————————————————————————Please send an acknowledgement card to:

Name: ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Address: ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

City: ——————————————— Province: ———————————— Postal Code ————————————All contributions are deductible for income tax. A charitable tax receipt will be issued to acknowledge your generosity.

Donor recognition: All gifts will be recognized. Please print your name(s), organization or honouree exactly as you wish it to appear. Please refer to www.sorrento-centre.bc.ca for more information OR I / We wish my/our gift to remain anonymous.

Contributor(s) signature(s): _______________________________________________________________

Please mail this form to: Sorrento Centre, 1159 Passchendaele Road, PO Box 99, Sorrento, BC, Canada V0E 2W0 OR complete this form online at www.sorrento-centre.bc.ca

www.sorrento-centre.bc.ca / [email protected] / 250-675-2421 / 1-866-694-2409 / Fax: 250-675-3032 Registered Charitable Number: 129144549RR0021 [Sorrento Centre, Anglican Church of Canada]

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY: Date received:

PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY

Sorrento Centre1159 Passchendaele Road, PO Box 99, Sorrento, BC, Canada V0E 2W0

www.sorrento-centre.bc.ca / [email protected] (confidential) 250-675-2421 / 1-866-694-2409 / Fax: 250-675-3032

Registered Charitable Number: 129144549RR0021 [Sorrento Centre, Anglican Church of Canada]

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Transformation

Sorrento Centre - The 'Next 50' Campaign

Spiritual

Transcript of Sorrento Centre - The 'Next 50' Campaign