Written for the Collaborative Partnerships project (CBCP) of the Episcopal Dioceses of Indianapolis and Northern Indiana – 2026

By the Rev. Allen D. Rutherford, Rector

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Mt. Vernon, IN

The outreach mission of St. John's Episcopal Church in Mt. Vernon, Indiana, is to assist children and their families in our community, located in the extreme southwest corner of the state where the Wabash River flows into the Ohio River.

We have always supported local social service organizations who match our mission, but we also dreamed of one day having a children's ministry of our own or directly partnering with an organization that serves children in need. Our dream has become reality, although the struggle to get here was intense. May our success story encourage your congregation to follow your ministry dreams too.

This chapter of our story began in 2018 with the launch of a capital campaign with a goal of $200,000. Our 126-year-old building needed repairs, and we identified other special projects we wanted to accomplish. We also had our eye on a big historic house next door, coveting (in a good way) the space it could provide to serve children and families.

The absentee landlord who owned the property faced foreclosure. In our capital campaign discussions, the congregation agreed that if the property came up for a tax sale or Sheriff's auction, we would bid on it, which is exactly what happened in May 2019. The lien on the property was $149,000. St. John’s purchased it for $55,001, “sight unseen.”

Then we entered the house. Renters and sub-leasers had turned the inside into the worst hoarder nightmare imaginable. It was unfit for human habitation, but the house had "good bones." We were committed to rehabilitating it for our mission of assisting children. We spent $100,000 of capital campaign proceeds on the restoration. Everyone who has toured the house and grounds has told us it was money well spent.

In the midst of the cleanup, the Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships initiative (CBCP) was launched. By December 2019, the house was deemed clean enough to host community leaders for the CBCP “site visit.” One organization that we specifically targeted for this meeting was the Posey County Department of Child Services (DCS).

CHINS, or “Children In Need of Services," is a big issue in our county. We had heard about the Isaiah 1:17 houses that are considered transitional houses for children taken out of their homes for various child safety issues. When we invited the community leaders to tour our house, we received an immediate response of interest from DCS. After that meeting, ongoing conversations with DCS continued regarding what they would need for the house to be used as a transition house.

Then COVID hit, providing time to continue major renovations to get the house ready for DCS use. While working directly with Posey County DCS to draft a partnership agreement, State DCS officials said the agency was developing new comprehensive guidelines and policies for transition houses and we’d need to wait until they were ready, likely by July 2022. They did not come until December.

Negotiations resumed with Posey DCS, resulting in a draft agreement incorporating the new State policies. Now it was [Episcopal] Church Insurance that took exception. They would not cover the partnership because of state requirements that transition house organizations had to carry liability insurance to cover DCS as well as itself.

Our church leadership team contacted numerous independent insurance agencies but could not find any company willing to extend coverage to a State government department. St. John's was discouraged but determined to find a way around this problem. We invited several community stakeholders to brainstorm on the idea of creating a separate 501c3 non-profit organization to carry the liability insurance for both DCS and St. John’s. There was some individual interest, but no solution.

One brainstorming session attendee was local expert in forming not-for-profit organizations, Joy Millay. Mrs. Millay offered her services as a paid consultant and negotiator for St. John’s between the State DCS and Church Insurance. We successfully applied for a Center For Congregations Resource Grant to hire Joy in early September 2024.

Mrs. Millay made two major suggestions that were agreeable with all parties. The first was to drop the idea of forming a separate non-profit. She felt that St. John’s leadership could manage the partnership in the infancy stage. The second suggestion was to drop the plan to have the house be a “Transition House” where children would be spending the night with DCS supervision.

The latter idea was a major breakthrough with Church Insurance. The reduced contact of children in the house reduced the liability exposure of St. John’s and Church Insurance.

While a location for DCS-supervised overnight stays remains a critical need, Posey County DCS officials explained there were three other important needs that our house could provide:

Reliable space for DCS to host supervised parent-child visitations.
A place for qualified social workers to provide counseling for children showing signs of PTSD from their home-life experience.
Space for periodic staff and interagency meetings

St. John’s felt that these three DCS needs were enough to establish the collaborative partnership and have a positive impact on children.
Finally, in May 2025, with the facilitation of Mrs. Millay, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement was reached between St. John’s and Posey County DCS. In June, Indiana State DCS and St. John’s signed the agreement. In July, Church Insurance agreed to provide the additional liability coverage.

Our final touches to the house included safety equipment required by the MOU (funded in part by a CBCP Phase 2 capital grant), and furniture, made possible by a $3,500 grant from the Posey County Community Foundation.

Two important stipulations are in the MOU. First, St. John’s can still use the house when needed for church events. There is a women’s Bible study group that uses the house on Wednesday mornings. Second, DCS will provide yearly statistics and non-tangible data on the impact that their use of the house will have on children in our community.

Our church’s dream of one day having a collaborative partnership that assists children has finally become a reality! In January 2026 the first supervised parent-child visitation took place in our house.

There were many times when the church was ready to give up, but there was always a sense of determination by this congregation, and always a light that God shined through in our darkest times. Our prayer now is for a lasting partnership with DCS and that God will glorify this important work. St. John’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Vernon. .

For more information contact:

Rev. Allen D. Rutherford, Rector
St. John’s Episcopal Church
rutherford317@sbcglobal.net or Info@cbcpindiana.org

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