CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL An Episcopal Community in the Heart of Houston, Texas
OCTOBER 2012 CHRISTCHURCHCATHEDRAL.ORG
Giving is a personal commitment A time to step up Everyone who has ever attended a church service is familiar with the idea of stewardship. Whether they pass the offering plate or pick up a pledge card, everyone has to contemplate giving at some point. But for Cathedral member Flo Ray, her father made sure she understood the significance of pledging at an early age. “When I was a little girl and joined the Presbyterian Church, before I became an Episcopalian, my father sat me down in the pew after the service and handed me a pledge card,” Ray said. Ray’s father then walked her through the process of figuring out how much to pledge
from her 50-cent weekly allowance, taking 10 percent and then multiplying it by the number of weeks in the year. Despite the fact that she could only contribute a nickel per week, her father felt that pledging was important. “He said, ‘Now that you’re a member, you have to make a pledge. That’s what members do.’” Ray recalled. “That has always stuck with me. There were some years when I went to Christ Church Cathedral and didn’t make a pledge. And to be honest, I felt like I wasn’t pulling my own weight, and I didn’t like feeling like that.” Now, Ray always makes a pledge, and she
PLEDGING, inside
Flo Ray sets the altar for communion as a member of the Altar Guild.
Landmark cancer study seeks participants The American Cancer Society invites men and women ages 30–65 with no personal history of cancer to join a historic research study. Cancer Prevention Study-3 is a multiyear survey that will study lifestyle, behavioral, environmental and genetic factors that may cause or prevent cancer.
Screenings will be held at the Cathedral on November 4 and at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church on November 11. To learn more about the study and to enroll, visit cancerstudytx.org or the Pastoral Care Council table in the cloister on October 14 or 28.
Our journey to the Cathedral was somewhat interesting. Chris was raised Presbyterian while Alison grew up Episcopalian. In fact, Alison’s mom, Nanette, whom we lost last year, was the activities coordinator at St. John the Divine for 36 years. When Chris was livALISON AND ing in Amarillo, he CHRIS BELL joined its First Presbyterian Church. A few months later, the longtime pastor retired. When he moved to Houston, he joined First Presbyterian here and again, after just a few months, longtime pastor Jack Lancaster retired. By that time, we were headed for the altar, so together we looked for a church. We visited the Cathedral but didn’t even have to join; after seeing us sitting in the pews, Dean Pittman McGehee announced he was out of there. We wound up in another Episcopal congregation and guess what? After a few years, the rector left. Shortly afterwards, Chris met Joe Reynolds and we gave the Cathedral another look. It was one of the best decisions we ever made. We share all of this because we think it’s humorous, but also, in all seriousness, because we think fellow parishioners need reassurance during this time of transition. Change is hard. But we are living proof you can survive a major change in church leadership. The Cathedral also offers living proof, since it has survived again and again throughout its history. We are proud to serve as chairs of the Every Member Canvass during this time of transition and hope you will work with us to make it just as successful as in years past. This is not the time to take a step back. This is the time to step up. When considering your pledge, we ask that you think about our great congregation and the future of the Cathedral. Please do everything you can to make sure that future is bright.