Discernment Booklet 2014

Made in

I shall thank You for in an awesome, wondrous way I was fashioned; Your works are wondrous, and my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139: 14 (Tanakh)

God’s Image About the 2014 Pledge Campaign for Mission Resources...

Dear Fellow Members of our Saint John’s Community, Welcome to a new chapter in our life as a Christian community. With the beginning of this program year, we embark on one of the most exciting times that many of us have known at the Cathedral. With renewed staff and renewed energy, we embrace God’s invitation to our Christian mission. The invitation to be a Christian is nothing less than to live fully human lives as those who are made in God’s image. To be made in God’s image means that God has created us with the potential to respond to God and to our world with God-like commitment and love.

Our theme this year is “Made in God’s image.” The financial gift that you make in your pledge funds the mission and ministry of this Christian community. Our pledges are not based on a need to fund a particular budget. They come from that part of ourselves that is created by God to be generous and self-giving, and we give because God gives us the grace to give. This is an exciting time for our Cathedral parish, and we want you to be a full participant in all that is happening.

We will launch this exciting renewal on Sunday, September 29, at a Coffee Hour Reception at Saint John’s and we will bring this season of renewal to a close with a celebratory evening Eucharist, meal, and party on Wednesday, November 20. Please mark your calendars now! This celebratory parish dinner for everyone will be great fun, wonderfully creative, and extremely tasty.

We hope that all pledge cards will be dropped off or mailed in to the Cathedral by Sunday, November 17. Throughout this eight-week season of renewal at our Sunday morning services, our fellow parishioners will be telling us why they love this Christian community, and we will be keeping you current with how the renewal is going with emailed and mailed updates.

This booklet highlights many aspects of our life and is designed to help you to pray about, discuss, and consider your giving to Saint John’s. We encourage you to approach your financial support of our mission as a spiritual discipline. We are investing in a vibrant, growing ministry; and our pledge is a sign of our effective partnership with God in making God real for others. For some of us, our pledge is sacrificial; others of us can increase our giving easily two-fold, or even ten-fold. All of the Vestry, Wardens, clergy, and program staff have made their pledges in advance.

May God whisper love into our hopes and fears, into our strengths and vulnerabilities, as we each consider what portion of God’s provision to us we will give back to God’s mission, as we live more fully into our calling as those who are made in the image of the living God.

Jim East Tom Stoever Chair, The Stewardship Commission Senior Warden

God as Lover

God loved the cosmos into existence and then brooded over the planet as it was created. The creation story tells us that God sees the earth and its occupants as “beautiful” (too often translated as merely “good”) and then so deeply loves, that God joins us as Jesus. To love God, and to love all creation, is to follow the first and greatest commandment and to live into the image in which we were created.

Our Image as Lover When we finally grasp how much God loves us, pledge campaigns and financial renewals will become extinct! There will be no need for them, because we shall have learned how to partner with God for all our needs. The word “philanthropy” means “lover of humankind,” and it is a title that the Christian tradition gives to God. Our deepening commitment to true loving of humankind is, therefore, another way in which we grow in the image of God. When we begin to know that God loves us, the restraints on our kindness, generosity, time for others, and our generosity with our money and other resources will be loosened.

God as Giver

One of the ways that Christians understand the life of God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - is the image of a self-giving, continual, intimate, life-giving, eternal dance. The Father, the Son and the Spirit are in constant relationship, giving room, yet remaining one in life and purpose. One saint even said that in the love that exists in God, the Father is the one who kisses, the Son is the one who is kissed, and the Holy Spirit is the kiss. From this love, at the very heart of God, flows the love that sustains the creation and each one of us.

We are caught up in this life-giving dance and we are made in this same image of love.

“We were made to create. That creativity emerges from the creative love which is God.”

God as Creator

There are more than 2,300 different kinds of Praying Mantis.

This insect comes in green, yellow, pink, pale blue, lavender, and purple. Why would God create so many different kinds of one bug? The beauty and diversity of this planet is a testament to God’s delight in creating the wild and the wonderful. Jesus makes wine, provides bread and fish, makes plans, and brings life out of death. God seems to like to use one thing to create another, and the Bible even speaks of God as the potter and humanity as the clay. From the relationship of potter and clay come unique and different people every time.

“To love God and to love all creation is to follow the first and greatest commandment and to live out the image in which we were created.”

Our Image as Giver Made in God’s image as giver, we are made to give just as a dog is made to fetch in cold water. Helping a dog to enjoy the way it was made by throwing a stick is not unlike helping us to enjoy the way we were made by inviting a pledge. Scientifically, the part of our brains which “lights up” when we give something away is the same pleasure center which lights up when we receive a spontaneous gift. To give is in our deepest nature.

Our Image as Creator We humans are designed to create things. Cooking, gardening, letterwriting, blogging, doodling in meetings, and decorating a cathedral or studio apartment are all creative acts.

We were made to create. That creativity emerges from the creative love which is God. The way trees and soil make oranges and oranges make the juice, so too, love generates giving which makes

resources needed to create. We love.

We then give. We then can create.

Giving is enfolded within love and creativity and all three are activities for which we humans were designed.

“To give is in our deepest nature.”

Accomplishments in 2013 How the Cathedral Loved Others in 2013 • Through our public worship, which included in this past year 198 Sunday services, 37 special services, 501 weekday daily offices, 330 daily eucharists, 58 baptisms, 30 confirmations and 8 receptions into the Church, 8 weddings, 42 funerals, and 5 Easter House Masses, we have kept open the channel of love that worship creates and sustains for thousands of worshipers. This includes many who are unchurched or estranged from the Church,

and many of whom have come to a deeper relationship with God through worshiping with us.

• Over 60 volunteers cooked 644 meals for weekly groups of up to twenty homeless women and provided a safe, comfortable place for these women to sleep.

• Many in our city have told us that our Cathedral is a beacon of hope and encouragement to them in their daily lives as

How the Cathedral Gave to Others in 2013 • As an essential element of our ministry to our city, the Cathedral community gives grants to the following agencies through our Urban and Social Concerns Committee: 32nd Avenue Jubilee Center, Adam’s Camp, Caring Association for Native Americans, CHARG, Colorado Youth at Risk, the Conflict Center, The Delores Project, Earthlinks, Family HomeStead, The Center, Maria Droste Counseling Center, Metro CareRing, Project Angel Heart, Project PAVE, Safehouse Denver, Saint Francis Center, Urban Peak, and Work Options for Women.

• Over the past year, our children and youth helped prepare over 5,340 sandwiches which were given to those in need as part of a nearby food ministry.

• Our children and young people raised $2,675 for Episcopal Relief and Development, Denver’s Road Home, and for other grants from the Urban and Social Concerns Committee.

• 10 volunteers from our congregation worked on homes for Habitat for Humanity.

How the Cathedral Created with Others in 2013 • The Abrahamic Initiative hosted 12 events to bring together Jews, Christians, and Muslims for dialogue and effective work in our city, creating hope for better relationships in our community.

• The “Cathedral Booth” was present at a number of city-wide events, including PrideFest and Snack Attack, creating important relationships with many different sections of our city community.

At PrideFest, staff and volunteers gave 85 hours

to this work and distributed 1,500 packets of sunscreen to those who stopped by the booth.

• Our major church services at the holidays, especially our Carol Services and Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter liturgies, connected us with our occasional worshipers and others who think of the Cathedral as part of their lives.

• The Wilderness welcomed over 4,622 worshipers with an average attendance of 87, and continues

they see it from their offices or pass it in their cars.

• More than 120 lay Eucharistic visits were made by volunteers of the parish to members who could not come to church because they were hospitalized, ill, or homebound.

• Our Seniors on a Rampage program brought together more than 35 seniors and their friends for 8 events, giving essential support and community to our our older parishioners.

• On Loaves and Fishes Sunday, we gave 2,717 pounds of food to Metro CareRing for hunger relief in Denver, and we will continue our support of their annual fund-raising Gala in October both by a financial gift and the presence of about 40 parishioners.

• Our Cathedral Camp welcomed 72 campers, and over 25 counselors and staff participated. This year for the first time, our Cathedral Camp was extended for a second week to open up this experience to campers from other parishes in our diocese.

• More than 175 people give both time and talent to our

to be one of the most creative and long-lived “new worshiping communities” anywhere in the Episcopal Church. The Wilderness remains a safe place for many in their exploration into a new or renewed relationship with God. • Our worship has been sustained by the creativity of our liturgical leaders, our preachers, our musicians, our flower arrangers and all those who seek to create worship that is

• The entire Capitol Hill neighborhood was blanketed with invitations to Saint John’s Day and our Neighborhood Block Party. Many of our neighbors who otherwise never come through our doors joined us for church, fun, games, food, and conversation.

• Our weekly Cathedral tours on Sundays helped us spread the message of the Gospel, which is written in our architecture, windows, and art.

Music Program, which includes both music for worship and a range of concerts and other music. One particular parishioner gave over 600 hours this past year year (the equivalent of 75 working days) in invaluable service.

• We welcomed more than 6,200 people to the audiences of our music program. In keeping with our long-standing tradition, many of these concerts were free.

• The Martyn Hart Legacy Society has a membership of over 200 people who have remembered the Cathedral in their estate plans, and so they ensure the future wellbeing of our ministries.

beautiful, moving, and sustaining of our life as followers of Jesus Christ.

• This year even our engineers were creative! The hard work of engineers, staff, and congregational leaders meant that the asbestos abatement was successfully completed early and under budget, and we have made usable again essential space underneath the Cathedral floor.

Some guidance from the Canon Steward: How to discern (decide in prayer) on your pledge Need: As anyone knows who has lived with a family or a group of friends, or who has worked in almost any field, the business of making a community and accomplishing goals requires that we gather, assess our resources, and contribute to our common life and work. As a church, we make community in many ways, including providing pledges that we can count on in planning our ministry for the ensuing year. We believe that we provide a unique ministry that no other community or institution in Denver provides, and that this mission is worth our financial investment.

Precedent: In Luke’s Gospel (8:3), we read that the women with Jesus supported his ministry and that of his followers. In the Acts of the Apostles, we also read that the Christian community made provision for the support of its work (Acts 2:45). We at Saint John’s are those who embody and continue Jesus’ ministry. Pledging is for members of this congregation family. Cash gifts to the collection plate are for visitors passing through Denver or visiting for the first time.

Fear: Our chief goal this year is to reach those who do not make a written financial pledge, and convert them to this spiritual and family-membership discipline. Our second goal is to increase our average pledge from its current $1,665 to $3,000 over the next three years. We hope that everyone will know the percentage of their income that their pledge represents. As a former monk who has no assets, I will be pledging seven percent of my income in 2014. I know that the other clergy and our congregational leaders will be making sacrificial gifts. But for me to pledge in this way is a bit scary. What if I cannot pay it? What if my home in New Hampshire does not sell? What if I get sick or the rent goes up? What if I want to make a trip and cannot afford it? If you are nervous about pledging, I get it! If you need help in either making a pledge for the first time, or exploring how you may deepen this practice, let’s talk. I can be reached at 303.577.7711 or at Charles@sjcathedral.org. A pledge is a commitment and commitments take courage.

How: Over the eight weeks of this time of renewal and commitment, I invite you to welcome the promptings of God. I invite you to discuss money openly in your relationships. If you are living beyond your means and need help, there will be a class in the Cathedral Nite program called Financial Peace that will help you. If you need to develop a Rule of Life that includes the spiritual practice of pledging, speak to one of the clergy. If you have children, they will also receive pledge cards so that you have the opportunity to teach them, from a young age, about the importance of giving to God through the Church.

Above all, be gentle with yourself in this discernment.

You may find that you experience some internal resistance either to pledging or to increasing your pledge. It may be uncomfortable for you that the Cathedral is discussing money so openly, or not openly enough. You may feel some shame, guilt, resentment, or embarrassment about money as you consider the planet’s population and its poverty.

These are all natural responses. But to pledge to the work of the Gospel is a courageous act, and it can mean confronting some long-standing habits and feelings so that we can “do a new thing,” as the Scriptures say. But with this deepening generosity comes an even deeper spiritual maturity.

O God our creator and sustainer, the source of all love and the giver of all good things: so settle my heart and my affections in you, and in the sure knowledge of your care for me, that the subject of money neither enflames my fears nor stirs up my insecurities; but calm my anxiety about money and the needs of life, and give me the grace to live into the fullness of my baptismal covenant, by which I was marked as your own for ever; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who showed us love, the greatest way of all.

Amen.

Note from the Dean Dear People of Saint John’s and our Friends, Saint John’s Cathedral and our community are much-beloved. We have a strong and devoted congregation, but our Cathedral family extends well beyond those who gather for worship on Sundays. There are all those who have relationships of differing kinds with the Cathedral, and the Cathedral has a place in the hearts of so many in our Denver community and beyond.

The pledges that we make fund a mission and ministry that have an impact on the lives of our members, neighbors, visitors, and many whom we shall never meet in other parts of the world who are touched by what we do. Our ministry creates webs of relationships near and far.

Our congregation is filled with hundreds of people who give of themselves for others, and in these pages you will read their witness. May their commitment serve to remind us all why we love and are committed to this Christian congregation of those who “love, give, and create” for the sake of advancing the Kingdom of God. With every blessing and encouragement.

The Very Reverend Peter Eaton

“I had a difficult journey last year because I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I requested prayers from the Saint John’s prayer chain. Thanks to prayers from my loving family, my Saint John’s family, and many friends across the country, I have been comforted.”

- Julie Fletcher “I see the Holy Spirit in our community. People give of themselves and they receive from each other. The community cares about each other, receives from one another, and gives to one another. It is an active thing – a two-way street - not passive. Life in the community of this church is an action verb. There is movement in our giving and it flows.”

- Newt Klusmire

“I love the connection to God and community I find at Saint John’s.

Our worship, music, preaching, conversation, and fellowship nourish my mind, heart, and soul.

And we laugh! I am strengthened for learning and growth and service.”

- Terri Colburn

“Each parishioner is respected at Saint John’s and is invited into a process of the transformation of our lives. The invitation is not to conformity but to the renewal of our minds through study, worship, fellowship, and play. This can begin the day we walk in the door.“ - Margaret Johnson

“The beauty of the Cathedral’s many ministries is a constant reminder to me of the many ways in which people come together to support, encourage, and challenge each other to live and grow in faith as a community.”

- Jack Denman

“Saint John’s is an essential part of my family’s formation in faith.

The preaching and teaching are second to none. My family is engaged in scripture, tradition, and contemporary thought. I’m grateful to have a place like this in which to raise my children.”

- Tim Dunbar

“We valued a welcoming and inclusive environment, where we could become a part of a genuine community, and ultimately raise our family in a church we were proud to call home.”

- China Kent

“A thriving congregation like Saint John’s has both beautiful corporate worship and spiritual understanding.

I love the Catechumenate and SOWhAT classes which form both adults and youth respectively. We take theology and use it to form our lives. That is great work.”

- Luke Challis

A letter from Niki Saint John’s has been opening its doors every Monday night to provide welcoming shelter and warm meals for up to twenty of Denver’s homeless women.

2013 Ministry Budget

Imagine for 2014...

Imagine what we could do if giving increased and the endowment were to be freed up.

Imagine the possibilities.

A sampling of average pledges: Saint John’s Cathedral, Denver, CO The Diocese of Colorado The Episcopal Church at large All Saints, Atlanta, GA St. David’s, Austin, TX The Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, GA Christ Church, Greenwich, CT

$1,665 $2,586 $2,500 $3,256 $2,790 $3,357 $2,931

Vestry Letter to the Congregation Dear Sisters and Brothers, In the past you have heard from one or more of the Wardens, and perhaps one or two members of the Vestry, at the beginning of our Annual Pledge Renewal for Mission and Ministry. This year, however, we thought it was important that you hear from all of us about the significance of our campaign for 2014.

There has been a lot of change at Saint John’s in the last twelve months. This change has presented us with tremendous opportunities in the coming year – opportunities to expand our mission and ministry in new and exciting ways. We can seize these opportunities if we, as a congregation, give our talented, faithful community the resources we need to help all of us live into our baptismal covenant.

To that end, each member of the Vestry has committed herself or himself to the following practices of stewardship as we enter this season of renewal: • We have taken time to discuss our pledges with our spouses, partners, and significant others. Where appropriate, we have included our children in that conversation to introduce them to the discipline of stewardship.

• We have prayed about our pledge for 2014, as a group, with our families, and as individuals.

• Each of us has taken the time to calculate what percentage of our household income is represented by our pledge for 2014.

• Each of us has become a sustaining pledger by authorizing Saint John’s to transfer money directly from our checking accounts and to continue to do so until we change our pledge.

As a result of this practice, the members of the Vestry have, on their own, decided to increase their pledges for 2014.

As a group, we think we represent a cross-section of our Cathedral community. So we are aware that increasing a pledge can be a difficult decision, often requiring faith that God will provide what we are giving back in thanksgiving. The fact that we represent a cross section has also led us to the realization that while pledging may be difficult for some, there are others for whom a substantial increase in their pledge would better express the theology of stewardship, as well as provide needed resources for our Mission and Ministry. Whichever group you fall into, we believe that the practices of stewardship outlined here will lead you to the conclusion that it is appropriate to increase your pledge in 2014 in gratitude for the blessings we have all received. Moreover, we hope that you will come to the conclusion (as we have) that giving to Saint John’s should be a priority for all of us.

We are very excited about the Annual Pledge Renewal for Mission and Ministry this year. Our Stewardship Commission and Canon Steward have worked hard to prepare a robust and thought-provoking set of materials for the campaign. Each of us is committed to attend the Stewardship Kickoff on Sunday, October 6, and the Cathedral Celebration Dinner on Wednesday, November 20. We hope you will be there to celebrate with us.

This brings our thanks for your commitment and ongoing support.

David Abbott David Ball Kat Challis Susan Chenier Jen Courtney-Keyse

Jim East Newt Klusmire Larry Kueter Amanda Montague Ned Rule

Frank Scott Tom Stoever John van Camp Mary Ellen Williams

Your Faith Commitment 2014 Saint John’s Cathedral Pledge Certificate Having prayed about this annual pledge to fund the mission of Saint John’s Cathedral in 2014 and in the context of gratitude for all that God has given to me / our family, and with the sure knowledge that this pledge is part of living out my/our life as having been made in the image of a lover, giver, and creator, please be advised of the 2014 pledge of $ during the next fiscal year (January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014).

(I/we realize that in the event of a financial problem in 2014, we can confidentially adjust our pledge by calling the clergy.)

Date

Signature (s)

Thank You for your Commitment

Name(s)

Address

You will be sent a letter confirming your pledge in November 2013 and a letter for your tax use reflecting your 2014 contributions in January 2015.

Email

Home Phone

I/We intend to give : (a weekly pledge is very helpful in our financial planning!)

Weekly

Monthly

Quarterly

Full Amount Yearly

I/We are interested in making a separate gift (in addition to the annual support listed above) to a specific project for which funds are needed. Please have the clergy contact me about having this conversation.

I/We are interested in receiving information about planned giving (estate planning, charitable trusts, making a will or living will, etc.) Please contact me/us about this by sending literature which will help to inform my/our planning.

Please send your completed pledge card to: Stewardship Campaign Saint John’s Cathedral 1350 Washington Street Denver, CO 80203

You may also pledge online at sjcathedral.org/pledge

1350 Washington Street, Denver, Colorado 80203 sjcathedral.org info@sjcathedral.org 303.831.7115