A Capital Campaign is a fundraiser that takes place over an extended period of time, often three years. Churches have capital campaigns to raise money for extraordinary needs beyond what the annual budget can cover. They are fairly common, and experts suggest capital campaigns should happen fairly regularly in the life of a church. Christ Church Cathedral had its last Capital Campaign, “Opening our Doors,” in 2003 and it raised the equivalent of $718,000 to make the building more accessible. Earlier this year, the Long Term Financial Planning team met to discuss the Cathedral’s financial outlook, and agreed that it would be good to explore a capital campaign to help with some short term needs as well as to invest in ministries which we think will help grow and strengthen the Cathedral.
This Sunday, at the end of the 10 am service, Senior Warden Donna Barten will briefly introduce the “Shining the Light” campaign. Slides will be available as an attachment in emails and on the website, and will be handed out at church.
As you consider the objectives of “Shining the Light,” we invite you to consider the importance of what we are proposing – repairs to preserve the organ, work to protect some of our stained glass windows, and a renovation to the fire alarm system. We also invite you to see the vision of outreach and welcome in the campaign objectives, including adding high power lighting to the statue of Jesus on the tower, commissioning religious art for the sanctuary that contains images of people of color, and building 2 showers in the undercroft for those in need. And we encourage you to dream with us as we look at renovating and improving our undercroft, the basement under the sanctuary, with plans to improve the airflow, add heating and air conditioning, and build a more inviting and secure entrance to the outside. We imagine a renovated undercroft as a place to rent out for fundraisers, as a place to continue to host 12 step groups, Loaves and Fishes, the Drop-In Center, and other community events. And we imagine a renovated undercroft as a better home for us as we gather together for church suppers, for parties and celebrations, for annual meetings, and for activities for children and youth.
The work of designing the capital campaign is not complete, but will continue in the months ahead as we listen to people’s comments and suggestions and examine the possibilities of raising the money necessary for the work. Join us.
Above all things, we ask for your prayers for the Cathedral and for this important work. And we ask your prayers for those who will come after us, whose church we are helping to build with this campaign. We do not know what the future will hold, but we want to do our best to invest in it for the sake of those to come.
If you cannot join us on Sunday, please review the presentation and please engage with us in the discussions that will follow. Thank you.
Here is the link to a PDF of the Capital Campaign Presentation.
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