For more than 30 years now, St. Philip the Deacon has conducted Capital Appeals every three years. As you would expect the headlines and priorities for these appeals have varied. In some cases, the emphasis has been on supporting mission partners around the world or in our own neighborhood. We have, for example, provided clean water in Malawi; raised funds for Christian micro-loans in Colombia; built dormitories for a school in India and medical clinics in Tanzania; and supported our friends at Interfaith Outreach and developers of affordable housing in Minneapolis.
In other appeals, the emphasis has been on expanding or improving our physical plant so we can better serve our members and the community. The following spaces are all the result of these past efforts: our Sanctuary; the Center for Faith & Life; the Learning Center; the Music rehearsal room; and improvements to our Middle Level, the Fellowship Hall, the Atrium, the lower-level entrance, and the office suite. All these spaces continue to bless our mission and ministry today.
Faithfully managing our mortgage has also been a part of all these appeals—important in that this allows us to be fiscally responsible and have enough margin for effective ministry.
For the upcoming three-year cycle, all of these will be a part of what we’re doing—we’ll continue to partner with Mental Health Connect and Rise Early Learning Center; we’ll make some modest repairs and improvements to our physical plant; and we’ll continue to faithfully manage our mortgage, and even pay downsome principal.
The headline for this appeal, however, is really about making what is already a healthy and vital and vibrant church even more effective at spreading God’s love in a hurting world.
As New York Times columnist David Brooks writes, “We live in a time that is weirdly dehumanizing. We’re in the middle of a social crisis.” In his recent book, How to Know a Person, he outlines statistic after statistic that confirms this. To take just two of these, one recent survey finds that 54 percent of Americans report that no one knows them well. Another finds that 36 percent of Americans report that they felt lonely frequently or almost all of the time, including 61 percent of young adults and 51 percent of young mothers.
Here’s the thing: In this time of disorientation and crisis, the church can actually do something. And, more specifically, a healthy church like St. Philip the Deacon can make an outsized impact.
And so, in this appeal—in which we ask God to help us become the salt that flavors the world, and the light that can shine God’s love and hope into a hurting world—we are investing in ways to build community, to teach and engage our young people, to expand our educational
and spiritual growth opportunities, to help people connect through service and engagement, and to engage more people through our digital outreach.
Friends, the need is great, and—as we say all the time—it turns out that your gifts really can make a difference. I invite you to join your brothers and sisters at St. Philip the Deacon in this important work and to help us become salt and light for God’s world.