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[Back to index of May 2007 articles] Diocese launches 4th annual Bishop’s Appeal Washington Window
Within two weeks, members of the diocese will receive a letter from Bishop John Bryson Chane asking them to support the diocese's 2007 operating budget, accompanied by a brochure highlighting a few of the ministries that are "blooming in the Bishop's Garden." "In the five years that I have served you, our diocese has cultivated one of the best youth ministries in the Episcopal Church; initiated an energetic outreach to the fast-growing Spanish speaking population; committed itself to breathing new life into our historically black parishes, and begun to welcome the thousands of young people who settle in our area each year looking for a place to worship and a place to belong," Chane wrote. "In this season of new life, I celebrate the vitality of our ministry to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, our outreach to seniors, our partnership with the Church of Southern Africa, and our renewed commitment to bringing the Good News to those who have not heard it, and those in search of a community in which their faith can grow." The mailing includes a return envelope, but donors can also contribute online by visiting the diocesan Web site (edow.org/donate). The brochure accompanying Chane's letter includes comments from Vidal Rivas, Spanish language missioner at St. Luke's, Bladensburg and St. Michael and All Angels; Georgina Anton, a member of the young adult group at Washington National Cathedral, and Peynudeh Allen of Ascension, Gaithersburg, a member of the Committee on Youth. The diocese's $4.68 million operating budget is supported primarily by contributions from its congregations and by income-but never principal-from the Ruth Gregory Soper Memorial Trust. The appeal has raised an average of approximately $100,000 per year. This year's goal is $175,000. Atron Rowe of St. Luke's, D.C. and chairman of the diocese's Congregational Development Task Force said increasing diocesan income was essential to church growth. "People keep telling me that we should be on every billboard, every bus going through town, movie ads. Because we have a good thing going, and we need to tell people about it." To energize the appeal, the diocese hired Lucy Bremner, formerly a fundraiser for National Public Radio and the American Symphony Orchestra League as its part-time development consultant. Bremner worked on the appeal with Jim Naughton, canon for communications and advancement, and Amy Elliott, the diocese's webmaster. Naughton recently told the diocesan council that Bremner had spent much of her first few weeks on the job working on the diocese's fundraising "infrastructure," enhancing the diocese ability to track and acknowledge gifts and cultivate major donors. "We are in a better position to give donors personalized attention," Bremner said. [Back to index of May 2007 articles]
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The fourth annual Bishop's Appeal begins this month.