CRUX 2019
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Joining Jesus<br />
by the NUMBERS<br />
130<br />
INDIVIDUALS<br />
attended information sessions hosted<br />
by Alan Roxburgh and Tim Hodapp to<br />
explore Joining Jesus Raising Spiritual<br />
Resources<br />
74<br />
PARISHES<br />
met with Tiffany Reed from CCS<br />
Fundraising to learn more about Joining<br />
Jesus Raising Financial Resources and<br />
15 parishes conducted rapid studies to<br />
consider participating in a collaborative<br />
fundraising initiative. 248 individuals<br />
and families were interviewed as part<br />
of these studies to gather thoughts<br />
about their parish’s visions, plans, and<br />
participation in a fundraising initiative<br />
IN TOTAL<br />
from<br />
5<br />
29<br />
PARISHES<br />
10<br />
PARISHES +<br />
the congregations of Christ Church<br />
Cathedral are engaging the new<br />
practices to develop spiritual resources<br />
PARISHES +<br />
the congregations of Christ Church<br />
Cathedral are engaging parish-based<br />
initiatives to develop new financial<br />
resources<br />
2<br />
PARISHES<br />
and our Cathedral congregations are<br />
engaging both<br />
10<br />
INDIVIDUAL DONORS<br />
have contributed to the ECCT-wide<br />
Collaborative Projects<br />
As of October 15<br />
the Joining Jesus initiative<br />
has received gifts and pledges<br />
totaling more than<br />
$2,986,000<br />
FROM<br />
256<br />
individuals and families<br />
The goal of the Joining Jesus<br />
In a New Missional Age project<br />
is to develop both spiritual and<br />
financial resources in our parishes<br />
and across ECCT that we may<br />
more faithfully participate in God’s<br />
mission.<br />
modules, which will be undertaken in the<br />
months of September <strong>2019</strong> through June<br />
2020, engaging the spiritual exercises<br />
more deeply as the Joining Jesus Team<br />
members learn to “listen to the stories of<br />
the neighborhood” [Module 3] and more<br />
ably “discern God’s activity and movement<br />
toward God’s future for the community”<br />
[Module 4].<br />
Early reports from the participating teams<br />
is that this initiative is already yielding the<br />
development of new spiritual resources<br />
through the practice of encountering<br />
their neighborhoods through God’s eyes.<br />
Recently, the parishes and clergy gathered<br />
at The Commons to share stories about<br />
how this first module has progressed, learn<br />
about the second module, and share their<br />
stories and excitement about joining Jesus<br />
in imaginative and new ways across our<br />
neighborhoods in Connecticut.<br />
Parallel to the development of spiritual<br />
resources is a new initiative to raise financial<br />
resources in parishes across ECCT, led<br />
by Tiffany Reed and her team from CCS<br />
Consulting. To begin with, Tiffany met<br />
with 74 parishes to determine interest in<br />
and potential for conducting a fundraising<br />
initiative. Parish leaders learned about the<br />
opportunity and discerned together how the<br />
funds raised locally might be used locally,<br />
from new ministries and capital projects<br />
to adding personnel and funding parish<br />
endowments. These 74 parishes also learned<br />
how they would be invited to contribute<br />
a portion of money raised in their parishbased<br />
fundraising efforts to diocesan-wide<br />
projects proposed in response to the 2018<br />
Region Needs Assessment. The four projects<br />
include: a venture capital fund to resource<br />
new undertakings in each of ECCT’s six<br />
Regions; support for new intentional<br />
Christian communities, such as college<br />
chaplaincies and/or young adult services<br />
communities in each Region; funding to<br />
assist Camp Washington’s development<br />
as a year-round resource for discipleship<br />
formation; and the redevelopment of the<br />
worship space of Christ Church Cathedral<br />
into a flexible, multi-purpose space to serve<br />
ECCT and the arts communities in Hartford<br />
and across Connecticut. (see sidebar, p. 23)<br />
Each parish participating in the fund-raising<br />
initiative chooses which of the four projects<br />
they would like to contribute 20% of their<br />
new money raised. In addition, I have been<br />
in conversation with nearly a dozen individual<br />
Episcopalians in Connecticut who might<br />
wish to contribute directly to one or more of<br />
the diocesan-wide projects.<br />
Of the 74 parishes initially approached,<br />
15 parishes conducted rapid studies to<br />
explore volunteer capacity, goal setting,<br />
and fundraising plans. An additional 35<br />
parishes indicated an interest in considering<br />
a study at a later date. Five parishes and the<br />
congregations of our Cathedral decided to