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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

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