Today, I preached from the Acts of the Apostles, where Jesus laid out a new way of looking at and living in the world. He made clear that we need not be well-off to be fed, or eloquent to be heard, or pious to have an experience of God, or wealthy to matter. None of us needs to be strong to be safe or rich to be important.
We are the bearers of that legacy from our corner of the world at Wilson and Hermitage. This place- this place of 125 years- is the place we come to hear the Word, heal our wounds, teach our children and embody His hope. All Saints' is where we come to nurture our souls so that we may change the world.
Now, we must be part of another change. As it turns out, this place is actually in as bad a shape as the exterior indicates. We have a gaping hole in our north wall foundation that has caused significant stress fractures in our sanctuary walls. If we don't fix it, and fix it soon, this place is going to fall down.
There-I've said it. We could actually lose All Saints. And, while there are other places we could all worship, let's face it: there is no other community like this one. We have a passion, a power, a belief, a weirdness, a quirkiness, a "you can't make this stuff up" sense of humor like no other faith community I've ever encountered. We could all go elsewhere, but I believe in the incarnation of God's spirit in THIS space-this "holy" (pun intended) place whose context is truly unique. I think it's worth saving so we can continue embodying the Christian hope of a transformed world...and doing it in All Saints' style.
How we do that? We need $200,000 to make the repairs. We have an existing $50,000 in our capital campaign account, leaving $150,000 to gather. And here is yet another one of the amazing things about this place: we have a group of generous donors who are ready to match whatever you and I pledge, up to $75,000, between now and June 15. If, together, we can generate $75,000, they will match it dollar for dollar. We will then have enough to fix our foundation and save our north wall.
We can do this. Some of us still have portions of unpaid capital campaign pledges from 2008, including me. Here's the opportunity to pay that off or to pay as much of it as might be feasible for you right now. For those who have already completed their 2008 pledge-THANK YOU! It's because of you that we have $50,000 in our capital campaign account. If you are in a position to make an additional contribution, our matching pool will double your impact, and we could certainly use your generous assistance. Finally, some of us weren't here or were unable to make a pledge in 2008. This is your opportunity to make a huge difference. Every dollar you offer in the next 30 days will be matched.
You can contribute on line at www.allsaintschicago.org or by sending in this pledge card. You can also get more information about the hole in the wall here.
I hope each of us can find a way to participate so we can save this place of solace, this place where each of us, at one time or another, ventured through the doors and, truth be told, our lives were never ever the same again.
Blessings,
Bonnie
