St. Cyprian's
 
Tuesday, December 4, 2012  
 

Greetings!  

   

People like you made St. Cyprian's this year, San Francisco's "Best Prayer for Unity," according to the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

 

St. Cyprian's has been blessed for over 89 years with lifelong supporters like Lee Dora Rigmaiden, who has probably only missed church five times in her over 50 years of attendance.  Others are new to the adventure, like Dustin Cole, who made this year's beautiful Advent wreath out of a neighbor's bicycle wheel.  Both longtime members and newcomers are crucial to St. Cyprian's future.

 

 

 

At the heart of everything we do at Turk & Lyon is a shared understanding that St. Cyprian's, and the center we have launched, are meeting vital needs of our diverse urban neighborhood.

 

Together with our neighbors, St. Cyprian's and Cyprian's ARC are creating a community where everyone matters. As one longtime Grove Street neighbor Suzanne Cowan said at a recent free community dinner:

 

"What's going on here is the best thing that has happened  

in this neighborhood for a long time."

 

St. Cyprian's & Cyprian's ARC relies on the generosity of people just like you to keep us going and growing into the lively, spiritually-rooted community and center our urban neighborhood needs.

 

Can you help us achieve our goals? Please click here to fill out your 2013 pledge card. With your help, we can continue our important work. If you have already pledge for 2013 thank you, if you haven't, please do so by Sunday, December 23rd.  

 

Everyone Matters, Every Pledge Matters.

 

On October 19, 1996, St. Cyprian's sent a message to the Episcopal Diocese of California requesting a change in our status from parish to mission. The reasons for this change were the following:

 

"We can neither support a full-time rector necessary for spiritual guidance and leadership nor provide the financial support required for viable church programs."

 

But also within that letter were the following lines of hope:

 

"The church community sees this change in status not as a step backward but as an opportunity to stabilize, energize, and revitalize the church. Encouraged by the faith, strength, and resiliency demonstrated by the church ... and filled with the promise and hope of Jesus Christ, the church community commits to working with the Board of Missions toward a brighter future for St. Cyprian's."

 

Since 1996, this congregation and our surrounding neighborhoods have changed dramatically. There have been many struggles and challenges, yet the vision of a hopeful future on the corner of Turk & Lyon has compelled many people through the years to give generously of their time, talent and treasure.

 

Can you offer some of your treasure to support our efforts? Click here to contribute or send in your pledge card. Every dollar counts and will be used to further stabilize, energize and revitalize Turk and Lyon.

 

Congregation and clergy leaders have weathered many storms, overcome significant obstacles, endured heartaches and suffered much grief, all for the promise of a brighter future. We believe that this brighter future is now dawning at St. Cyprian's.

 

 

 

Last year, St. Cyprian's lay leadership began discussing the possibility of a return to parish status. Our Junior Warden Jarie Bolander proposed Parish 2016, a three-year plan that would begin in January 2013. If successful, Parish 2016 will show Diocesan leadership that we are able to keep our financial house in order without Diocesan subsidies, pay for full time staff and expand our impactful programs. St. Cyprian's is counting on your pledge to help us reach this goal and begin our journey to parish status.

 

 

 

 

You can make a direct impact on our Parish 2016 plans by clicking here or sending in your pledge card today.

 

This status change is driven by an awareness of the significant challenges facing organized religion as a whole, and the Episcopal Church in particular. Throughout the Diocese of California, the trends are going the other way, as formerly self-supporting parishes become dependent missions.

 

In fact, if St. Cyprian's meets our goal, we will be one of only a select few missions that have become parishes in the last 30 years. We believe that we are not just an exceptional community, but that we have wisdom to share with the wider church about how progressive, open hearted, inclusive, diverse and locally-oriented congregations can indeed grow if given the chance, trust and opportunity. We know you support those same ideals.

 

Your generous support can help St. Cyprian's and Cyprian's ARC buck the trend and become the success we all want it to be. Please click here to contribute or send in your pledge card today.

 

Our goal this year is to raise $150,000 to grow the programs we have already established, participate more in our community and be in a strong position for our Parish 2016 program.

 

For as little as $80 per month, you can make a direct and lasting impact on programs such as:

  • Free Community Dinners
  • Spirit Village
  • Concerts from local performers
  • Support of the Village Project
  • Summer programs such as art for kids and hosting a Shakespeare camp

 

 

Reaching our goals will require all of us to give what we can or give more of ourselves.

 

For some, giving to St. Cyprian's is and has always been a spiritual practice and they have embraced that by giving 10 percent of their income to the church.

 

Others are doing proportional giving. We have provided the chart below as an illustration.

 

Annual Gross Income

2%

4%

6%

$10,000

$200

$400

$600

$20,000

$400

$800

$1,200

$30,000

$600

$1,200

$1,800

$40,000

$800

$1,600

$2,400

$50,000

$1,000

$2,000

$3,000

$75,000

$1,500

$3,000

$4,500

$100,000

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$150,000

$3,000

$6,000

$9,000

$200,000

$4,000

$8,000

$12,000

 

Annual Gross Income

8%

10%

12%

$10,000

$800

$1,000

$1,200

$20,000

$1,600

$2,000

$2,400

$30,000

$2,400

$3,000

$3,600

$40,000

$3,200

$4,000

$4,800

$50,000

$4,000

$5,000

$6,000

$75,000

$6,000

$7,500

$9,000

$100,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$150,000

$12,000

$15,000

$18,000

$200,000

$16,000

$20,000

$24,000


Still others think of us like a membership to a health club or support us as they do an important community service like NPR or PBS.

 

The important thing to us is that you participate at the level where you feel called.

 

Can you help us by giving today? Click here or send in your pledge card today.

 

We are trusting-we have faith-that all of us working together will create a community where everyone matters.

 

Over this Advent season if you find yourself thinking about giving to causes you believe in, please take some time to consider how much St. Cyprian's matters in your life, and in the life of this neighborhood and city by filling out your pledge card and returning it to St. Cyprian's by Sunday, December 23rd. This will allow us to begin planning our 2013 budget and discern our next steps on the journey to a brighter future for St. Cyprian's.

 

With you, we can make St. Cyprian's and Cyprian's ARC a Place Where Everyone Matters.

 

Faithfully,

 

 

The Reverend Will Scott

 

P.S. We feel strongly that everyone matters and every single pledge matters. We invite you to be part of San Francisco's "Best Prayer for Unity." Help us reach parish status by 2016 by clicking here or sending in your pledge card today.