I am very pleased to have this chance to talk with this group in person on behalf of the Foundation Commission about the Bicentennial Restoration of the Cathedral and Parish House Campaign. Many of you have heard some of this before when we’ve visited the Men’s Bible Study group, the Daughters’ Chapters, and individuals. Some of you may have even read about the Campaign in the Trinity Tidings inserts. I know of at least one person who has! Current information for 2007 on the Trinity Foundation is in the upcoming issue of the Tidings as an insert, which I hope that you will read!

Many of you know how passionate many of us are about the importance of restoring these beautiful worship spaces. Please don’t run when you see us coming!

Those of you who are here today, as well as many others who could not be here, believe in our parish’s mission and ministry. Many of you have already made gifts to the Campaign and those of us who are working on the campaign as members of the steering committee are very appreciative. I know that Sally Caughman, John Moorman, Lyles Glenn, Jim Smith, and Vance Bettis join me in thanking you. In addition, our former Senior Warden, Buddy Hill, is responsible for the building restoration process, working very closely with our Owner’s Representative, Wilson Farrell.  The person who has been enthusiastically keeping all of us in line is Kirsten Moorman, our Campaign Coordinator. Kirsten brings a kind and gentle spirit to this process and I’m very grateful for her work with us.

Others of you have been contacted but are still considering your gift, but the vast majority of our parishioners are still waiting to be asked! And we’re going to give each of you the chance to make a gift! A gift from each of you will be VERY important because there is a need for a lot of money for this expensive and very necessary undertaking. There is clarity of purpose in this effort and certainly a purity of motivation.

As of today, we have over $2.8 million in pledges or cash. We’ve made individual calls on 180 members of our parish and 110 have responded. Another 70 Letters of Intent which are like pledges have been delivered to potential donors & we expect them to be returned to the Campaign in the near future. Some cash gifts have even come in unsolicited! We are hopeful these outstanding Letters of Intent will come into the Campaign before year end. As a special encouragement to all other groups, the Daughters of the Holy Cross have made a leadership gift in the amount of $35,000 to the Campaign, which I’m very proud to announce to you today!

Currently, 24 solicitors have been making calls.  As we expand our base of solicitations, we will expand our base of solicitors to make individual calls. As the Campaign progresses, we will go to a parish wide approach. The idea is to give each person who is on the rolls of Trinity Cathedral the opportunity to make a gift. These friends show the depth of our team and the results show their deep commitment to our parish.

The great news is that we are almost halfway to our goal of $5.5 million. With the commitments in hand, we have been able to:

1. Complete a sorely needed and entirely new heating & air conditioning system in the Cathedral.
2. Repair and reinstall several of our beautiful and historic stained glass windows, specifically the original 1846 windows in the towers. We’ve been able to cover a few with the new vented auto glass that protects the window, allows for it to breathe, and also gives a clear view to the glorious colors of the historic glass from inside the Cathedral.
3. Complete the handicap accessibility ramp and order the copper hood and lighting for the doorway.
4. Construct the south narthex steps, which are almost finished. We’re waiting on the handrails and a copper roof is being designed and will be installed soon!
5. Replace the louvers in the towers and even add a fan system that can be manually controlled to keep air circulating in the west balcony!
6. Investigate the trusses as you well know if you attended services in Averyt Hall! Who would ever believe that just a couple of weeks ago we had scaffolding down the nave with a so-called ‘dance floor’ platform at the clerestory height! Great views, I’ll tell you!
7. Replace 9 spires that I’ve described as being on life support, others in intensive care are on order, and all the remainder spires will be replaced.
8. Many other things that you cannot see on a daily basis have also been accomplished. There is one place I’m sure you haven’t seen unless you are a lay minister. In that case, you are enjoying your new space next door to the acolyte vesting room instead of in it! 

All of these things…and we still haven’t gotten to the electrical wiring, plaster repair, pew refurbishing and the many other aspects of a ‘facelift’ of a 160 year old! All of these things…..and we’re staying within budget! We invite each member of Trinity to keep up with the work and the progress of the Campaign on the new Campaign link to the Trinity web site. Go to www.trinitysc.org and click on GIVING on the main navigation. The menu will give you the chance to visit the Campaign pages.

But you CAN see with your own eyes the work that still needs to be done-the plaster repair, water damage, damage from too much use (and that’s a good problem!), repair of the rest of our stained glass windows to include protective vented covers on all of the windows!

We need to persevere! More than 100 years ago, a Bishop Satterlee worked tirelessly to build our National Cathedral. He even signed a personal mortgage that would be worth millions today! Now I’m not asking Bishop Henderson or Dean Linder to do the same thing! Yet, Bishop Satterlee’s belief in the “Cathedral spirit” never faltered. How can we let our belief in our Cathedral spirit falter? Most of us were not here at the laying of the Foundation stone in 1846 and we won’t be here when even more is built. But we can protect and preserve that which generations before us started and other generations have carried forward.

In the end, we will be known by the impact we have on our parish. Will we rise to the occasion to restore our sacred and historic Cathedral and Parish House?

The response is:   Yes, we will!  

Will each of you here today promise that you will prayerfully consider making a gift to the Restoration effort?  

The response is:   Yes, we will, with God’s help!

I’m reminded of a favorite Christmastime book I read as a child and read to my children–WHY THE CHIMES RANG. I’m sure most of you know the story. You know it was not the crowns of kings and jewels of the nobility brought to the altar as gifts to the Christ-child on Christmas Eve that finally made the chimes ring – long silent in the ancient Cathedral. It was a simple gift of a single coin – a gift from the HEART – from a poor little boy that made the chimes peel. We can’t expect other people who may be sitting next to us who may have more than we do to carry this Campaign alone and without the help of each of us as individuals. Each gift, from each of you, is important. Each gift from each of you is necessary, however large or small. Each gift from each of you will make us as individuals feel a part in the process to make our chimes peel.

Remember what we read in Luke:

From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

He didn’t say unto whom the most money is given. Of course, we need contributions commensurate with each person’s ability to give. Large gifts from those who are able will make a significant difference in the campaign and in the work that we need to do on the Cathedral and Parish House that have been entrusted to us. But small gifts, if that is all the donor can really give, are necessary and important.  Each of us has been given many opportunities and many blessings. Now is the time to recommit ourselves to our church for future generations.

Today is the Day to start!