Annual Fund Campaign – Fall 2014

Early Fall 2014

FALL ENROLLMENTS — FALL CAMPAIGN OF ANNUAL FUND — FROM SOME ALUMNI/AE —

ADVANCEMENT APPEARANCES THROUGHOUT OUR REGIONS — A BRIEF MEDIATION ON Matthew 18: 21 – 35

Dear Friends:

Fall sees the pace increase in Chicago and Columbus for the Federation. Peggy Pearson, our Registrar, reports that we have 53 different individuals taking classes from us this semester. Some are taking more than one, so we actually have 81 class seats filled, among eight different classes. There is a healthy balance between people in our degree and diploma programs (D. Min., M. Div., Anglican Studies), and other people not in one of those specific programs of study.

We are also about to send out material for the Fall Campaign of our Annual Fund. Drawing on our Mission Statement, we are using the heading, “Supporting Bold Inquiry in the Service of the Gospel” for the theme. You should be getting something from us shortly. Always feel free to donate through this web site, or to simply mail in a contribution.

As you can imagine, we like to hear from our alumni/ae. We get notes, emails, and letters regularly. One person wrote to ask what our particular needs are currently. The Episcopal Church provides some life insurance for many of its clergy, and he wants to designate some of the proceeds to us. (By the way, we have identified Faculty Support, a “Seminary Beyond Walls Fund” for technology and transportation, and Leadership Investment, as current special needs. We are blessed to have generous endowments for scholarships.) Another Seabury-Western alum, having graduated decades ago, wrote a heart-felt and supportive letter with a donation. He recognized that, painful as the immediate results were for decisions made by the boards, “we do what must be done.”  He ended his note saying, “thank you for all you’re doing ….”

We appreciate getting those notes here. But we also schedule many opportunities to come see you. We are scheduling two Convocations a year, one in the Fall in Columbus, and one in the Spring in Chicago. You should already have notice about the Columbus Convocation ’14. We are still working on the details of the Chicago Convocation ’15. There are a number of cities on our Circuit – Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Rochester, to name some – where we come in for a weekend with a session taught by Roger Ferlo or another faculty member, hold an alumni/ae and friends reception, and appear on Sunday in the pulpit and adult education with a local congregation. We arrange for a table at the diocesan conventions in and near Province V. Here is the current schedule for our advancement appearances.

It is too easy to confuse numbers with what lies behind them, within them. Advancement for Bexley Seabury is significantly measured in the size of the Annual Fund. But advancement and development are really about relationships, relationships among all of us within the orbit of the Federation. The gravity that pulls us into this orbit is the ministry of theological education and formation for leadership in the Church. The Church is about proclaiming and participating in salvation in God in Christ; the Gospel; ushering in the realm of God. Numbers are powerful and important, but they always point to reality. 

In the Gospel reading for Pentecost 14 this season, Peter asks Jesus the number of times we must forgive someone who sins against us. Depending on how it is translated, it is either 77 times, or 490 (70 times 7) (Mt 18:21 – 35). So, at the 78^th (or 491^st) infraction, forget forgiveness, go for revenge? I have heard people talk that way.

 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? “ (Luke 14.28). Jesus, in talking about the cost of discipleship, knows exactly how numbers can be and are used daily. Numbers are powerful and important, but they always point to a reality.

The reality of forgiving and forgiving is what Jesus teaches, as is the cost of discipleship. The money our supporters give is easy to measure, but the reality behind it is relationships, and supporting bold inquiry in the service of the Gospel.

Peace,