An article from the Cathedral Times
by the Very
Reverend Samuel G. Candler,
Dean of the Cathedral of St.
Philip
Can You Commit to the Cathedral this Sunday?
This Cathedral has thrived, in up times and in down times, because people are committed here. Seven days a week, for causes and events and ministries almost beyond number, faithful Christians commit something here.
And I don't mean that it is only parishioners who are committed. We have hundreds of "friends" of the Cathedral, even visitors and out-of-town associates, who commit gifts here. Every gift, and every commitment, forms an integral part of our Cathedral body. Christ is the Sure Foundation here, and each of us is part of the Body of Christ!
This Sunday, I am asking you to bring your financial pledge card to church. You should have received it last week in the mail. I hope you have prayed and sought God's direction in deciding how much you can pledge to God through the Cathedral of St. Philip in 2011.
At the morning services, we will ask those of you who are pledging to the Cathedral in 2011 to rise from your pew during the Offertory Hymn (hymn #518, "Christ is Made the Sure Foundation") and join our usual Offertory Procession.
Yes, on every Sunday, we process with bread and wine, with music, and with the money offerings the ushers have collected. But this Sunday, All Saints Sunday, we will invite every person to join that procession with their own financial pledge card. Bring the card to the altar and offer it to God as a sign of your own commitment to God's ministry through this holy place.
I know that some people will not have made a decision by Sunday. Or some will have forgotten or lost their card! Or some will not have received a card yet. Or some will be visiting! So, we will have special "intention" cards in the pews, which will signal your intention to pledge. If you have no pledge card, we will invite you to walk forward and place at the altar your intention to pledge.
Whatever you have, and whatever you can pledge, I invite you to walk forward on Sunday. Join the Offertory Procession in what has become one of the most moving events of our recent years at the Cathedral. Our walking to God at the Cathedral altar is sacramental; it is an outward and physical sign of our inward and spiritual commitment to God. Our pledges are sacramental, too; they are physical signs of our inward love of the Cathedral and its ministry.
I hope you join us. And if you can't be present at the Cathedral on All Saints Sunday, bring your card to the Cathedral any time. Or hand the card to a priest during the day, or at the hospital, or at a party! Touch someone with your pledge. Touch Christ! And call us if you have questions or concerns.
Finally, I pray that God blesses you through the Cathedral this Sunday, and throughout the 2011 year. I want you to be blessed. Personally, on Sunday, I will be bringing my own financial pledge card to the altar, too. This Cathedral has blessed me, and I want it to bless others, too!
The Very Rev. Sam Candler