An Update on Stewardship Formation

A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about the Stewardship Committee’s decision to offer a financial literacy course: Financial Peace University.  The selection of that curriculum raised many questions and concerns!  Please rest assured that it is the intent of the Stewardship Committee to provide unity in our journey together as stewards, not division.

Our goal for the course was to provide theologically based financial literacy education for those in the community that might benefit from it.  We realized that many in our community have strong financial management skills.  This offering was geared towards members of our community that have asked for help with financial skills.  It was not in any way associated with our November pledge campaign.

The Stewardship Committee had its own reservations about this course, and we had decided to offer it with a sense of experimentation:  will this work?  Will it be a fit?  There are a variety of approaches to managing household finances, and we knew that we would have to lean into the Anglican via media with any offering. With different financial situations and beliefs likely present in the group, any presenter would only be a launching board for discussion.  However, with so many questions and concerns lingering in the congregation, the results of this experiment seem clear, and this is not the right time for Financial Peace University at St. Paul’s.

In consultation with the Dean and Stewardship Chair Pat Kreder, we have cancelled Financial Peace University this fall.  I apologize to those who had already signed up for the course.  The Stewardship Committee will continue to look for a replacement financial literacy course that does not have the same challenges to the congregation that this one does and offer it in a future year.

For this fall, I hope you will join me, Dean Penny, and Pat Kreder for a different offering:  a course entitled “The Wisdom Path: Money, Spirit, and Life.”  This is not a financial literacy class, but an exploration of attitudes and experiences with money.  The series of 8 classes is broken into three sections: 1) Exploring our own relationship with money; 2) Exploring how money connects us with others (including classism and economic justice); and 3) ways to align faith, values, and our ways of financial being.  You can sign up for that class here https://www.stpaulcathedral.org/events/formation2018/. 

Again, thank you for your feedback as we continue to move from stewardship-as-fundraising to stewardship as discipleship; as doing all that you can, with all that you have, all of the time.  The Stewardship Committee and I value your continuing feedback as we deepen this journey together.

Blessings,

Jeff Martinhauk

A Word from the Dean: Cathedral Transitions

On September 25, we celebrated the ministry of the Rev. Colin and the Rev. Laurel Mathewson among us. They came to the Cathedral as young laypeople in discernment; we sent them off to seminary; and we welcomed them back as transitional deacons, celebrating their ordination to the priesthood and the growth of their family over the last three plus years. Colin and Laurel have contributed immeasurably to our life at St. Paul’s, and we now have the privilege of sending them forth to their next adventure in ministry at St. Luke’s. As you know, Colin will continue to serve as the pastor to our Spanish-speaking members for at least the next six months.

As we live into the Vision for Mission we continue to develop two critical ministry areas: Outreach and Mission is a significant part of our life with a lively and devoted committee of true servant ministers; while Formation, particularly for children and youth, has flourished over the last couple of years, taking its place as a multi-generational dimension of our life together. Colin has overseen our Outreach and Mission ministries as well as the Children, Youth, and Families ministry area, while Laurel has been the go-to person for adult formation activities. Who will succeed them in these roles?

Happily, the Holy Spirit seems to have provided for our needs. Over the summer I became acquainted with a young man, recently arrived in San Diego, who was seeking a call to serve the church in this area. David Tremaine holds a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary; however, he is not at this time planning to be ordained. David is discerning his call to ministry and is currently exploring the possibilities of serving as a lay teacher and leader in the Episcopal Church. He has significant experience with outreach ministries, having worked for the best part of a year in an outreach center in Florida; and he has planned and taught adult formation classes as well as overseeing a Sunday School program for children. David is excited about the ministries we are developing here at St. Paul’s, and he brings a reflective, theologically informed approach to his work. I am delighted that David has accepted my invitation to serve as our Director of Outreach and Formation. He will be here about three days a week and will report directly to me as a member of our executive staff. Robin Taylor will report to him (although Robin is such an outstanding director of CYF ministries that she hardly needs oversight!).

David will work with our Outreach committee and will take on the task of planning, recruiting, and implementing our adult formation activities. He is able to start work before Colin and Laurel leave so that he can spend time with them and provide a seamless transition.

I have every hope that with David on our team, our outreach and formation ministries will continue to go from strength to strength. I hope you will offer him a warm welcome on his first Sunday with us, October 2.

This transition means that we will have two priests full-time on staff, myself and Jeff Martinhauk. Jeff will continue to oversee community life activities, which will include evangelism. Canon Brooks Mason will oversee pastoral care. We will all take a turn with preparing families for baptism as well as the regular liturgical roles of presiding and preaching, and we will have a monthly guest preacher spot, allowing us to develop our relationships with other churches and the broader community. The Mathewsons will be part of that guest preacher program, and with the Bishop’s permission David Tremaine will also preach from time to time. Please pray for us all in this time of transition and possibilities!