Newsletter

January 2005

Dear Friends and Supporters of the Onward Campaign,

As a new year begins, the Diocese of Dallas' capital campaign is moving "onward" toward its goal of $7 million in gifts to build All Saints Camp and to purchase land for two new suburban churches! As of January 7, 2005, dozens of faithful Episcopalians have made gifts and pledges totaling over $2,468,000!

The Rev. Mike Michie continues to gather volunteers who will help launch "St. Andrew's, a Faith for all Ages" in West McKinney. Mike explains that St. Andrew's slogan speaks to the ancient and historic faith that is still alive and vital in our contemporary world, as well as to the new church's mission to serve people of all ages. Mike seeks to meet at least 20 new residents of West McKinney each week as he introduces himself and invites people to add their names to St. Andrew's growing mailing list.

At Lake Texoma, All Saints Camp's Board of Trustees meets regularly to work on a wide variety of tasks that include shaping the camp's budget, commissioning a master plan for the camp's acreage, and planning for an interim summer camp location for diocesan young people, while we build campers' cabins at All Saints this summer. The board is wrestling with the issue of timing-they need to have funds in the bank before construction begins, but that construction needs to occur this summer so that the camp can open in the summer of 2006.

Dan Wilson serves the "Onward" capital campaign as Congregational Chairman. His congregational teams will begin visiting parishes over the next month or two. Their goal is to invite every single church in the diocese to participate in this campaign. It would be remarkable for our diocese to have 100% participation-a gift from every congregation! All of us believe that this campaign offers our diocese a unifying mission, and an opportunity to build a lasting legacy for future generations.

You've been so generous in your help, and now we ask for one more gift: please pray for generous and timely contributions to the "Onward" campaign. We ask that you pray for the hard-working campaign volunteers, for rectors and vestries of each church in the diocese, and for every individual church member. Pray that these two hopeful projects may inspire generous, meaningful gifts throughout the diocese.

Thank you for the encouragement your support has given us. We wish you a healthy and happy new year, and pray that 2005 will include a celebration of a new youth camp and land for new churches.

Faithfully,

Brownie Watkins
"Onward" Campaign Director