An address at the beginning of St Matthias' Living Stones capital stewardship campaign

Given by by Father Dwight D. Duncan, ssc, Rector, St Matthias, Dallas, Texas
2 March 2003 - The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

The address was immediately preceded by an announcement from Deborah Nugent, Co-Chair of the Campaign, of the Campaign Goal: $1,000,000.


Well, here we now are, set out on a journey of prayer, asking God to work his will among us and with each of us in our attempt to do a good work for him. I think it important that, as your Rector, I share with you honestly the journey about all this on which my wife and I have been and still are. And to do so, I should begin with some history.

On June 25th, 1977, I received a letter from the then Rector's Warden of St Matthias', Jim Crysdale, the opening paragraph of which said:

"The Vestry of St Matthias' has unanimously voted to issue a Call to you to be our Rector. We believe that with your leadership, our dedication and [the] guidance of the Holy Spirit that we will be able to rebuild St Matthias' into a strong parish."

Note the word: rebuild; note the expressed hope: into a strong parish.

Three days later, I replied: "To the Wardens and Vestry of the Church of St Matthias: Greetings and Peace to you in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is with joy that I accept your invitation to come to minister among you as your Rector ...

"We are entering into a covenant, a marriage -- and it is my conviction that it is a covenant brought about by our Lord. I could not agree more with the belief your Rector's Warden shared with me in his letter issuing your Call: that together, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to rebuild St Matthias into a strong parish.

"That is my hope, my prayer: for a parish strong in her desire that every member of her grow in grace; for a parish strong in loving witness to the Lordship of Jesus, both corporately and in the individual lives of her people; for a parish strong in her loving support of all within her so that the attractiveness of life together in Christ might be seen by others and draw them to Him.

"I pray this is the hope, the prayer of each of you -- and of our other brothers and sisters in Christ at St Matthias -- for only together can we and our Lord attain the vision."

Note the final phrase: "...only together can we and our Lord attain the vision."

So, here we are, 25½ years later in this marriage between you and me, 25½ years together because twelve men and women came to the conclusion that God wanted us together, and I agreed. One of my great joys is the fact that of that twelve, only six are no longer here, having been taken away by death or moves. Six of them remain, to this day still ministering among us, still making possible our mission and ministry by their sacrifices of time, talent and money: LaVerne Berres, Lloyd Edens, Dale Miller and his wife Betsy, Gene Polson and Melissa, Sam Pack and Carol ... and now returned, Jim Crysdale and Barbara.

Sacrifices great those six and the roughly 90 others here then had to make, for St Matthias had fallen on difficult times, and there was a question as to whether or not she would survive. Oh, the things they did to survive; all moral, I assure you! Except perhaps, during our conversation about getting together, their facility, as well as the Bishop's, in obscuring from me how difficult things were! At my first Vestry meeting on 6th September 1977, I realized they might not be able to afford me, the total cost of whom for the Parish was $20,000!

And, oh! the things we did once together just to survive; all moral, I assure you! It took a lot of time, a lot of energy, and a lot of our money, not much of which any of us had. It literally took sweat and blood, for we did everything for ourselves around here. No money to afford others to do things for you; no money to fix things. Thank God, we had another Dwight here, Dwight King, to jerry-rig electrical wiring and heating/air conditioning units, which helped us survive but which also now are part of the reason we have got to replace some of our facility!

I and others here this morning could regale you, entertain you, with the tales of what we did to remain alive for God and for you whom he has brought to us. But this is an address in the midst of the great Sacrifice of the Mass, and we all want it as short as possible, even the preacher!

But the result of what we accomplished is both all around you and given to you in our life together. We not only survived, we thrived and we thrived not just for ourselves but for others in our community and in the wider reaches of this globe, so international has become the impact this modest parish now makes because of the blessings God has bestowed upon her.

So, here we are, 25½ years after God gifted me with the privilege of becoming one with this parish, embarking on an attempt to do something with our facility so that not only will our facility not impede our service of him, but so that it will assist us in doing him even greater service. And each of you and the sacrifices you can make are necessary for this holy work.

They are sacrifices which not only you, but Jean and I are called to make. In order for you to hear from God what he wants of you and how you and he can achieve it, I would ask you to observe these next few weeks the same regimen of prayer as Jean and I. Here it is: Ask God these three questions --

1. How important is this work to me, and why?

2. What would you do through me, Lord?

3. With what resources have you blessed me, Lord, to do what you would have me do; and how much then should I commit to this campaign?

Now let me tell you what has been happening with Jean and me in response to those questions.

The First Question: How important is this work to us, and why?

Early on, Jean's and my attitude toward any capital stewardship campaign and building program was greatly effected by two facts:

1. The labor and adjustments to our familial life which, from our coming here, have been required of us in order to achieve what has been achieved.

2. If I so chose, I could now retire. I am 57 years of age and I've been at this priest business for over thirty years. The Church now gives full retirement for those with 30 years of service and who are 55.

These two facts combined to make a part of me just want to coast for my remaining years here, to enjoy what we have accomplished and not to have to bother with trying to do any more. I would imagine that might be what some of you would like, you who for so long have given your lives, your labors, your money to make St Matthias. Part of me would prefer just to band-aid our facility and leave anything more to another rector and another generation.

But I can't do that, nor can my wife. To do that would be not only to dismiss the rich blessings God has given us as part of this community, but to denigrate our sacrifices, the investment we have made of ourselves. I gave my pledge of honor to St Matthias' 25½ years ago that, as long as we were married, I would be a true and faithful husband. I signed on with those several score of St Matthiasites to rebuild this community to God's honor and glory.

But if I could do that, if I could elect just to coast into retirement, then what I should do as an honorable man, and it is important for me to be that ... what I should do is resign my post now and get out of the way of what needs to be done among us for God to continue to build St Matthias' to his honor and glory.

So, convicted of the need to replace some of our present facility with new, improved buildings, convinced that God has more in store for St Matthias' and more he expects of us, Jean and I are joined with you in this journey of prayer and decision.

Now surely you know that all achievements occur only through the sacrifices of those who go before us. There were three buildings which comprised St Matthias' facility up until 12 years ago and each of them now need to be replaced: Our present Parish House and Office was our church and offices. Our present two educational buildings housed not only classrooms but our parish hall and music room and a bookstore whose profit we desperately needed.

In April 1968, Metropolitan Federal Savings and Loan Association loaned St Matthias' $129,000 to build those educational buildings. But they would only make the loan if parishioners put themselves on the line in case of default. On the loan document appear the signatures of several families still among us who put their lives on the line: the Crownover family for $10,000; Lloyd Edens for $500; the Leonard family for $5,000. As well, the signature of St Matthias' then rector, Fr James Frensley, committing himself for $10,000.

Now think of that: that is 35 years ago. Think of what those amounts of risk translate into now. These and a few others risked themselves for a future for this community of which they might not be a part. But they knew it was a future in which God would be, and they wanted this community to be in it with him and to have the facilities it needed in order to serve him well.

So how important is this campaign for Jean and me? Vastly important. We are humbled and challenged by the sacrifices made by those who long before we came here were concerned for us, without even knowing us. Who are we to do anything different, anything less?

The Second Question: What would you do through us, Lord?

The answer to that question has been quite easy for Jean and me. We are the beneficiaries of the sacrifices others made for us so that there would be a St Matthias for us. So through the sacrifices Jean and I are willing to make of ourselves and of our substance now, God wants to bless not only those of us presently here but others yet to be.

The Third Question: With what resources have you blessed us, Lord, to do what you would have us do; and how much then should we commit to this campaign?

Well, Jean and I have income and we have the ability to make decisions as to how we use that income. This is the question, isn't it, where the rubber meets the road for every one of us? Jean and I have already sat down and started figuring what we might do, but no final decision has been made because the Lord may yet show us through prayer resources we are not even considering which could be offered to our campaign. We want to make, as I want each of you to make, NOT a "donation decision" but a FAITH DECISION.

Here, however, is where Jean and I are at present and what is factoring into our prayer: Jean and I more than tithe all our income to the Lord. A full 10% of our income is returned to God through this parish. Further percentages of our income we commit to organizations and ministries where we believe God's redemptive work is being done. This is a big chunk of our financial resources.

So, faced with this stewardship campaign and its need that we give even more, we began our journey thinking, "God, how can we do it? So much we return to you already." Well, our family financial wizard, namely Jean, went to work calculating all kinds of ways we could shave here, cut there, and do without for three years, and both of us were floored with what we came up with, and happy. But then we looked further and covenanted to the Lord several other things:

• There will be no vacations that cost a pretty penny for the next 3 years -- we've got a home we enjoy and we've got the Lord and one another in it ... you can't get much better than that.
  
• We will limit our gifts to one another: birthdays, anniversary, Christmass. Again we have the Lord and one another; what more do we need?
  
• All honorariums I receive from teaching missions, preaching engagements, etc. will go to the campaign. I know what I've averaged over the years, so I can declare that.
  
  

Jean and I will continue to pray and seek along with you. Our commitment will mean real sacrifice for us. It should, for this is what all of us are being asked to do. How could I ask it of you, if Jean and I were not willing to do it ourselves?

So, 25½ years ago, a small community of people who had been through a lot and wondered if they could survive asked me to come and share in their attempt not only to survive but to thrive and become something beautiful for God. Now, 25½ years later, many of that small band are still here, still laboring away. To their number have been added others over the years, all of you now among them.

Together we have done some beautiful things for God and he for us: We have survived, we have thrived, and we have become a strong parish which, in spite of our moderate-size, is known in reaches far beyond ourselves

• for our confident, vigorous and winsome proclamation and defense of that saving Faith and Order once delivered to the saints;
  
• for the beauty and joy of our worship of the one true God;
  
• for our radical commitment of time, talent and treasure to growing our people into saints and bringing Jesus to others both in word and deed.
  
  

God would not have done all this with us and for us if he did not intend to keep building us up in depth and breadth and richness. For this to continue we have to address our mission and our need. Let us not step back from the challenge and call which God is issuing to us in our Living Stones Campaign. I beseech all of you for whom this parish is your home-in-God and any of you who want to help us, to enter now into a prayerful attentiveness to God, asking him:

1. How important, Lord, is this work to me, and why?

2. What would you do through me, Lord?

3. With what resources have you blessed me, Lord, to do what you would have me do; and how much then should I commit to this campaign?

And pray, "Empower me, Lord, to make my sacrifice equal to that of my brothers and sisters here and worthy of you, who have sacrificed and continues to sacrifice yourself for me." God be with us.


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