We get closer every day to achieving our campaign goal of $5,500,000.
Make a long-term pledge or one-time gift today.
A capital campaign for the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
Bishop Russell Introduction to the Go Forward Campaign
Collect for the Go Forward Campaign
Ever Gracious God, we thank you for the many gifts of abundant life we have in you. We especially thank you for the life and ministries shared these past 50 years and those that we may yet nurture with You as the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast: for our triumphs, trials and tragedies and for the shared memories that have led us into community and communion with you and each other.
As we set our faces and fix our hearts toward our future, weave this Capital Campaign into your Kingdom legacy in this diocese and consecrate that which is given and received to your glory.
Stir up your Holy Spirit within us that we may be advocates of your mercy and love to the people in our communities. Strengthen the bonds of community between us that we may be seen and known as disciples of your Beloved Community. Keep us ever mindful of your vision as we move forward in sowing seeds now and in the generation of saints to come. Of all we ask, of all we long for, we do so in the hope and promise of Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Campaign News
Subscribe to our newsletter.
Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.
Go Forward Campaign Priorities
-
Go forward in renewal
At the heart of this grassroots campaign is renewal and innovation. The recent challenges faced by our churches have shown us the importance of re-energizing our ministry—and fostering innovation in how that ministry is carried out.
Renewal grants can help make those innovations a reality.
Our campaign goal is to endow a $1 million fund to fuel these acts of renewal and innovation.
-
Go forward in leadership
Leadership in our churches is key to going forward - the leadership of the ordained and the laity. Our diocesan campaign seeks to support the development of leadership through our recently founded diocesan School for Ministry. Initially begun as a means by which to locally form priests and deacons, the school is growing in its mission to offer opportunities for lay leaders in worship, preaching, pastoral care and evangelism.
An endowment fund of $1 million will help foster this growth as the school’s mission expands to cultivate lay and ordained leaders in our churches.
-
Go forward in new mission
In 1970, Bishop West’s call to “go forward” was partly in response to our regional (and denominational) fondness for tradition and the past. What holds us back today has much less to do with sentimentality and more to do with debt that was incurred as needs were met at Murray House and Wilmer Hall, along with the construction of our diocesan Bayfront Center at Camp Beckwith.
Our goal of $1 million to reduce debts will free significant funds in the diocese’s operational budget, which will then be refocused on the direct mission of our congregations.
-
Go forward together
A sacred space.
A gathering place.
A spiritual and natural estuary.
Camp Beckwith means many things across our diocese: summer camp, year-round retreats and Cursillo are only a few. This special place offers a landscape so awe-inspiring, we call it “God’s front yard”— and an atmosphere so welcoming, we can think of it as our diocesan “family room.”
Today, our family needs significantly more room. With $2.5 million in funding, we envision a facility that will better serve existing needs and prepare us for modest growth of programs and events during the next 50 years.
Campaign Rollout
At our annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast this past February, we announced the Go Forward Campaign’s progress and generous pledges received to date. We invite you to be a part of the success of this campaign that will propel our diocese forward in the call for renewal, leadership, mission and unity.
As we Go Forward, we invite your participation. This is a unique opportunity to further strengthen our diocese and its programs and facilities for future generations. For more information please contact Eleanor Reeves at eleanor@beckwithal.com.
Go Forward Campaign Leadership
Candy McMillan - Campaign Co-Chair - St. Stephen’s, Brewton
John Riggin - Campaign Co-Chair - St. Paul’s, Mobile
Dave Barnette - St. James, Fairhope
Harwell Coale, Jr. - Christ Church Cathedral, Mobile
John Coleman – Church of the Nativity, Dothan
Vince Currie, Jr. - Christ Church, Pensacola
Tonye Frith - Church of the Nativity, Dothan
John Griffing - St. Francis of Assisi, Gulf Breeze
Magoo and Bill Hamilton - St. Thomas, Greenville
Jenn Johnson - St. Christopher’s, Pensacola
Russell Kendrick - Bishop
Pam Parker - Christ Church, Tuscaloosa
Eleanor Reeves - St. Christopher’s, Pensacola
Dianne and Salem Saloom - St. Stephen’s, Brewton
Anne and Andy Sumblin - St. Mary’s, Andalusia
Sherry and Eddie Webster - St. James, Fairhope
Forward, together
When challenges and needs arise, we rally together as families and congregations to meet them. That spirit is central to the future growth of our diocese. It’s also the spirit of this campaign.
Now more than ever, we see the need for grassroots efforts and the fellowship of shared goals. Thank you for your role in making this campaign a success as we go forward together.