Stewardship 2025

We invite you to please return your pledge page. You may complete your pledge online by clicking here. You may download a paper copy of the pledge form to mail in here. You can also email Robin Doher at rdoher@detroitcathedral.org. If you have any questions, please let us know. Your pledges will be offered and blessed as a part of the services on October 27, 2024.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glory your Father in heaven.” 

As we enter this time of discernment and stewardship, we as members of the Cathedral have an opportunity to “let our light shine before others.” The Cathedral community has a long history of being a light to the world – either through being a place of refuge during the Detroit race riots, or a place of comfort during times of local, state, or national strife. We also have a long history of welcoming and loving our neighbors – through the breakfast ministry, participation in Motor City PRIDE, as well as many, many, other outreach activities and ministries.  

As we come to close out our 200th anniversary, we also have an opportunity to help ensure this beloved community continues its work in Christ for many more years to come. We have an opportunity to ensure the light of this community continues to shine so that others can be on the receiving end of our love and care. 

I join with the vestry and leadership of this community in asking for your prayers and continued support of this Cathedral community – through the use of your time, talent, and financial offerings. Together, we can continue to make a difference in the world. – Emery Dumas 

I first learned the word stewardship when I was 10 years old at nature camp. We are to be stewards of the earth, I was told, to use our gifts not to dominate, but to protect, to help, to grow, and to harmonize. Just as Christ told us, to whom much is given, much is expected.  

I know God has given me so much. Church communities in particular have always been part of my life, and I really don’t know who I would be without them. Some of my greatest joys have been in sharing the love of Christ in community, and in some of my darkest moments, the Church sustained me.

We live in a time of declining membership, not just in faith communities, but everywhere: social clubs, fraternal organizations, intramural sports teams. As a society, we are more isolated than ever. It pains me that so many people have not been able to be part of a beloved community, a place of diverse people of all different backgrounds and age groups, that welcomes and supports and believes that you are good and you belong, for we are one body with so many members. That is the community I believe in and work to support. Stewardship for me isn’t about a fee or a toll, it’s about ownership in the community we are active participants in, and the broader church we want to see in the world.

This week I encourage you to think about how you have felt supported by our community, and what more you would like us to do. At the same time, consider your own time, talents, and treasures, and prayerfully ask, How is God calling me to co-create? Consider the language we use, we don’t request dues, but a pledge. Just as we pledge an oath, we offer a pledge as an outward sign of our commitment to this community. As Christ said, Where your treasure is, so will be your heart. This is the meaning of Stewardship, and I look forward to investing with you in a beloved and welcoming community for all. – Bren O’Connor 

“Rise up, follow me

Come away, is the call

With the love in your heart

As the only song

There is no such beauty

As where you belong

Rise up, follow me

I will lead you home”

-The Road Home, Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)

 

In many ways, I directly benefit from the stewardship of this Cathedral. I began as a member of the Cathedral Choir School in 2007 under the tutelage of Canon Jeremy David Tarrant. I cannot extol him enough, and the ways in which he ministers to generations of young treble choristers. I have Canon Tarrant to thank for the training that I base all of my musicality on, and to the Cathedral Choir and Cathedral Music Society for fostering that seed of artistry, loving me wholly and without reservation – as a treble chorister then, and now as a staff singer – and giving me a place to learn how faith is put into action to serve the community through prayer, service, and giving.

Nearly a decade ago, I truly must have written almost every single college application essay about my experience as a chorister – now, I have the genuine pleasure of seeing choristers of that same age grow into beautiful and talented musicians, capable of dedication and true commitment. No matter how they choose to apply themselves in life, I have full faith that they will be faithful ministers of God’s word and sacraments, armed with steadfast compassion. There is no higher honor than being a part of that growth for them.

I am a living testament of the efficacy of the Cathedral Choir School. I am a firm proponent of the music ministry that the Cathedral Church of St. Paul shares with its people, the city of Detroit, and the larger community of the diocese. It is so strange to now see myself as a guide for these trebles, given that I was one myself not so long ago. However, I find myself inspired as I continue this stewardship, hoping to give to new generations of choristers what was given to me: community, care, a place and a medium to express myself, and a great appreciation for the ways in which we pray and move others with our voices. – Ruth Richards

These are just a few of God’s faithful who are committed to supporting by prayer, time, and resources the work of the Holy Spirit through the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. You can hear other voices in the “Moment of Stewardship” that is a part of our Sunday worship services right now.