Transcript:
Bal Patterson:
Hello, friends in Christ. I’m Bal Patterson, missioner for the Front Range Region and a lifelong member of St. Aiden’s in Boulder. As a lay representative of the office of the Bishop, I’m honored to work with 25 parish families, scattered between the Continental Divide and the Platte River and stretching from Conifer North to Fort Collins. I’m proud of the richness and diversity of our churches. I’m proud of our dedicated, creative, and hardworking clergy. I’m proud to see the thoughtful, varied, and often selfless service within each congregation and to our larger communities. I’m proud to know of so many loving, committed laypeople, stepping up to serve. I see food banks and feeding ministries, community gardens, education programs, creation care initiatives, continued support of the Haiti project, as well as support for all kinds of nonprofits and outreach agencies throughout the region. I see a rainbow of folks walking the way of love.
Like the other regions, there’s a fair amount of geographic and demographic distance between our communities, so I’m happy to see our churches collaborating with their neighbors. Just last week, five parishes from Boulder County worshiped together outdoors at the Boulder Reservoir. The beloved Youth Ministry includes several Front Range congregations and one Presbyterian congregation who joined together for monthly sixth through 12th grade group activities that are Jesus centered and LGBTQI+ friendly. Another effort involves Denver Metro parishes from two regions, building a partnership for information sharing and programs of formation and youth work.
Partnerships. In my mind, that’s an important part of our church lives as we move together ahead through challenging times. In our region, over half of the parishes are actively talking about how to remain vital in a changing world. They’re examining their facilities, their programs, their ministries, and outreach to remain meaningful to themselves and their larger communities. Many are finding that by partnering with neighboring Episcopal churches as well as other faith communities and community organizations, that they can optimize facility usage, conduct interfaith programs, and worship, and perform more community service. It’s also true that different voices together can deliver thoughtful, loving advocacy to a broken world.
In the Front Range region, over 80% of the funds we receive from our member parishes goes back out in the form of regional grants for the next year. In 2023, we were able to fund 14 separate grants throughout the region and diocese, and we’re thankful for the generosity that enabled us to do that. However, we were able to fund only half of the dollar amounts requested in those 14 grant applications. So I’ll close with two simple requests. First, please prayerfully consider the amount of support your vestry dedicates to your region. And secondly, think hard of a missional initiative or collaboration that could be your grant application for next year. Thank you. Keep cool and may the Lord bless you.
