A Cathedral for All Generations

A CATHEDRAL FOR ALL GENERATIONS

For over a century, countless people have called Saint John’s Cathedral their spiritual home. In the present moment, Saint John’s is growing spiritually and numerically. One can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in sacramental worship, music, the passing of the peace in Christ’s name, and being sent into the world for a life of service, love, and prayer. Our leadership also believes and feels that the Holy Spirit is now preparing this community and this place to be a spiritual home for the next one hundred years.

After years of planning and working with professionals, the vestry, staff, and Arts & Architecture Commission have identified urgent capital repairs. A feasibility study in 2022 confirmed that our members wanted to fund these important projects.

Two of the identified capital projects are urgent and need immediate attention: restoring the inspiring stained-glass windows and repairing All Souls’ Walk Columbarium.

We are also now able to plan for the additional projects that the congregation views as priorities, including upgrading the HVAC in staff offices, restoring the tower bells, updating the kitchen, designing and purchasing a new baptismal font, and securing the sacristy. Additionally, we are raising money for Community Engagement Grants to support the wider Denver community.

Our campaign supports a bold vision for the future –one that provides upcoming generations of worshippers with a building and community that are thriving.

Saint John’s is a life-giving place. We inhale deeply within its walls and we are nourished, refreshed, and renewed. When we release that breath, we are sent into the world to live out our purpose and calling.

Having served our community for more than a century, our historic cathedral needs repair and restoration. When we come together in a shared space, we become stronger, more reflective, more capable, more dynamic.

It is our turn to take care of this place that was lent to us; the sacred place where God’s work happens.

We ask you to join us in restoring and preserving this exceptional cathedral, which has given us a place to pray, gather, and find community in life’s most difficult and most joyous moments.

Campaign Leadership

The Bishop of Colorado

The Right Reverend Kym Lucas Dean

The Very Reverend Richard Lawson

Cathedral Canons

The Reverend Canon Broderick Greer

The Reverend Canon Katie Pearson

Co-Chairs

Gregory Movesian & Rebecca Richardson

Vice Chair

Kate Dykstra

Cabinet Members

Roger Allen

Tom Barbour

Jen Courtney-Keyse

Tom Keyse

William Lambert

Sandy Mazarakis

Jay McCormick

Nan Oudet

Jay Swope

K.C. Veio

Honorary Co-Chairs

The Right Reverend Rob & Ginger O’Neill

Thank you for your prayers, concern, and support of this historic endeavor.

Saint John’s Cathedral’s extensive stained glass collection includes windows from Charles J. Connick Studios, Edward Frampton Studios, and a special Tiffany window in the narthex. Since their placement over a century ago, they have inspired parishioners and visitors with their vibrant elegance and thier history.

These majestic windows need care, like anything that is meant to transcend generations. The lead, masonry, and millwork that hold the windows together are severely compromised and urgently need repair. Saint John’s is partnering with Northeast Stained Glass Studio, which specializes in repairing these windows. We plan to restore the windows in place over the course of 9 months, without removing them, to preserve these works of art for generations to come.

REPAIRING ALL SOULS’ WALK COLUMBARIUM

All Souls’ Walk Columbarium is the resting place for so many of our loved ones. It is a space for us to gather, reflect, mourn, and celebrate. The structure of All Souls’ Walk has suffered significant weathering and water damage, which has caused the pavers to rock and has created trip hazards. We will repair the foundation, provide new drainage to prevent extensive weathering in the future, and level the pavers. New nameplates will incorporate the historic design that we presently have, while also being more legible for visitors to find their loved ones easily.

Taking care of the final resting place of our loved ones – and people we never knew – is symbolic of the care that we show for our community and our hope in the Resurrection. God placed these souls under our safekeeping, and we are privileged to watch over them.

MAKING

GRANTS

Saint John’s Cathedral is a pillar in the Denver community. From founding the internationally known United Way, to acting as a civil rights leader, to providing stable housing for individuals transitioning out of homelessness through the St. Francis Apartments at Cathedral Square, we have always cared for and supported our community. Addressing the needs of our wider community and partnering with local non-profits is both a part of our history and our future.

In addition to our capital projects, our congregation showed interest in raising money to give to the community. A Community Engagement Grant Task Force has identified three focus areas for the campaign’s philanthropic committment: racial justice, economic justice and opportunity, and gun violence prevention. As a part of this campaign, we will raise money to give as grants to a number of local organizations that address these issues. We also pledge to engage more deeply with these grantees through volunteer support – as we do our annual grant recipients – to make an impact that goes beyond financial support alone.

Saint John’s is a place and a community that cares deeply about people. The staff takes great care of each of our parishioners, and we in turn need to help take care of them. The current air conditioning in the staff offices and library is failing, making them uninhabitable in the summer months. The air conditioning cannot be sustainably repaired. Modernizing the space by extending the new HVAC system, installed in parts of the building in 2021, into the parish building is the most costeffective and community-oriented solution.

The kitchen at Saint John’s plays a vital role in our hospitality and our outreach ministry in our community. It allows us to connect deeply with each other over a shared meal at Cathedral Nights and other events, and it facilitates our call to feed the hungry in our neighborhood and our city. This space is in need of an update after years of loving use, including renovations and new appliances to support many more years of ministry.

UPDATING OUR SACRISTY

The sacristy is the space in which our dedicated Altar Guild prepares for Holy Communion and from which Eucharistic Visitors are sent out into the community to share the body and blood of Christ with those who cannot worship with us on Sundays. The sacristry is central to this important Sacrament, and it is in need of repair. The cabinets that house the valuable and sacred communion vessels are insecure and vulnerable to theft and desecration.

FULLY FUNDED PROJECTS

DESIGNING A NEW BAPTISMAL FONT

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infintely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen.

–Ephesians 3:20-21

Each year, the number of people we baptize grows as we bring more people into the Christian faith and life. Our historic baptismal font, which dated back to 1880, collapsed a number of years ago.

We are working with the notable liturgical designer, Terry Eason, to install a new font that complements the architecture of our nave and is representative of the importance of the sacrament of Holy Baptism. This new font will be flexible and visible by the congregation during baptisms as a continual reminder of the baptismal covenant many of us have made.

REPAIRING OUR TOWER BELLS

Church bells are rung around the world to call people to worship and to mark and honor important events in our lives and our community, including marking the number of American deaths by COVID-19 during the pandemic. Our historic tower bells, which were forged in Germany and installed in 1905, are in need of repair. The mechanisms that operate the bells failed several years ago. Saint John’s is partnering with Sunderlin Bellfoundery, a highly recommended American company that specializes in both the craft and maintenance of traditional bells, to complete this project.