Stewardship 2026: Fire & Rebirth

This coming March will be the 70th anniversary of a dramatic event in the life of our church community: the fire “of suspicious origin” that destroyed the St. Paul’s Church building that originally stood on the corner of 50th and Dorchester. A photo from that day shows the building engulfed by flames and smoke.

But destruction was not the end of the story. With community support, the parish community was able to rebuild on the same site. Essential to this process was support from the broader community, as neighboring churches and synagogues contributed to the construction of a new bell tower. Just two and a half years after the 1956 fire, the building we now worship in was dedicated. Less than ten years later, another kind of rebirth occurred when the two congregations of The Church of the Redeemer and St. Paul’s Church merged to become one community, henceforth known as the Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer.

And here we are today. In the world around us, there are many fires burning and many acts of destruction. We may tremble in thinking of all that these fires devour and consume, and despair at the immense challenges of rebuilding.

Yet we also know that fire does not only consume. Think of the burning bush from which the Lord spoke to Moses. Think of the tongues of flame when the Holy Spirit descends on the disciplines at Pentecost. Fire is fearsome, but moments when the world is aflame can also be moments when God most clearly calls us to something new.

How is God speaking to our SPR community in this time of fires? What new beginnings are we called to today? What can we build or rebuild along with our neighbors as we seek to embody the radical hospitality of Jesus?

We cannot know all that 2026 will bring. We hope to welcome a new rector in the coming year, and to listen for God’s call as we gather together, as we worship together, and as we work and hope and dream and pray together for healing and rebirth.

A pledge is not a binding contract; rather it is a prayerful statement of your intent to give that encompasses all you hope to financially contribute to the church’s work, including our various ministries such as our Haiti Partnership, Shoesmith School, and Migrant Support.

We invite everyone to make a pledge, and to do so after praying about and considering what is possible. Please make a 1-year pledge for Annual Giving to support our ministries in 2026. This is the amount you plan on giving to St. Paul & the Redeemer in 2026.

Please bring your pledge card to church Ingathering Sunday on November 9 or send your completed pledge card to SPR’s church office by email or USPS mail. You may also submit your pledge online by submitting the form below. THANK YOU!

In gratitude for all that God has given to me/us, and in the awareness of all God is calling this congregation to do in the neighborhood, city, and world: I/We would like to support the work of St. Paul & the Redeemer.

Pledge Form