Rationale
The Task Before Us
"The most consequential questions for an individual...are related to questions of faith. I also believe that at this historical junction, the matter of belief is crucial to our common future."
Mark Edmundson
We live in a religiously dynamic time! Without a doubt, if we are to understand our world, we must understand religion. At the same time, if we hope to be socially involved persons of faith, we must also understand the broader cultural forces that shape our society.
For 40 years, the Collegeville Institute has sought to overcome religious conflict and disunity through leadership development. We provide direct support for research that illuminates key relationships between the life of faith and our social environment. Never before has the need for the Institute's singular work been so urgent. In a time when many religious leaders are eager to shout down perceived adversaries, the Collegeville Institute encourages the virtue and art of listening in order to open doors of religious understanding. When many religious communities are intent on building walls around their faith, the Collegeville Institute works to build bridges between religious traditions. When the realms of research and practice are becoming increasingly divorced, the Collegeville Institute promotes the integration of thinking and action among religious leaders, theologians, and committed laypersons. The Collegeville Institute is one place where laypersons listen and speak as peers, and where knowledge and experience meld into a greater understanding of the whole religious quest. It remains unique in its charge to engage scholars, pastors, and laypersons as listeners and speakers, calling forth their own contribution to the understanding of the faith journey.
The Collegeville Institute's Growing Impact
The Collegeville Institute's contribution to the life of the Church and to the personal life journeys of people who have spent time on our wonderful campus, has been extraordinary. To name just a few examples:
Krista Tippett's nationally syndicated radio program, Speaking of Faith , was conceived from her experience at the Institute and our practice of expecting that participants speak in the first person, the "I" of faith and scholarship. Community: The Art of Living Together Conference.
Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation, edited by noted African-American scholar Cain Hope Felder--a heralded study of the travails and advances of African-American biblical scholarship that emerged from an Institute consultation.
Kathleen Norris's best-selling reflection on the contemporary relevance of Benedictine spirituality and discipline in The Cloister Walk took form through her extended stays at the Institute.
Institute resident scholars and consultation participants transmit what they learn at the Institute to local, regional, national, and international contexts that exponentially expand the impact of our methods.
The Campaign
The Collegeville Institute's board of directors has determined that our current social and cultural circumstances demand that we affirm for a new day our deep 40-year commitment to "communicate the meaning of Christian identity and unity in a religiously diverse nation and world." Accordingly, this important campaign will focus on three primary areas that will dramatically impact the Institute's ability to influence religious discourse and practice in our nation and world.
First: We will initiate a new series of First Person Consultations. 
The Institute is well-known for its interactive consultations among experts, academics, and committed laypersons. Building on the Board's desire to broaden the Institute's work both on and beyond our campus, we will initiate a new phase of our faith and values consultations by addressing a series of topics that speak directly to the common life of our communities-where the meeting of Christian faith and culture demand new responses that lead to new solutions. We will engage a broad cross-section of individuals of differing theological, political and cultural persuasions to discuss topics such as: "The faith community's response to the public health crisis in our country," "Our mutual responsibilities in shaping healthy environments for youth in a time of electronic revolution," or "Building the faith community's abilities to create a sustainable environment." The topics will be developed in consultation with religious and community leaders from diverse backgrounds.
Our consultations will usually take place on our campus. However, we are eager to make our programming as available as possible. We will watch for opportunities to take our consultations to other locations. To underscore the seriousness of our intent, the consultations will proceed with the expectation that their results become monographs for publication. That goal will help assure an even greater impact on a broad audience.
Financial resources developed through the campaign will allow us to shape our consultations to the demands of a new time and to disseminate their questions, findings, and conclusions to a national audience.
Second: We are well-known for our Resident Scholar program. Scholars come to the Institute from across North America and such points abroad as Egypt, Israel, South Africa, Kenya, Argentina, Ireland, England, Germany, France, Spain, Korea, and China. In order to be true to our mission we will increase the financial resources available for resident scholars in order to attract and assist the important work of academicians, laypersons, church leaders and pastors in the U.S. and around the world. We have been able to provide little financial assistance to Resident Scholars in the past. We will establish a fund that will help assure that the best and most worthy applicants for the program, especially scholars from developing countries, will not be deterred from coming to the Institute by a lack of financial resources.
We also hope to raise funds that will allow us to bring to the Institute noted scholars from North America and abroad whose pace-setting theological work we wish to honor and encourage. These occasional year-long appointments will enable the Institute to incorporate into its life and work the rich theological and cultural diversity of creative international religious leaders. We encourage donors who wish to ensure the Institute's capacity to bring such vital leaders to Collegeville to assist us in establishing a new endowed residency for international religious leaders.
Third: We will enhance the architectural legacy of our campus World-renowned architect Marcel Breuer, who did many of the buildings at Saint John's Abbey and University, including the famous Abbey Church, designed the Institute's residential facilities on a plan similar to one he created for the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. The resident scholars-more than 400 since the Institute opened in 1968--and their families have expressed lasting appreciation for the atmosphere Breuer created by uniting function and beauty.
The Institute's board of directors, recognizing that the artistic legacy of Marcel Breuer is of immense and unique value, has adopted a design policy that ensures the preservation of this legacy.
The facilities are now nearly 40 years old. They have stood the test of time marvelously, but time takes its toll. New roofs and upgraded electrical and plumbing systems must be in place for the coming decades of participants. Apartments and meeting areas need to be upgraded to provide not just adequate but the best accommodations that guests may expect. The Institute's board believes that attention to the form and beauty of our facilities is a significant aspect of ecumenical hospitality.
A three-season pavilion will be built on the grounds of our campus, for use by resident scholars and consultation participants. This will allow them to take advantage of Collegeville's beautiful natural environment through the spring, summer, and fall.
Importantly, the campaign will enable us to establish a building and maintenance reserve fund that will cover unexpected emergencies and better prepare us to address necessary repairs as they are needed.
The Future: We must build our general endowment to help secure the future health of the Collegeville Institute. Under the leadership of James Shannon, the Institute's first capital campaign in 1992 raised $1 million to double the size of the endowment to $2,225,000. With additional gifts, returns of excess income, and market appreciation, the endowment stands now at $3,527,000. During earlier years, endowment income equal to five percent of market value was sufficient to balance the operating budget. However, inflation and eroded endowment value have taken their toll, and the endowment no longer provides sufficient income to balance annual budgets or allow for program expansion. Additionally, there are few reserve funds to handle unexpected repairs and maintain our landmark buildings in first-rate condition. Increasing our endowment through donations and planned giving will provide many of those necessary funds. In addition, we are also seeking gifts that will endow the annual residency at the Institute of a scholar of international repute.
Summary
The Faith Leadership for an Ecumenical Future Campaign is a vital step in transforming the work of key religious institutions in our country. The Collegeville Institute is poised to develop important new consultations that will strengthen religious leaders' ability to respond to pressing religious and cultural issues. We will provide more financial resources to support the work of our core Resident Scholar Program. We will renew and refurbish our unique campus in order to provide the quality accommodations for the long-term and short-term guests who are so important to enhancing the experience of all who come to Collegeville. We will expand our endowment fund in order to provide for the future life of the Institute through our consultative programming, our resident scholars contributions, and our physical campus.
Each of these endeavors will allow us to fulfill our mission to communicate the meaning of Christian identity and unity in a religiously diverse nation and the world. Please join with us in supporting the goals of our ambitious campaign.
"A successful campaign will secure into the future the Institute's ability to serve in thought and action the goals of religious unity and understanding."
Donald Ottenhoff, Executive Director