May God's Kingdom Come: A Letter from the President

Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Greetings to you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. May God have mercy on us as we seek to walk in His Kingdom in the days to come. And may God’s kingdom come, and His will be done in the work of Eighth Day Institute on earth as it is in heaven.

The EDI community continues to exist because of your support, so before I make any kind of request, I want to say THANK YOU for your support of EDI. I often say that the church wouldn’t function without volunteers who desire to serve God and others, and the same is true for EDI: we would not exist in the way that we do if you did not support us. So if you don’t hear anything else at all, please hear my heartfelt and deep thanks for your support that keeps our work moving forward. God willing, we will continue to move forward together for many more years to come.

I write to you offering one final appeal from the Board of Directors along with a few unique opportunities for your consideration on behalf of Eighth Day Institute. I recognize that you are receiving a lot of these year-end appeals for various organizations during this time. Furthermore, I know you have received several appeals from EDI board members, so I will be brief.

I want to begin by highlighting 3 unique opportunities for your consideration:

1.   We are looking for sponsors for our speakers for the upcoming Symposium. Would you be willing, or know someone, be it a church or a small group, or various individuals who might be willing to sponsor a speaker for our upcoming symposium? With sponsorship would come some additional time and perks related to the following speakers:

 Protestant:                  Jake Meador

Orthodox:                  Fr. John Strickland

Catholic:                     James Matthew Wilson

2.   We are working on a substantial grant proposal, and are wondering if there is anyone in our EDI community who writes grants or knows someone who writes grants that might be willing and able to give some unpaid time over the next month to help us write a grant that could potentially be a “turning point” for the life of EDI?

3.   With the upcoming Symposium, we plan to have a members only reception at the end of the Symposium. We would like for you to come with your questions and thoughts concerning EDI as we consider together the state of the organization. If you are a member, please plan to join us on January 14, at 5:30 p.m. at St George Orthodox Christian Cathedral. 

If you have an interest or any leads on sponsoring a speaker, know of any potential grant writers, or have any questions or comments ahead of the symposium related to EDI, please feel free to call me at 316-641-9961 or email me at: jesse@efcmaym.org.

As an organization we need to raise $56,750 to end the year with a balanced budget. Will you give generously to help us meet our year-end goal of raising these funds to put us in a place of stability as we move into a new year and as we get ready for our 13^th annual Symposium?  Please make your donation today here.

If you haven’t registered yet for the Symposium, please do so here. The Symposium is a great event to bring a friend to for face-to-face conversations you can’t have anywhere else. If you haven’t invited a friend to join you, please do. The banquet is also a great space for someone to get a taste of EDI if attending the Symposium is not possible. Please do consider registering and bringing a friend to the banquet which functions as a stand-alone fundraiser for EDI. The banquet is Friday, January 13 at 6:00 p.m. at St. George. Who has never been to an EDI event, that you could invite to join you at the banquet? You can register for the Festal Banquet by clicking here.

As we end 2022 and move into 2023 as an organization, I do pray that 2023 will be the year that we turn a corner and take the next step “To help the Church (i.e., members of the Christian community) learn how to be Christian in the modern age, ‘that all may be one,’ and, as a result renew the culture.” May God help us all as we continue to expose Christians to tradition and history seeking to create encounters with “the other.” As we continue to value tradition, education, community, ecumenism and cultural renewal, may God’s Kingdom come, and His will be done in our ongoing, collective work of Eighth Day Institute.

On behalf of Erin Doom and the Board of Directors,

Jesse Penna, President