Welcome
Welcome to Brent House, the Episcopal Campus Ministry at the University of Chicago.
We affirm our Episcopal identity, and welcome anyone who wants to join us.
We hope you will come and join us for one of our events, learn more about us, meet the people of the Brent House community, have your questions answered, make a donation, or join our mailing list.
An archive of our weekly emails can be found at our email archive.
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Advent 2009
Dear Friends,
Last year Brent House, like many nonprofit organizations, faced a serious financial crisis. Costs were rising, just our usual sources of income were decreasing or not available. The outlook was grim.
It was, however, just at that moment that the strengths of the Brent House community shone forth. The board worked hard to help us find ways to reduce costs, particularly insurance. The students took the crisis to heart and put forth a concerted effort for the community they love.
This crisis also caused us to become more reflective and to revisit our mission and vision. We embarked on a strategic planning process that included our board, undergraduates, graduate students, residents, and alumni/ae. A near-final draft of the resulting mission and vision statements appears here.
The energy of those closest to the work of our daily ministry was profoundly encouraging, but not surprising. The great and surprising gift of late last year was the response of those who have a little more distance from the immediate community: you, our alumni/ae and friends.
Despite the anxiety, fear, and confusion, our supporters helped us to raise more money last year than the year before. We received notes with checks from first-time donors that read, “We know it’s going to be difficult this year, so I wanted to make sure we sent in something.” It was a profound affirmation of the importance of the work we do.
Financially, we’re not out of the woods yet. Our endowment is gaining strength, but slowly. Our programming continues to grow. The House itself needs maintenance and improvement. We need you, our friends, to continue to support us. Don’t wait! As you can see on our Events page, our students don’t wait for graduation to get involved on campus, in the Diocese, nationally, and globally.
I hope you’ll make a generous gift this year and reaffirm your support for this vital and life-changing ministry.
Wishing you the joy and peace of this holy season,
The Rev. Stacy Alan, Chaplain
