Year-end appeal: honoring the past, strengthening the future
Donate to support CTA's Year End Appeal
Dear friend,
This was my first full year at Call To Action. I spent much of this year on the road, visiting CTA chapters and members throughout the country. I’ve heard stories of Call To Action’s beginning straight from our founding generation. I am constantly reminded of how rare it is to organize in a movement alongside those of you who were there for the start of it all. Needless to say, CTA’s future will honor our past.
2018 was an incredible year. We began by hosting a retreat for Catholics in Charlottesville, Virginia who sought to process and respond to the white supremacist attacks on their community the summer before. At our National Conference we showcased a new resource, “Wrestling with the Legacy of White Supremacist Colonialist Christianity,” written by Anti-Racism Team member Jenn Reyes-Lay, which will make this work accessible to chapters and churches across the country. In the latter half of the year, we joined the Time’s Up: Catholics Demand Truth coalition to respond to the clergy sex abuse crisis and institutional cover-up. We helped plan witnesses and vigils across the country, and have now turned our focus to build beyond these first steps. And of course, this was the inaugural year for our 20/30 Project for Mentoring and Leadership, where we supported 11 young visionaries as they grew into their vocations as Catholic social justice activists.
If you attended this year’s conference, you probably met some of our Young Leaders. I trust that you were as impressed with their passion, drive and creativity as I was. By consistently and intentionally cultivating the passions of young, progressive Catholic leaders, we ensure the vitality and relevance of Call To Action’s historic purpose. That’s just one of many reasons I’m looking forward to welcoming a new cohort of Young Leaders to the 20/30 Project in 2019.
We don't center the passion of young Catholics at the expense of our history; but in acknowledgment of the common, intergenerational work that emerges whenever passion is put in service of our mission to reform the Catholic Church. And to that end, I’m proud to announce one of CTA’s big plans for 2019: the Vatican II Listening Project.
Grown straight from the work of 20/30 Project Young Leader Emmy Morris, the Vatican II Listening Project is an effort to collect and record the memories, stories, wisdom and lessons from the people who were shaped by the reforms and promise of the Second Vatican Council. And of course, our projects-- our future-- are dependant on your support. Reading these highlights of 2018, you may have noticed that our focus this year was on setting new routines, establishing new patterns, building new programs that form a solid core from which we can confidently grow. We intend to make 2019 an even bigger year, with more opportunities for growth and transformation. But to build on our momentum, we require your support at this time of the year most of all. Please join us by making a donation by any of the means we’ve listed below:
Make a one-time end of the year donation in support of our programmatic work to help ensure that we have a strong start to 2019.
Become a monthly donor to Call To Action, which will give us the consistent financial support needed to quickly respond to urgent needs.
If you are 70.5 or older, you can make a contribution from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to Call To Action, which is particularly beneficial under the new tax law. Contact Patti at patti@cta-usa.org for more information.
Become a member of our Legacy Circle to ensure that your assets will continue to promote the values of church justice through future generations. Contact austen@cta-usa.org for more information.
Over the last 42 years, you have faithfully built an organization committed to justice and equality in a church and world that badly needs that message--now more than ever. With profound gratitude, I add my first full year of work to that history. Please join me in ensuring a future as bright as our past for Call To Action.
In Solidarity,
Zach Johnson
Executive Director
Call To Action
PS: If you have a story that you'd like to share for our Vatican II Listening Project, contact us at cta@cta-usa.org or call (773) 404-0004.
