Campaign Update

When we first decided to launch our Cathedral for the Future comprehensive campaign, it was with one audacious goal: to renew Washington National Cathedral to help heal the world.

It has been nearly five years, and the outpouring of support to strengthen this building and infrastructure, to elevate our mission and to expand our impact is nothing short of remarkable.

Thanks to the support of more than 46,000 individual donors, we have reached our ambitious $150 million comprehensive goal. Much of this support came from broad-based, annual gifts that allowed us to weather the COVID pandemic, make significant progress on key capital projects, and expand our digital footprint.

Even with this great success, we are not finished. One year remains in the Cathedral for the Future campaign and we are close to fully funding three priority capital projects: Earthquake Repairs, Organ Renovation, and Upgrades to the Nave Audio and Broadcast System.

Thanks to the sacrificial gifts of supporters from around the country, the Cathedral is close to raising total resources needed to completely fund earthquake repairs. With all the funds raised, we’ll be able to finish ground-level work and tackle the most challenging part of the job: repairing the 300-foot Central Tower.

Together, Cathedral supporters have given an amazing $32 million toward repairs, including a catalytic $5 million gift from Lilly Endowment, Inc. who has promised another $5 million if Cathedral supporters can rally to raise $5 million in matching funds.

Earthquake repairs concern the very fabric of this building—a historic landmark but also a living, breathing church and the home of our nationwide ministry. Although our ministry has grown far beyond these walls, it’s still very much at the heart of all we do at Washington National Cathedral.

After 13 years of steady work, we’re so close to funding the entire earthquake restoration and preservation project and caring friends like you have made it possible.

Thanks to a generous match from the Lilly Endowment, all gifts to the earthquake will be doubled until November 1, 2024.

The Great Organ is the voice of the Cathedral. After 85 years of almost daily use, nearly a third is unplayable and the only solution is a complete overhaul. Thanks to generous donors from across the country, a multi-year renovation project is currently underway.

We look forward to when the fully renovated organ will return for installation and tuning. The rehabilitated instrument will be slightly smaller but more powerful. The network of pipes will be reconfigured to project out into the nave, aided by a new set of pipes installed toward the back of the nave. The new system will feature two identical consoles – one in the Great Choir, and another on the Cathedral floor, just off the worship platform.

Combined with the multimillion-dollar project to overhaul the audio system in the Cathedral, all major infrastructure to support Cathedral music will be fully restored and renewed.

Now more than 15 years old, the Cathedral’s audio system was not designed to handle our current needs. Imagine being in the midst of an inspiring message, a favorite hymn, or a virtuoso concert when the sound suddenly dies. We must bring our aging audio system up to date to ensure everyone can participate, both in-person and online.

The Cathedral plans to build a comprehensive audio system to address the inconsistency in capturing the full range of sounds that emanate through this unique space, including the delay in sound traveling the length of the nave and the noticeable reverberations that are possible when sound hits the walls or ceiling.

Since the Cathedral is an historic space, no physical alterations for acoustics are permissible. Instead, strategic microphone placement, enhanced mixing capabilities, and more speakers that can focus sound directly to listeners will all be key to this upgrade.

Since launching this campaign in 2019, the generosity of donors has transformed our work in ways we could never have imagined. While we work to fund priority capital projects, we remain focused on sustainable funding for ongoing operations and on building the next generation of supporters who will help us truly be a cathedral for the future.

This comprehensive campaign has allowed us to increase the ways we serve God and our neighbors as agents of reconciliation, as a trusted voice of moral leadership and as a sacred space where the country gathers during moments of national significance. In order to maintain this work, the Cathedral will continue to rely on the generosity of our donors to fund the day-to-day costs of our ministries long after the campaign ends.

At the beginning of the Cathedral for the Future comprehensive campaign, we set an ambitious funding goal to place the Cathedral on a firm foundation for the next 100 years of ministry.

The finish line is now in sight. As we look towards the successful conclusion to this campaign, we hope you will help ensure we have all that is needed to truly be a cathedral for the future.

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As we look towards the successful conclusion to this campaign, help ensure we have all that is needed to truly be a cathedral for the future.