Our 2024 pledge campaign was a great success!

• $442,863 pledged or 96.3% of our goal, just $17,137 short (there are a few pledgers expected to still come in)

• Returning pledgers increase their gifts by 19.2% in aggregate

• There were 33 new donors 

• All our new members pledged

• All of our Board pledged

• 68.8% of those on our Diaspora list pledged (not including any of the locals)

Whether you were in a position to pledge or not, it is clear how much love there is for Judson. Thank you all!

Dear Judson congregants and friends, 

We at Judson Memorial Church have always sought to continually transform what church can be. Most importantly, we believe that church is a place where everyone belongs. Throughout our history, we have worked to create a welcoming community for people of all backgrounds - especially those who have been marginalized in society and even rejected by other faith communities.  

In the coming year, we want to deepen our commitment to inclusion. We envision our church as a home for creative expression, spiritual nourishment, and social action - a place where diversity is celebrated as a gift. Our ministries seek to nurture the artist, sustain the activist, embrace the outcast, and inspire the seeker in each of us.  

Every pledge we receive is a gesture of faith in this sustaining, embracing, and inspiring work. We invite you to help us build a church where all can know they belong - not just on Sundays, but every day of the week. Your gift will provide us with a foundation on which we can expand our ministries of radical welcome. With your support, Judson will continue pushing boundaries and redefining what church can be for decades to come.

The highlights from this past year offer a glimpse of what’s possible:

• Belonging through Art 

For 15 years, Judson Arts Wednesdays has showcased provocative performances and hosted meals where strangers become friends. This year, we got even more intentional by partnering with artists Malcomx Betts and Arien Wilkerson who curated Black Aesthetics, a lineup of innovative and riveting presentations by Black queer luminaries. Next year, we’re expanding the series into a year’s worth of wondrous works from 22 newcomers to Judson’s Meeting Room.

• Belonging through Collective Care   

Every Monday, Judson hosts our Radical Hope Mutual Aid Center in our Assembly Hall, a bustling respite space where hundreds of New Yorkers, both newly arrived immigrant friends and longtime neighbors, come together to share food, space, community, and resources in an act of collective care.

• Belonging through Justice

Through our Sacred Reckonings program, dozens of Judsonites are leading the work of deep communal reflection on our individual and collective participation in colonialism and racism. Congregants are discovering the power of telling the truths of our history and exploring how we live into a broader sense of belonging by expanding radical honesty that nudges us toward radical transformation.

• Belonging across Distance   

We have embarked on increasingly innovative ways to make belonging at Judson more accessible to all community members, regardless of where they live. From incorporating the Judson diaspora into our hybrid Sunday service, to organizing Zoom convenings for our diaspora community, to live streaming all Judson Arts Wednesdays events, we are working to make belonging easier and more joyful, no matter where you live.

This year, in order to make fundraising more sustainable for our small but mighty church staff, we are encouraging our congregation to make their pledges as a recurring gift, which can be paid on a monthly, quarterly, or annual schedule. You can complete the simple form using the button below and reach out to the co-moderators with any questions at moderator@judson.org. We hope you’ll pledge recurring support for this vision - one of belonging, openness, co-creativity, and justice. With you, we can continue changing what church can be.

In gratitude and hope,
Jason Tseng and Matthew Nelson
2024 Pledge Campaign Co-chairs