Rex Botengan has a long and intricate connection with Church of Our Saviour: he became a member over ten years ago, has been on the vestry, is a lay eucharistic minister and leader, is a current member of both the endowment and hospitality committees, and is a former executive director of Our Saviour Center. An Episcopalian since nearly birth, Rex’s family is very active in the Episcopal church and his father even went into the seminary to become an episcopal priest, later deciding it was not his calling afterall.
“What we do outside of the church in terms of church proper or worship is just as important as what we do inside the church when we worship,” Rex explains. “Stewardship is part of the natural growth and belonging to the church and the faith, that you support with time, talent and treasure. I have always supported my church to the best of my ability, it’s just something we did growing up.” Rex believes in the discipline of giving for the discipline of belonging, adding “if you hold value in the group, institution, or it’s people, you should assign it some of your resources. Anything we hold value in, we assign resources to, whether it’s participation or volunteering,” he explains.
While money should never be a factor when considering church membership, Rex believes that the commitment of talent, resources and time are given when there is value and belief in an institution, especially so if holding a position of leadership within said institution. “I pledge because it helps the church, it helps the community, and it helps me. Putting your money where your heart and soul is. It helps convey your commitment to the body of people that are doing good in the world.”
What Rex is drawn to is that COS is proactive and responsive to the community. “It literally looked for folks that fell through the gaps in society and attempted to assist them. COS is a good model for a lot of other institutions of faith: it has a universal belief in its neighbors- whomever they might be.” Rex goes on to acknowledge that while the population continues to shift, COS is always looking towards helping the community. “How do we sustain Jubilee Homes and Our Saviour Center? We should rise to meet our challenges. There will always be challenges of this kind but as long as we keep trying, it’s a good thing. COS has a bright future simply because it has so many natural resources to draw upon: its location, its people, and its involvement in the community. COS is a lot of things to a lot of people and I’m committed to its future.”
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