Capital Campaign Edition Saint Jude Parish I www.stjc.org 1
Message From Our Priests Aweek has not gone by when someone has not asked one of us, Father, when are we going to build a new church? Most of us agree that we need a new church. The challenge is that building a new church is expensive. The current church building and parking lot are dated and in need of much repair. Parishioners go to other churches in the summer because it is too hot at St. Jude Parish without air conditioning. There is standing room only at two out of our five Masses each weekend. There is a real concern that, given the priest shortage, the day might come when there will be only one priest at St. Jude Parish and the number of Masses will need to be reduced further. If we have to reduce the number of Masses offered each weekend, there will be standing room only at every Mass. St. Jude Parish needs a new church. The good news is that we have a plan for a new church. The Parish, along with the Diocese of Scranton, will secure a four million dollar loan. The Parish has already raised two million dollars through three-year pledges from eighty families in our parish and from our fundraising activities. Our intention is to raise the remaining two million dollars during our Lenten Building Campaign from the other 2,300 families in our parish. The article Business Plan Three Steps to a New Church on page 3 explains this business plan in detail. Why conduct a Building Campaign in Lent? Lent reminds us that we will build a new church only if we are willing to sacrifice for our faith. Also, the season of Lent gives us ample time to discern our giving level and provides an easy to remember start and finish to the campaign. As parishioners how can we help a new church become a reality? One, be attentive to your weekly offering and mindful of what it costs to operate a parish in today s world. Two, make a sacrificial three-year pledge considering one of the four levels identified: bronze, silver, gold, or platinum. Three, pledge to utilize the Building Bucks Program. If we do these three things, we could be worshiping in a new church within five years. The article How Can I Help My Parish Build a Church? on page 4 outlines these three areas in which we need your support. When you read this issue of Believe, you will be surprised by the work that has been going on to make the new church a reality. The financial position of our parish has never been stronger given your generosity, our expense reduction initiatives, and our fundraising efforts. Since we have completed two thirds of what needs to be done to pay for a new church, we are convinced you will help us make the remaining third become a reality in our Lenten Campaign. This is an exciting time to be part of St. Jude Parish. Thank you for your dedication and support. God bless you and your families. Fr. Joe Evanko Fr. Jerry Shantillo 2 Believe CAPITAL CAMPAIGN EDITION
BUSINESS PLAN : 3 Steps to a New Church Parishioners are excited about a new church. The challenge is how are we going to raise eight million dollars. It will take real sacrifice. The following business plan provides a clear and concise roadmap for paying for a new church. Likewise, it speaks to the effort that has been going on behind the scenes to prepare us for this project. The plan has three parts: Complete 1. A Four Million Dollar Mortgage - We can afford it today! A project of this magnitude will require St. Jude Parish to take out a mortgage. We are fortunate that the Diocese of Scranton will assist in securing $4,000,000, or fifty percent of the funds needed to build a church. The Diocese has historically assisted St. Jude Parish in securing a loan as it did in the school renovation. The mortgage will have a term of twenty years and will take advantage of the low interest rates available at this time. The Parish has been streamlining its business operations for the last couple of years in order to be able to make an annual mortgage payment of approximately $275,000. Given our success in the past couple of years, the Parish can now afford a four million dollar mortgage. How is that possible? The collection has increased by 7% as the result of communicating what it costs to operate a parish and asking parishioners to contribute their share. Our annual fundraising proceeds, not needed to sustain our operations, as well as the expense reductions savings we have made, can be used to pay a mortgage on a four million dollar loan. Expense Reductions Building Bucks Program annual profit Picnic Profit (four year average) International Fest Profit (first year) Various other fundraising activities Total fundraising profit $ 100,000 $ 29,000 $ 81,500 $ 40,000 $ 28,000 $ 278,500 Thank you for your continued support in helping our parish generate enough income on an annual basis to take out a four million dollar mortgage to build the new church! 2. The Initial Phase - Raise $2,000,000. Given our ability to pay a four million dollar mortgage, we next shift to raising a four million dollar down payment. Fundraising experts recommend never starting a public campaign before fifty percent of the funds needed have been raised from a small group of families. We have obtained $1,500,000 in three year pledges from 80 families, the average gift being approximately $19,000, Complete and we are still in active discussion with others. The $1,500,000 in pledges plus $500,000 raised from fundraising activities has allowed us to meet our goal of raising $2,000,000. Now we are prepared to start our public campaign with 2,300 families in St. Jude Parish in order to raise at least $2,000,000. Saint Jude Parish I www.stjc.org 3
3. The Public Phase: Raise $2,000,000 in pledges parish-wide. St. Jude Parish will start a parish-wide building campaign this Lent. During Lent everyone will have an opportunity to meet with campaign representatives. They can ask questions about the new church and the campaign. Each week at Mass, pledge cards will be collected, and our progress will be communicated. Our goal is to raise at least $2,000,000 in three-year pledges. We would like all of our parishioners to participate in some way. CONSTRUCTION TIMETABLE The new church will take approximately twelve to fourteen months to complete. The old church will be demolished and the new and much larger church will be built on the same site. Mass will be celebrated in the school during the construction period. It will take three years to collect all of the pledges before Begins in Lent construction can start. Accordingly, it will be about five years before the new church would be completed. If parishioners pay off their pledges quickly, we would look at trying to move up that date. However, five years is our best estimate at this time. CONCLUSION As you can see, there has been a lot of progress made with respect to building a new church. This business plan clearly gives us a roadmap to pay for a new church. The parish can afford the mortgage today. Two million dollars has been raised in the form of pledges and proceeds from fundraising. All that remains is a successful building campaign in Lent, and a new church will become a reality with your help! How Can I Help My Parish Build a New Church? Regularly use your envelopes and PLEASE DO NOT DECREASE your giving during the campaign. Ninety-six percent of the donations received each week come from the envelope system or electronic giving. Four hundred new households have started to participate in the envelope system or electronic giving as a result of our work to educate all parishioners as to what it takes to financially operate a parish. This has resulted in an increased weekly collection. We thank everyone for his or her support. When parishioners realize it costs $400 per year ($7.70 per week) per household to operate our parish, at first they are surprised. However, when they think about how their household expenses have increased in the last twenty years, they understand it takes more than a couple of dollars each week per household to support a parish. Many parishioners have increased their giving to reflect the cost of operating a parish in today s world. Have you? If you give less than $400 per year, consider increasing your support given our costs. What we are asking is less than the cost of a coffee per day at most restaurants. We do understand, however, that many parishioners are experiencing serious financial hardships and cannot support the Parish at any level. Consider signing up for electronic giving. This allows our parish to save the cost of envelopes, postage, and processing costs. It helps you identify the amount of annual support you want to give your parish and makes sure it happens. Help us cut our operating costs further. Call the business office or see our website for further information, and sign up at no cost to you. 4 Believe CAPITAL CAMPAIGN EDITION
Sacrifice and Pledge Building a new church is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thank God people have sacrificed throughout the years to build churches so that we have had the privilege to worship in them. Now it is our time. It will mean a real sacrifice. Do we believe a vibrant Catholic parish helps to make our families and community better? It might mean eating out less often, keeping a car a little longer, or cutting back on vacations until our pledge is paid. We need to ask ourselves, What is more important than our faith? It also means recognizing that to whom much has been given, much is expected (Lk. 12:48). We are asking all of our parishioners to pray over making one of the following pledges over a three-year period: LEVEL Platinum Gold Silver Bronze MONTHLY AMOUNT A minimum of $150 $100 $75 $50 TOTAL GIFT $5,400 $3,600 $2,700 $1,800 A gift at these levels will be recognized on our wall of donors in our new church. If you prefer, your gift can remain anonymous. What is important is that everyone contributes in some manner. The pledge card has been designed with flexibility in mind. You may choose to pledge a different amount than listed above. You may prefer to pay it all at once or pay it on an annual basis. We will accommodate a payment plan that works best for you. Consider establishing an electronic payment option to help us cut down on administrative costs. Participate in Our Building Bucks Program at No Additional Cost to You. One hundred and fifty parishioners currently use the Building Bucks Program on a regular basis. This program generates approximately $30,000 of revenue per year for our parish. If one thousand parishioners utilized the program, it would generate $200,000 of revenue a year. St. Jude Parish could pay off our new mortgage in half the time if everyone supported the Building Bucks Program. You can make a difference. Pledge to use a minimum of $50 in gift cards each week for the life of the mortgage. Everyone purchases groceries. The funds generated will go into the Building Fund, and the money the church generates as a result of your gift card purchases is tax deductible for you. By simply filling out a form each time you purchase gift cards, the Parish will send you an annual statement for tax purposes. Over fifty parishioners volunteer so that we can sell gift cards after all Masses. Gift cards are always available at the parish office. The Building Bucks Program should be our largest fundraiser. We are asking each family to consider pledging to use the Building Bucks Program to help us pay for the mortgage on the new church. Make the pledge! It is easy and does not cost you anything. We realize many of our parishioners utilize the gift card program to help support Catholic education. All we ask is that they use the Building Bucks Program when their child have completed school. Saint Jude Parish I www.stjc.org 5
The drawings in this newsletter represent a preliminary design. Details and design elements will be studied, developed and reviewed as final drawings are completed. 6 Believe CAPITAL CAMPAIGN EDITION
A Reflection on Our New Church by Fr. Joe Evanko I have been blessed with the rare and unique experience of serving the parish of St. Jude and working with all of you as an assistant (1991-1998) and returning to do the same as pastor. It provides me with a perspective of knowing where we came from and where we are called. Securing the future of the parish of St. Jude is paramount as the Catholic faith on the mountain prospers. The history of our faith on the mountain provided a foundation that is strong. While our foundation in faith is strong, our literal structural foundation of our church building is not. During the last snow storm, I came out to help in clearing the entrances of the church. This experience confirmed everything that we already know but sometimes do not want to face. We need a new church structure, parking lot, and surrounding area that will last, be a sign of God s glory, and provide for ongoing faith and conversion. The Parish of St. Jude is not going anywhere. We need to build and stop wasting money on a church building that, yes, has emotional value but is in major need because of too many years of temporary fixes. The emotional and spiritual value will continue and even be stronger when we build a church that gives even greater glory to God. What most people do not realize is how much our L shape takes away from how God invites us to pray and how the Church guides us to pray. Liturgy literally comes from a word that means, the work of the people. Church comes from a word that means, gather. Yet, we gather and do our work of public prayer in a building that was not meant to be as it. Remember, the main part was meant to be a church and the annex, a hall. Even all those years ago, the L formation of our church was just supposed to be a stopgap solution until a new church could be built. Half of my 21 years of priesthood has been spent praying with you in two separate assemblies. Coming together in one entrance to the main body of the church and praying as one assembly lifting heart and soul to God is who and what we are called to be. We can do this if we all commit as the mountain has a history of doing. Over the last several years, we have seen the Catholic Church of our area restructure, and we know there will come a day when only one priest will be available to serve the mountain. Our prayer is that there will eventually be an increase of priesthood vocations, but in the mean time, we need to plan for a church large enough for one priest to have fewer masses while accommodating the number of parishioners. The need of a new Church is practical. To whom much is given, much is expected. (Lk. 12:48) is one of my favorite passages from Scripture. St. Jude parish has been given much and has taken care of the faith and people on the mountain. It is time to take care of the long-talked about, long-awaited, long-needed church. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Mt. 6:21) is another favorite passage of mine from Scripture. The majority of my priesthood is going to be with you on this mountain. My heart and my treasure are here with you. I need your heart and treasure to be here and accept this challenge. Most importantly, we need everyone s heart and treasure to give back to God what God has given to us. Saint Jude Parish I www.stjc.org 7
Stained glass windows to be incorporated into the design of the new church. O loving God, You have built your house of living stones, Nothing of our hands can hold you. Who can build your house but you alone? Who can hold you? Build us into a house of prayer, A house of peace, A house of care, Inn and hospice, fortress, banquet hall: Home for all.