Congratulations!

02-09-2020Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Congratulations!

I am so excited to inform you that we are now past halfway, $1.9M (56%) in cash payment toward our goal of $3.5M for our New Church Building Campaign (Living Our Faith, Building Our Home). We are also slightly past midway in our three-year campaign. This is a very commendable achievement. With just $1.5M (44%) to go in the campaign, we are close to witnessing our dreams of the new church come true soon. To clarify to our new parishioners and visiting friends, we started our three-year building campaign in April of 2018 with the goal of $3.5M, a loan of $3.5M and a cash fl ow support of $300,000, for a total of $7.3M. Our building timeline is to break ground in the summer of 2021, and move in during 2022. Initially, it appeared like an ambitious dream, but now I am quite optimistic that it is a dream that is within our reach.

I thank all those who have contributed to the campaign, the members of the building committee and the members of the campaign committee. This weekend we are celebrating a special Thank You and Congratulations for passing the halfway mark, getting closer to the end of the campaign. I invite you to join us outside the main entrance after Mass. Members of the committees will be available to answer any questions you may have. Your questions and concerns are very important to us, especially as we plan to execute the remaining phase of our strategic plan.

Moving ahead, I have been meeting with a number of our parishioners and some professionals to see how we can step up our efforts to re-engage the campaign. We are currently working on reassessing the campaign redemption and follow-up strategies.I will be giving you some updates in the next few weeks on these plans.

Charity and Development Appeal (CDA)

This weekend, we observe the Announcement Phase as we kick off the CDA in our parish community. The Appeal runs from the beginning of February to the end of April. First of all, I thank everyone who participated in the CDA last year. I was very impressed that we made our CDA goal within about three weeks. I really don’t know how to thank you enough for your continuous generosity and support for the parish. I feel very uncomfortable appealing to you, over and over, asking for support for the Church Building Campaign, Diocesan Campaign and weekly offertory, and now the CDA, but again thank you for your understanding and support.

Considering the unique financial situation of our parish, the Bishop kindly froze our CDA goal for this year to remain the same as last year at $85,000. Next weekend is Commitment Weekend when we will be invited by Bishop Thomas Olmsted, and then given the opportunity to participate in the Appeal. I invite you and your family to pray as you discern how God is calling you to make your sacrificial contributions to the CDA this year.

Thank you and Remain Blessed.

Fr. James