April 1

04-01-2022Weekly Flocknote MessageFr. James Aboyi, VC

I am pleased to introduce to you our new Director of Music and Liturgy, Mr. Phil Arkfeld. Phil comes to our parish with over 25 years of experience. He is currently serving as the Liturgy Coordinator and Music Director at Our Lady of Fatima Church in San Clemente, California. Tuesday of next week will be his first day in the parish office when he will settle in and be introduced to the staff. He will be leading our Masses next weekend, April 9/10.

Please join me in welcoming him to our parish community. Let us show him our welcoming spirit when he comes and I ask for your prayers and support for him.

Lenten Penance Service

I invite you and your family and friends to join us for our parish Lenten Penance Service at 7pm on Monday next week, April 4th, in the St. John Bosco Catholic School (SJB) Multi-purpose Room (MPR). We expect several priests from our Deanery to attend. We will start with a Communal Penitential Rite which will then be followed by individual Confessions.

New Database System

As I announced to you last week, we will be rolling out our new Database System called “Realm.” Realm is designed specifically for churches and will enable us to consolidate several of our platforms such as Donor Perfect, Faith Direct, and eventually, Ministry Scheduler Pro. Our goal is to strengthen our connection and engagement with one another while saving the parish money and time.

On Monday, April 4, 2022, at 11:00am you will receive an email from our parish with the subject line: “St. Benedict Catholic Church: Yay, Realm! Connect with your parish family!” This will be sent to the email address we currently have on file for you; please check your spam folder if you do not see it in your inbox. If you need to update your email or do not receive the Realm message, please contact us at realm@stbenedict.org so we can update your contact information.

Every parishioner will need to activate their own account within Realm. The email will include a special link that will allow you to do this. Here you will create a password, review and update your profile, tell us your interests and talents, and set up online giving.

For those who already give to St. Benedict through Faith Direct, we appreciate your continued financial support. Once you set-up your online giving in Realm, it is important that you log into your Faith Direct account and stop any future contributions from that platform. St. Benedict will be phasing out Faith Direct within the next two months as Realm allows us to save significantly on bank and transactional fees.

I am very excited about Realm’s ability to help us stay better connected, build relationships, and grow our ministries. While software cannot replace personal interaction among people and ministers, I am glad we will have a unified system to help empower all members of our community for the work of ministry.

Stay tuned for next steps including: joining ministries and groups, registering for events and programs, updates on parish activities, and more! Please contact us in the parish office at realm@stbenedict.org if you have any questions or need help signing up.

CDA Update

I am so glad to inform you that the recent update for our parish participation in the Charity and Development Appeal (CDA) shows that 176 families have already participated in the CDA from our parish community, with a total pledge of $82,726. This represents 97% of our total goal of $85,000! I thank those who have already participated. I encourage those who have not yet participated to consider sending their pledge or payment this week. The CDA envelopes are available at the parish office and during weekend Masses in the MPR. Please give us a call in the parish office (480.961.1610) if you have any questions or if you need help setting up your Text-to-Give or Online payment.

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