Dear Parishioners,
As you’ll recall, in May 2018, we did a “Re-Survey” of the
parish community to see how folks felt about our various buildings and how to
proceed. Eight informational
presentations were given in the month prior to the re-survey. And the survey was mailed to every household
(1,100). 459 individuals completed the
survey (which accounts for 75% of our average weekend Mass attendance).
Of those 459 surveys, 62% supported upgrades to our existing
churches, while 32% supported building a new church campus. Additionally, 63% of respondents did not
support upgrades to the existing parish center.
Further, 69% of respondents supported upgrades to the existing St. Clare
School building. With respect to the
question of whether or not to build a new parish center, the respondents were
more split (53% said no, 44% said yes).
With the completion of the re-survey, we turned our sights toward upgrading the existing churches and
school. A Deferred Maintenance and
Improvement (DMI) Plan was drawn up in response to the re-survey. And it was our intention to begin a formal
capital campaign in September 2018 to fund the DMI Plan. However, with the unveiling of the diocesan
One-by-One campaign in the Summer of 2018, our intention of having our own
campaign was necessarily paused.
Through the One-by-One Campaign, St. Clare Parishioners have
already donated or pledged $120,000 toward the implementation of the DMI
Plan. These funds will become available
over the next three years (as pledges are paid). And we thank those who helped with the
One-by-One Campaign. However, to fulfill
the wishes of parishioners (to upgrade the existing churches and school), the
parish will need an additional $1,045,548 over the next five to six years
(about $210,000 per year). This is in
addition to our regular sacrificial giving.
Rather than go the route of another campaign to fund the DMI
Plan, we will institute an ongoing second collection at all weekend Masses for
the next five or six years (until the DMI is completed). It will be called “the buildings and grounds
collection.”
Our churches are sacred places, and our school is vital in
the formation of a new generation of Christian disciples who need to impact our
world. Based on the re-survey of 2018,
you already know this. I encourage you
to plan on supporting this ongoing collection—over and above your regular
sacrificial giving. This is the
opportunity for the parish to support its own decision to upgrade our existing
buildings. May God help us to make it
successful!
In
Christ,