Beyond Sunday are two wonderfully chosen words to describe the initiative begun in our Archdiocese. Our work as Catholics does not begin and end at the Sunday Liturgy, but, rather, is meant to go far beyond the walls of our St. Ann Church. We heard last weekend of the works of the St. Vincent De Paul Society and how that work has concretely helped the lives of 455 families just within our parish boundaries, not to mention what it has done in each of the five CONTINENTS that the society is flourishing. So, too, the sacrificial giving we are asking of you in this campaign is meant to go ‘beyond what we usually give on Sundays.’
The Beyond Sunday campaign, as you know, has two components – the Archdiocesan mission around Catholic Education and the Parish Mission around capital improvements. The split is 60% to the Archdiocese (who are also incurring the costs of the campaign) and 40% to the Parish. The Archdiocesan portion will be spent around the three goals for Catholic Education – tuition assistance for middle class families; educational excellence (aka – allowing schools to be competitive with the public school districts in their area – which unfortunately for this neighborhood is not much of a battle here – but in other areas of the diocese…); and what I call ‘Best Practices” – how do we retain and attract good teachers, share resources and ideas across the diocese and make our schools agents of transformation in our society.
As we move in to the public stage of our campaign, allow me to go into a bit more depth on plans for the St. Ann portion of 40%. The capital needs we seek to address are somewhat obvious:
1) Replacing the Roof over the main body of the church, and sealing the side roofs with a protective, heat reflecting polymer coating.
2) Once we are sure the new roofs are working, to repaint the stained sections of the interior of the roof, visible to all of us each Sunday.
3) Repaint the metal structure that protects our Stained Glass window from direct contact with the elements – including sanding of the rusting frame and re-glazing of the 183 window panes it contains.
4) Resealing the parking lots, with repair and replacement a few areas with crumbling asphalt.
5) School and Pre-School Priority funding – Painting, plastering, new touch-less bathroom fixtures, architectural lighting, etc.
6) Formation of an Educational Endowment of $30,000 for St. Ann School and Parish.
7) Parish Center Wi-Fi and A/V set up, DVD player, computer Connections. bluetooth connections, etc.
8) Upgrade the Parish Center entry foyer with a dropped ceiling and new lighting.
9) Replace 25+ year old carpeting in the rectory and install thermal garage doors for the heated garage which carries plumbing and water pipes.
So, pray about your pledge, about the needs both local and diocesan wide. Ask the Lord for guidance, and then turn your pledge cards in at the rectory, or in next Sunday’s collection.