By Susan Bailey | CFP Correspondent
Throughout the Legacy of Hope campaign, stories emerged of parishes meeting and exceeding their goals to strengthen the Church’s foundation in the Diocese of Worcester.
One of those stories comes from St. Rose of Lima Parish in Northborough. When initially presented with their campaign’s goal, pastor Father James Houston had concerns about meeting it.
“We were in the second group doing it,” he said. “Our goal was $781,000. At that time, I didn’t think we’d really make that. Our donations [amount to] $1,019,000. It’s amazing; we went 27% over our goal!”
Currently 42 parishes are in the final block of the Legacy of Hope diocesan capital campaign.
St. Rose of Lima’s Legacy parish committee chairwoman Maureen Scholl summed up the outcome of their campaign in this way: “We decided that informed parishioners were the best way to ensure our success,” she said. “We were committed to learning as much as we could about the campaign so that when parishioners asked, we had some answers.”
The goal of the parish committee was to involve as many parishioners as possible. “Throughout the whole campaign, we stressed that it wasn’t about big gifts or equal gifts,” said Ms. Scholl. “It was about all of our gifts; it was about sacrificial gifts. We said many times that what is sacrificial from my family is different than what is sacrificial for your family. We wanted everyone to feel invited, to know that every gift was impactful.”
Consistent and frequent communication of this message was vital, including a letter sent out to each parishioner, talks from the pulpit by committee members, and open invitations to attend meetings. “If somebody came to us with what they thought was a good idea, we would say, ‘We’re meeting next Thursday night and let’s talk about it, we would like to hear that,” said Father Houston.
Another form of communication was a visual in the church’s gathering area to show people how their donations made a difference.
“We wanted people to feel a part of the Legacy,” said Ms. Scholl. “We had a thermometer in the gathering area, and once we got over 60 percent, we started raising it every week. People liked seeing that go up; it certainly was positive reinforcement. And then we just blew right by it!”
Because St. Rose of Lima exceeded its goal, the parish gets 60 percent of what was donated beyond the goal.
“We have received $218,829.02,” said Ms. Scholl. “That number represents 40 percent of the pledges that have been received to date. We receive our checks quarterly.” Plans for the money include installing new carpet in the church, replacing the roof, and upgrading the security system.
“We got a final estimate for the carpeting and have made final selections,” said Ms. Scholl. “We have a deposit down with the vendor and gotten approval from the diocese.”
With regards to the roof, Ms. Scholl said, “We’ve had bids done on the roof. One of our parishioners, Tony Casapulla, is an engineer. He’s helped us by contrasting and comparing the bids; he gets into the nuts and bolts. We honed it down to three, and he’s analyzing the three, and then we have to go to the diocese for approval. We’re really hoping it starts this spring.”
Plans are also in the works for the security system to be installed in the church and the Family Life Center.
One goal of the committee was to educate parishioners on St. Rose of Lima’s financial workings.
“We talked a lot about our spiritual home,” said Ms. Scholl. “They could understand how much money it would cost to maintain such a large building and the parish office, but I don’t think people think about it too much. They see that money is going to a basket every week, and people have said to me, ‘If we need a new roof, why don’t we just pay out of the offertory?’ That’s just not going to work.”
The committee described the usage of the weekly offering and clarified Partners in Charity and Legacy of Hope via the pulpit and bulletin inserts. “We laid it out there: This is your offertory. This is your Partners in Charity. And this is what Legacy of Hope is all about,” she said.
Last year on Stewardship Sunday (Jan. 26) parishioners were told about the total amount collected. Stewardship Sunday is where they annually renew their commitment to the parish.
“I think Legacy brought a lot of enthusiasm to the parish,” said Father Houston. “When you reach a goal, people are very happy; they’re very grateful.”
Stewardship has been a concept that Father Houston has stressed during his long tenure as pastor. Both he and Ms. Scholl believed that the parishioners’ understanding of stewardship – giving of your time, talent and treasure – created an atmosphere ripe for success. Father Houston praised his parishioners for their excellent stewardship.
“They have demonstrated generosity; it’s a very generous place. It takes encouragement to be generous, and I think there are blessings to it; we have people who can do that.”
Upon announcing the Legacy of Hope campaign’s final total, Father Houston reminded the people of the parish’s charitable giving to worthy organizations over the years: “We gave a million away over 20 years, and we recouped a million, isn’t that what God said, ‘Blessed is your generosity? What else can we ask for?”
Because of COVID-19, parishioners have yet to see the results of their efforts. Ms. Scholl explained that the decision made to do the roof and the carpet first was so that the people would see the results.
“I was optimistic enough to say, we will all be back by Christmas, and we’ll have a new rug. That didn’t happen. But when they do come back, there will be a new rug there. And even if they’re just driving by this spring, we hope they see the fruits of their labor in that the roof is being repaired.”