Parish invites gift-giving for a successful Partners in Charity

By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

“People want to be part of something that’s going to be successful,” says Father Adam Reid, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Webster.
So he’s trying a different approach to soliciting parishioners’ contributions to the Partners in Charity Appeal this year.
He wants to help them see that “this is a very important aspect of who we are as Church and we can do a lot to affect the outcome of the campaign,” and support the Diocese’s ministries.
Michael P. Gillespie, diocesan director of the Office of Stewardship and Development, spoke briefly about the approach for Partners at the appeal’s kickoff in the Chancery Feb. 20. He said one of this year’s strategies for parishes is to try to increase the number of gifts, and get new gifts, rather than focusing on the monetary goal.
“I thought it was a really fresh, novel, albeit simple, concept, one that could be very productive,” Father Reid says.
The two men – and Sacred Heart’s Partners coordinator, Kyle McDonald – have a history that goes back to their childhood.
“Father Adam and I made our first Communion together … (and) confirmation together” growing up in St. Joseph Parish in Charlton, Mr. McDonald says. “Mike Gillespie was a year older than us. His mom was our catechism … teacher … a few years.”
“Now we find ourselves working together for the ministries the local Church sponsors,” Father Reid says.
Focusing on Sacred Heart’s $40,000 goal can be intimidating for the primarily blue-collar parish that hasn’t reached its goal recently, Mr. McDonald says.
“We’re looking to get back up,” he says. Even if the parish doesn’t make its goal this year, at least maybe it can get closer, he figures.
Father Reid says it’s a challenging goal, but not totally out of reach.
They will focus on increasing the number of gifts – from 88 last year to 150 this year – Mr. McDonald says.
“The shift from the monetary goal to celebrating the individual donations can help people to understand that whatever they give is both appreciated and impactful,” Father Reid says.
If the focus is a monetary goal that the parish has had difficulty reaching “it can give people the impression that they can’t make a meaningful difference,” especially if they can’t give as much as others do, Father Reid says. So they might not give anything, since they want their contributions to go to success stories.
“We’ve struggled for years to reach our Partners in Charity goal,” Father Reid says. “There are reasons for that. We have been engaged in a five-year parish capital campaign. …
“And, on top of that, we’ve been very aggressive here in initiatives designed to reduce operating costs, and we’ve asked parishioners at times to help financially to make those initiatives a reality.” An example is the conversion of the church’s lights to LED fixtures to save on the electric bill, he says.
As far as Partners in Charity is concerned, “every donation, despite its size, is helpful in funding the important ministries of the diocese. We want to emphasize that reality and celebrate every gift,” Father Reid said.
He has taken a similar approach of celebrating gifts for the parish.
“In our efforts to reduce costs, we’ve moved more into a volunteer model of parish staffing,” he says. “To accomplish that has required inviting multiple people to take on important tasks.… So we spread the burden out,” as it would not be practical for one person to do everything. This increases parishioners’ sense of ownership and reduces the workload of paid staff.
“You celebrate the gift, no matter how seemingly small it is,” he explains. “We seek to benefit from every gift of … time and skill that a person’s willing to offer.” That time and talent come together “to form a notable, comprehensive whole.”
Mr. McDonald says they are “trying to engage people to be better stewards.” He said he’ll talk about giving back in gratitude when he speaks about Partners at Lord’s Day Masses Feb. 29 and March 1.
“It works out because it’s the first weekend of Lent,” he says. The idea of giving up and giving alms is already in parishioners’ hearts and minds at this time of year, he says.
He says he’ll summarize charities featured in this year’s Partners video, which will be shown at the Masses after he speaks. He might focus a bit more on priestly formation and stress the importance of supporting vocations, he says.
Parishioners will be encouraged to go home and pray and “let the Holy Spirit guide” them about how much to give, instead of filling out pledge envelopes during Mass, Mr. McDonald says.
He says that in the past, when pledge envelopes were made available at Masses, some people viewed the appeal like a second collection. Without thinking much about it, they made their donation right then – by inserting a little cash into the envelope and dropping it in the collection basket.
This year, after the Masses Feb. 29 and March 1, volunteers will hand parishioners the pledge envelopes and a Partners brochure, Mr. McDonald says.
Parishioners can bring the envelopes back to church with a pledge or one-time donation – using a credit card, check or cash – “whenever they feel they are called to,” he says. Or they can mail their gifts to the Chancery or give online or by texting.
At Masses March 21 and 22 Kim Paré, executive director of McAuley Nazareth Home for Boys in Leicester, which receives money from Partners, is to speak. This charity is a good one for the parish to learn about – one parishioners can relate to – given that the home educates children in need, Mr. McDonald says.
Parishioners will be informed about the number of donations received, “counting along as we go,” he says.
“I hope that people will look at it in terms of the human dimension … what the campaign is all about,” Father Reid says. “To be authentic followers of Jesus Christ we must help those in need in our midst. It’s about serving Christ and his people.”