Offertory Increase Appeal Strengthening our Foundation
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Coming Together as a Parish Community to Build Our Church
Read Appeal Letter from Fr. Dat Hoang
Read Fr. Dat's Letter LEA LA CARTA DEL P. DAT -
Offertory Appeal Results: July 2023
Fr. Dat's Challenge from April 2023:
Increase offertory by $49,000/month to cover our $129k monthly mortgage
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Please read the FAQs below about the Offertory Increase Appeal, and if you have additional questions, you may send an email to Stewardship@saintfaustinach
urch.org . Our goal is to answer all questions and be completely transparent in reporting the results of the response to the Appeal.
Ways to Give
Giving by Faith Direct is safe and secure and can ensure that your gift is made even on weeks that you may not be able to attend Mass at St Faustina, for example, due to travel.
Faith Direct
If you are uncomfortable with electronic giving, you are encouraged to use the personalized Offertory Envelopes that are mailed bi-monthly to each parish family. You may give via check or cash in the envelope. Using an envelope ensures that your gift is recorded to your parish family number. Subscription requests to receive donation envelopes mailed to your home can be made by emailing info@saintfaustinachurch.org.
Envelopes
Personal Check(without using an envelope)
A loose personal check placed in the basket will be posted to the parish family identified on the bill.
Loose cash placed in the offertory basket is also welcomed and will also be an important part of helping achieve our goal of increasing our weekly offertory by $49,000/month.
Cash in the offertory basket
Why should I give by a 'recordable method'?
You may recall from Father Dat's homily, where he announced the Offertory Increase Appeal, that he asked the first seven rows of the congregation to stand. These seven rows of standing parishioners represented the 28% of the parish who currently give by a recordable method, that is, by Faith Direct, Envelope, or by Check without an envelope. Father Dat is passionate that he would like to see this % who give by a recordable method steadily increase and ultimately reach 100%! Gifts of loose cash, while important, have no way of being associated with the giver and will not count to increase the 28%.
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The start date was immediately following Father Dat making his appeal at all masses the weekend of April 23, 2023. However, parishioners may start on the date most convenient to them and their personal situation.
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No. Cardinal DiNardo and the AD-GH offices of Finance, Development, and Construction have given their support for us to select an architectural firm to complete the conceptual design for the church that will define the size, cost, and timing for construction and to initiate a funding feasibility study to assess the giving potential of our parish. Additional discussions with AD-GH will occur to seek their final approval when those activities have been completed.
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The straightforward answer to this question is that unless we can eliminate our current debt by the time the church is completed, at which time we will have new debt to service, we will not have the financial capacity to support the project. The financial model prepared by the Finance Council and presented to the AD-GH for discussion of our project reflects our commitment to eliminate our current debt of $5.8 million in the 4-year prospective period to plan and construct the church. In our planning meeting with AD-GH, they strongly supported this condition. Our parish community’s response to this Appeal will be an indication of our commitment that we will be ready to service the new debt to build the church. Simply put, if we don’t eliminate the current debt by the time the church is completed, we will not be able to support payments on our existing debt and the new debt incurred in building the church.
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No. The Offertory Increase Appeal was made by Father Dat to strengthen our foundation in preparation for building the church and to give our parish community the opportunity to demonstrate to the AD-GH that our parish can support the servicing of the new, increased debt that we will incur and must service if the AD-GH approves us to move forward with building the church. The capital campaign to build the church will only occur if the AD-GH approves our parish to move forward with the project.
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Our parish debt as of April 2023 was $5,831,535. The current monthly debt payments supported by the level of offertory collections as of April 2023 was $79,900. The monthly debt payment that is required to pay off the debt in 4 years is $128,691. The difference in these amounts is $48,791, rounded to $49,000 for illustration.
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Yes. The ‘Giving Matrix’ shown below, which was included with Father Dat's letter, illustrates the increase can be achieved and surpassed if each parish family participates in the effort. As the Matrix reflects 'levels of increase' as low as $1 per week, a goal of 100% family participation should be achievable. Fr. Dat’s request is that each family prayerfully consider the Matrix and determine the level where they best can participate, and then commit to that decision.
Some people have asked why the weekly increase amounts on each line of the Matrix, when multiplied by the # of families for that line and then multiplied by four weeks, don’t extend to the monthly amount in the right-hand column.
The calculation for the monthly amounts is as follows: Example, $1.00 (weekly amount) x 2,000 (families) x 52 (weeks) / 12 (months) == $8,666.67 (monthly increase).
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Subject to further approval from AD-GH, the tentative planning calendar is as follows:
- April 2023—August 2023—Select architects & engage parishioners; determine appropriate size and seating capacity; complete conceptual design; develop a tentative construction timeline and a high-level cost estimate.
- April 2023—July 2023—Perform a funding feasibility study to assess the giving potential for a capital campaign to support the project.
- April 2023—Initiate the Offertory Increase Appeal.
- June 2023—Initial evaluation of the parish’s response to the Offertory Increase Appeal. This evaluation will be repeated on a quarterly basis, with all results reported to the entire parish.
- Assuming a favorable initial response to the Offertory Increase Appeal, a favorable outcome of the funding feasibility study, and approval from AD-GH to move forward with a capital campaign, the tentative calendar for our Capital Campaign for the Church and construction would be:
- May 2023—December 2023—Parishioner engagement to answer all questions related to the project and the capital campaign.
- February 2024—Kick-off weekend for the Capital Campaign for the Church.
- June 2024—June 2027—Redemption period for Capital Campaign pledges.
- May 2025—June 2027—Construction period for the Church and related infrastructure improvements.
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This question cannot be answered with certainty at the present time. We feel confident that if we achieve the offertory increase of $49,000 month and the funding feasibility study indicates favorable Page 2 of 2 support of a Capital Campaign for the Church, then we will be able to secure AD-GH approval to move forward as anticipated in this document. If either of these objectives falls short of goal, the financial models will have to be adjusted accordingly and presented to AD-GH for further discussion.
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We certainly hope the increased offertory support will be sustained to pay off the current debt as well as to support the new debt to construct our Church. If offertory funds fall short for any month, we anticipate using early contributions to the Capital Campaign for the Church to close the gap.
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Definitions
Funding Feasibility Study- when a parish has plans to undertake a major fundraising activity, such as will be required for St.Faustina to build our permanent church building, it is customary and required by the AD-GH to hire an outside consulting firm to engage with parishioners and assess the parish community’s support and giving potential for the project. The Steier Group, who performed such studies for both our Phase I and Phase II building projects, has again been hired to perform the Study for building the church. The feasibility study is conducted by surveying parishioners via mailings and bulletin ads, asking them to complete an online survey. In-person interviews are conducted as well. The feasibility study’s objective is to determine an estimate of the total dollar amount of pledges/donations that a capital campaign might raise.
Current Parish Debt of $5,831,535- the amount owed by St. Faustina to the AD-GH, which was incurred in the Phases I and II construction projects. The terms of the note to AD-GH require monthly payments of $128,691 (including principal and interest) for 48 months, with interest at 2.85% per annum.
Capital Campaign for the Church- the fundraising effort to support the project that will be undertaken only when the AD-GH approves St. Faustina to proceed with building our church. The Capital Campaign will have a defined time period during which it will seek to secure pledges and donations for the project. Pledges made to the capital campaign are to be redeemed over a 36-month period.
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