FAITH IN OUR FUTURE CULMINATION WEEKEND - May 23, 2010
As you know, I have been, and continue to be, a huge supporter of the FIOF capital appeal. I had the opportunity to spearhead the solicitation of support at two of the 211 parishes of the Archdiocese first at St. Eugene and then the next year here at SJV. I picked up on the enthusiasm of Archbishop Dolan for the appeal, and I'm grateful so many of you did, as well. Its purpose of raising funds for parishes and the Archdiocese to enhance our religious education programs was much needed and most important. I also very much appreciated the fact that the monies collected are in a special trust fund separate from the Archdiocese.
Today (May 23, 2010) along with Archbishop Listecki and all the parishes of the Archdiocese, we celebrate the end of the formal appeal and the success we have achieved. The goal was $105 million and while we fell short of that goal due to the economy and the reticence on the part of some to give to such an appeal at this point in history, I am happy that over $94 million was raised as of the end of April. Our own parish raised just short of $2 million, toward our goal of $2.75 million.
You will recall our five initiatives which we reprioritized in light of the pledges we received (remember we split our gifts with the Archdiocese which retains 40% of them):
Refurbish the school and the Parish Center - $750,000 Immersion/Mission Trip Endowment - $200,000 Outreach gift to Prince of Peace Parish - $35,000 New narthex seed money - $210,500 New electronic organ - to be donated outside the FIOF appeal by a generous parishioner.
Throughout the Archdiocese the monies are being spent as follows: 154 parishes are enhancing education programs and facilities 120 parishes will be making improvements to their worship spaces 76 parishes are establishing or adding to endowment funds 46 parishes plan significant outreach efforts 14 parishes are planning for future building needs 17 new ministry positions are being created
To date we have completed the refurbishing of the school (last summer), and we had an open house for that earlier this year. In the fall we completed the renovation of the Christian Formation Office and Youth Center, and we are dedicating that space with a blessing today at noon, including an open house for you to see the renovations. We have also remodeled the restrooms in the Parish Center. We are now waiting for more pledges to come in so we can continue the work on the Parish Center.
Thanks so much to all of you who have contributed. We have a 30% participation rate with a total of 795 donors. We are now coming to the end of the first of three years of accepting pledges.
Of course you are still welcome to join in on this great project. Maybe your financial situation has changed since our appeal a year ago and you can increase your pledge. Maybe you’ve given it more thought and would now like to participate. Maybe you’ve moved here from another parish and would like to transfer your pledge to SJV. I’d invite you all to consider participating, and again I can’t say thank you enough to those who are already giving to this great appeal.
Blessings, Fr. Ken Knippel
May 23, 2010 FAITH IN OUR FUTURE CULMINATION WEEKEND As you know, I have been, and continue to be, a huge supporter of the FIOF capital appeal. I had the opportunity to spearhead the solicitation of support at two of the 211 parishes of the Archdiocese—first at St. Eugene and then the next year here at SJV. I picked up on the enthusiasm of Archbishop Dolan for the appeal, and I’m grateful so many of you did, as well. Its purpose of raising funds for parishes and the Archdiocese to enhance our religious education programs was much needed and most important. I also very much appreciated the fact that the monies collected are in a special trust fund separate from the Archdiocese.
Today, along with Archbishop Listecki and all the parishes of the Archdiocese, we celebrate the end of the formal appeal and the success we have achieved. The goal was $105 million and while we fell short of that goal due to the economy and the reticence on the part of some to give to such an appeal at this point in history, I am happy that over $94 million was raised as of the end of April. Our own parish raised just short of $2 million, toward our goal of $2.75 million.
You will recall our five initiatives which we reprioritized in light of the pledges we received (remember we split our gifts with the Archdiocese which retains 40% of them):
Refurbish the school and the Parish Center - $750,000 Immersion/Mission Trip Endowment - $200,000 Outreach gift to Prince of Peace Parish - $35,000 New narthex seed money - $210,500 New electronic organ - to be donated outside the FIOF appeal by a generous parishioner. Throughout the Archdiocese the monies are being spent as follows: 154 parishes are enhancing education programs and facilities 120 parishes will be making improvements to their worship spaces 76 parishes are establishing or adding to endowment funds 46 parishes plan significant outreach efforts 14 parishes are planning for future building needs 17 new ministry positions are being created To date we have completed the refurbishing of the school (last summer), and we had an open house for that earlier this year. In the fall we completed the renovation of the Christian Formation Office and Youth Center, and we are dedicating that space with a blessing today at noon, including an open house for you to see the renovations. We have also remodeled the restrooms in the Parish Center. We are now waiting for more pledges to come in so we can continue the work on the Parish Center. Thanks so much to all of you who have contributed. We have a 30% participation rate with a total of 795 donors. We are now coming to the end of the first of three years of accepting pledges. Of course you are still welcome to join in on this great project. Maybe your financial situation has changed since our appeal a year ago and you can increase your pledge. Maybe you’ve given it more thought and would now like to participate. Maybe you’ve moved here from another parish and would like to transfer your pledge to SJV. I’d invite you all to consider participating, and again I can’t say thank you enough to those who are already giving to this great appeal. Blessings, Fr. Ken Knippel
FAITH IN OUR FUTURE PARISH CASE - Revised February, 2010
At our February Parish Council meeting we discussed the feedback from our proposal to reorder the items in our Parish Case for the Faith in Our Future (FIOF) appeal in light of the fact that we did not meet our goal to accomplish all of them. As you know, the new proposal was in my column here a while back seeking everyone’s input. It was then discussed at the tables of the six standing committees, the parish pastoral staff meeting, and finally the parish council. After the meeting I called the Archdiocesan office of FIOF to get their approval for such a reordering, which they freely granted. We reordered the five items with an eye toward accomplishing as much as possible since people gave because of a fondness for one or another item.
The new case statement that was approved is as follows:
1. Re-model and refurbish the Parish Center and School. This should be done well and completed. Our original rough estimate, which was admittedly made hurriedly, underestimated the cost at $500,000. We will need closer to $750,000 to get the job done well. That amount should not be exceeded.
2. An Immersion/Mission Trip Endowment. This should be fully funded at the proposed $200,000.
3. An outreach gift to our sister parish, Prince of Peace, prorated down to 72.5% of the original $50,000 for a new amount of $35,000. 72.5% is the amount of our overall goal that we achieved. We thought this fair since we also support Prince of Peace with 1% of our annual stewardship dollars and in many other ways throughout the year.
4. The new narthex. If all our pledges come in, we should have about $210,500 for this project. That is not enough to build what was envisioned, but can become seed money for the project in the future. At the end of the FIOF campaign, in about 2½ years from now, we will revisit our needs in this regard and plan accordingly.
5. Item #5 was the new electronic organ. That item has been removed from the list. It will be donated apart from the FIOF campaign.
SJV Building Project Committee Members of the parish and outside agencies are meeting to discuss and plan renovations to the St. John Vianney campus.
Structural building improvements are scheduled during Christmas break to create access from Christian Formation offices to the new Youth Room. Constrution/renovation will continue for several weeks.
During the summer, improvements were made in each of the school/CF classrooms including new paint, energy efficient light fixtures, carpet as well as some repurposing of rooms creating a middle school.
This fall/winter, work continued in the Christian Formation offices to prepare a new Youth Room as well as update the restrooms in the Parish Center.
EXTREME MAKEOVER – SCHOOL EDITION
As the quiet of the summer months has descended upon the parish, there is still a buzz in the school. Due to your generosity to the Faith in Our Future Appeal (FIOF), we are able to do work there that was to be done over the next three years. What a blessing to be able get it all done at once!
Every classroom has already been painted with creative colors chosen by each teacher with his or her students in mind. New drop ceilings and new energy efficient lighting are being installed in each room as well. Finally, each room is being carpeted. Smart Boards are being installed in classrooms that didn‘t have one. When it‘s all done, the school will really look like new.
In addition to that refurbishing, several rooms are being moved. The sixth grade is moving to the junior high wing since in the coming year we will begin to use the middle school model. To accomplish that, the art room is moving to the youth room in the activity center and the second computer lab is being closed in favor of COW (Computers on Wheels), which are laptop computers that can be wheeled into any classroom for use. We are also dedicating another classroom to our science program. Now students will have both a classroom and a lab, and the lab won‘t need to be used as a homeroom. To accomplish that, the Spanish classes will now be held in one of the former sixth grade classrooms.
The other sixth grade classroom, the one closest to the Christian Formation Offices, will be given over to the Christian Formation Department as the new youth room, as well as offices for both our youth minister and our associate youth minister. With that, the youth ministers will be working right in the youth room and so if our teens want to stop by after school or at other times, they‘ll have a supervised place to do so. Moving two people out of the current Christian Formation office will alleviate the crowding by also allowing the two coordinators there to have offices and thus freeing up the common space where they now have only desks. This will give catechists more room for planning and set-up before CF classes.
This is a lot of change, but as you can imagine, it has a domino effect and wouldn‘t work as well if done piecemeal. It would just inconvenience everyone again in 12 months. So thanks for all involved who have been ready and willing to move for the greater good.
Late last week I also met with a design consultant from Plunkett Raysich to begin picking colors and design for the parish center.
I promise to keep you informed as your FIOF dollars are being used.
Fr. Ken Knippel
Campaign Update - Through October 9, 2009:
Campaign Goal: $2,750,000 (which $1,650,000 (60%) is retained for SJV)
Total Dollars Committed: $1,990,889
Percent to Goal: 72%
Total Dollars Received: $488,661 ($293,197 for SJV)
Total Families Who Have Committed: 912
Percent of Parish Families: 34%
If you have not yet sent in your pledge card, please prayerfully consider making a commitment to the Faith In Our Future Campaign. Stop by the Parish Office to pick up a pledge card. Thank you!
Campaign Payments: Faith In Our Future payments should be made payable to Faith In Our Future and mailed directly to:
Faith In Our Future PO Box 070504 Milwaukee, WI 53207-0504.
If you‘ve made a pledge, Faith In Our Future will send reminder statements. If you have questions, call the Parish Office (262) 796-3940 .
The Faith In Our Future Campaign provides strong support for lifelong faith formation throughout the Archdiocese. Through your commitments, St. John Vianney adults and youth alike will have more opportunities to strengthen their faith as Catholics. Thank you for your gift of faith!
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