By Msgr. Jamie J. Gigantiello
SPONSORED CONTENT — Last time, I wrote about the important role of steward we each take on, as
parish priests, professional staff, lay volunteers and fellow parishioners to support the Annual Catholic Appeal in every parish each year.
Throughout our Diocese, countless individuals have made a lasting impact on the life of the Church and its ability to share the faith with the next generation. It all starts with a plan. The Annual Catholic Appeal plan calls for every parish to personally invite parishioners to participate. Whether by one-on-one visits, receptions or direct mail, each parishioner is invited to give. After all personal forms of invitation to participate have been attempted, a “Commitment Weekend” is conducted, when the works of the Appeal are introduced at Sunday Mass.
All approaches are important to ensure that each individual is included in the parish’s plan to achieve its ACA goal. The plan works! An important part of the plan is the assembling of a team to help with the many tasks involved. At St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Jamaica, Queens, Nina Rivera chairs the parish Annual Catholic Appeal team. A retiree from the financial industry, she uses her talents to assist the pastor Fr. John Francis and works with many volunteers in the parish to follow through on all the steps of the plan. Nina explains, “helping my parish reach its ACA goal is my way of sharing God’s blessings, thanking Him for these, and in a small way, following Christ’s example of self-sacrificing love.”
Over in in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, there are many different immigrant communities of modest financial means in a parish that struggled to reach its Annual Catholic Appeal goal. The pastor, Fr. James Gilmour, contacted his Field Representative at Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens seeking assistance. He began implementing many approaches of the ACA plan not previously attempted. Among them were parish receptions inviting parishioners to join with the pastor and parish ACA team for refreshments to learn more about the impact they could make on the life of the church through their support of the ACA.
Fr. Gilmour shares with his parish that, “the Annual Catholic Appeal supports the diocesan ministries that serve our parish community. We give from our blessings and are blessed in return by the diocesan ministries.” Thanks to the generosity of the people of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and the parish’s commitment to following the ACA plan, the parish met and exceeded its goal in 2018. The Appeal was so successful that, when compared to the previous year, the dollar amount of the pledges had doubled!
It was a truly inspiring accomplishment. This coming together of the parish to follow the Annual Catholic Appeal plan truly served to further the mission of the Church throughout Brooklyn and Queens. As an added benefit to the parish, monies raised above the parish goal were directed back to the parish, something we will hear more about in our next article.
We’d like to hear from you. How have you been involved in planning or participating in the Annual Catholic
Appeal?
Please email us at info@cfbq.org.
Msgr. Jamie J. Gigantiello is the Vicar for Development, Diocese of Brooklyn
