Fr.Tim's talk at 9:30 Mass Sunday about the Annual Pastoral Appeal offers some interesting facts about annual effort to raise money to support diocese programs. Fr. Tim noted that St. Raphael is only about $60,000 short. That's amazing, actually.
More finance-savvy parishioners should correct me if I'm wrong but this may be the smallest deficit in many years, certainly in recent memory.
I think it represents an amazing opportunity. Here's the thing, as Fr. Tim notes in the video, about 33% of registered households in the parish have donated or pledged about $200,000. That leaves about 980 families who haven't given anything.
What if we had a culture of 100% giving in our parish? Here's the astounding math: If 980 families who haven't given anything gave $5 a week for the 14 weeks left in the year, St. Raphael would exceed its goal. In fact, money would come back to St. Raphael.
Yes, $5 a week for 14 weeks. Now I know that even that might be a stretch for some people, and that's fine. If everyone in our parish gave whatever they felt they could, no matter how small, it could still be done.
100%. Think of it!
Why give to the Annual Pastoral Appeal? APA supports many ministries of the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Some services from the diocese even come back to the parish – every day, as Fr. Tim notes in the video.
This is just my opinion – one parishioner. It was not solicited by Fr. Tim, nor approved by him. Seems to me this is doable. And that it ought to be a matter of parish pride to be a 100% parish. What do you think?
– T. Allan Smith
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