Help your poor ole pastor out with the Annual Pastoral Appeal

Fr. Tim Sherwood, pastor of St. Raphael Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, makes a final push for the 2015 Annual Pastoral Appeal, the Diocese of St. Petersburg's assessment to churches in the diocese for operating funds for the year. Audio by Jeff Keller. Photos by Jane Winstead. Edited by T. Allan Smith

Finishing up the Annual Pastoral Appeal: What $5 a week could do

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

Final weekend of Annual Pastoral Appeal

Photos by Jane Winstead

Deacon Peter Burns speaks at 9:30 a.m. Mass about the value of APA.

Deacon Peter Burns of St. Timothy Parish and the Diocese spoke passionately last weekend about the Annual Pastoral Appeal, which helps fund programs at the Diocese level to help people. This weekend will be the final weekend for the APA.

Here are is an explanation from Father Tim about Deacon Burns’ visit:

“Deacon Peter’s responsibilities in the Diocese put him directly in touch with the importance and value of APA. This appeal is used to help the Church reach out to those in need.

“I heartily ask you to do one of two things. If you haven’t given to APA in the past, please do so; your generosity is very important and it is used to share the goodness of God in many ways through our Diocese.

“If you have given in the past, I encourage you to increase your offering, even if only a little bit. A 5% increase will go a long way to help us meet our commitment and to benefit those throughout the area. This year our APA Assessment (amount we must send to the Diocese) and our APA Goal (amount offered directly by parish members) is $237,552. Yes, it is a lot of money, but we have come close and I know we can do it this year.”

This weekend, Father Tim will share facts about the APA and St. Raphael’s participation.

From Father Tim: “No one likes to ask for money, especially me. However, not only do your direct contributions to APA go to good use, they help relieve the parish from increasing its diocesan debt.

“This year the Diocese changed the APA Home Appeal Process. If you haven’t received your Direct Letter by now, please, please take one of the envelopes in the pews, marked for St. Raphael, and use this for your pledge and/or gift. It is important to use envelopes that have our Parish APA Number: 410. This will ensure credit is given to the parish. We are now posting the 2012 APA collection numbers in our bulletin.”

As of February 14, 43 families had given $8,575 to the 2012 Annual Pastoral Appeal.

Father Tim: Please go the extra mile

Why I give to Annual Pastoral Appeal

The St. Raphael parishioner who wrote this article prefers to remain anonymous.

I have long understood the importance of giving to the weekly church collection. And I write out a check each week. But it took me longer to "get" the importance of the Annual Pastoral Appeal.

Once I began contributing, though, I began to understand the importance of needing to do this–how many people can lighten the same load. This is something that God put in my heart. This also is something that I must plan for. It doesn't mean that it will be easy. Finding extra money is never easy. Sometimes money is there and sometimes it is not.

Like last year. I came up short on my pledge. There always was too much month at the end of the money. So I turned to prayer. I asked God for the ability to write out a single check–for both this year's contribution and last year's shortage. I also took it a step further–to ask for the means to support our church collection at a higher amount. Then I handed this over to the Lord.

God is so good! This past week I received a very special bonus from a most unexpected source. An extra, very generous check was given to me for a job well done. I immediately thought of the
Annual Pastoral Appeal first. Then I thought of my savings account, which had been all but depleted in the past year.

I could hardly wait for Sunday Mass! I was so proud to write out that single check and drop it in the basket.

Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Do you have a personal account about your stewardship and the Annual Pastoral Appeal? You may share it anonymously or signed as you wish. Send your article to saintraphaelmessenger@gmail.com.

The case for giving to the Annual Pastoral Appeal

If you've ever doubted the importance of the Diocese of St. Petersburg's Annual Pastoral Appeal, listen to the parents of St. Raphael seminarians.

Photos by Jane Winstead

Seminarians Bob and Dan Angel

Seminarians Chris McBride and Dan Angel

Scott Matrine, Annual Pastoral Appeal

Photo by Jane Winstead

Scott Matrine talks to St. Raphael parishioners about the Annual Pastoral Appeal on Sunday, Feb. 7.

On Annual Pastoral Appeal Sunday, parishioner Scott Matrine spoke to members of the parish about pledging their financial support for the annual appeal. Here is the text of his talk.

Good morning. Most of you know who I am. For those of you who do not, my name is Scott Matirne.

It is hard to believe that 52 weeks, 365 days have passed since I last stood before you to deliver that talk. What is even harder to believe is that it was 1,460 days ago when Monsignor scared me to death and asked me to do my first talk.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity and the privilege to stand you before you the last four years and I thank you along with Monsignor Caverly and Father Spillett for your generosity.

As I prepared for this talk and reflected on who I am today versus who I was four years ago  and I realized that I am a better man today than I was then and that through the grace of God I will be a better man tomorrow than I am today. I have come to realize that God has put me here to serve, to do His work and to trust in Him. Sometimes that is easier said than done. As with thousands of others, this has been a very tough year for me and my family.  

As my wife and I talked about the changes in our lives over the last year we realized we had the makings of the Perfect Country/Western song. You see, it all started in last September: Our dog died, my wife’s parakeet flew away, I lost my job, my in-laws moved in, I moved to England and six people in my house had to share two bathrooms for three months. Now that has the makings of a number one hit.

As I stand before you today in what is the most difficult and trying time of my life, I am at peace and I have hope. I trust in God and know through his grace I will become the best person I can be, more like Christ. I know he stays by my side, forgives me for my failings and consoles me during difficulties. I know that through him anything is possible.

In 2009 so much was made possible for so many due to your generosity.

The 2009 Annual Appeal pledges totaled $175,385.68. Some 33 per cent or 468 families out of 1,400 families pledged. The average gift per family was $374.76  per family or $37.47 per month over 10 months. The total pledge commitment was up 18 per cent over the previous year. We came in at 83 per cent of our assessment and your generosity is truly appreciated.

So many with so little have so much more because of you.

The theme for 2010 is “Go in Peace To Love and Serve The Lord”

"Serve one another through love ... bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ." – Galatians 5:13,6:2

The Annual Appeal supports:

• Catholic Charities and Catholic Social Services, which includes, adoption, family counseling, and HIV / AIDS services to name a few.

• The appeal also supports parochial services, clergy and religious development Catholic education and apostolate.

Our 2010 assessment is $224,000, an increase of $11,655 –  a 5% increase –  over 2009.

Over that past four years I have tried to simplify what needs to be contributed by each family to reach our goal.

With more than 1,400 families in the parish, we need each family to pledge $16 a month over a 10-month period to reach our goal.  

Last year I wanted to increase my contribution so I decided to practice what I preached.

I started brewing coffee at home for my drive into work and was able to increase my contribution due to saving $2 a day that I normally spent at Starbucks.   With a little creativity and effort, I am sure we all can find a way to give.

It is easy to participate. You all should have received an envelope in the mail. If not there are some in each pew. Please pass them down. As in the past you can determine how your contribution is allocated. You make a one-time donation or make monthly payments by check or credit card in a 10-month program. No donation is too large or too small.

Every bit helps. The smallest acts of kindness go an incredibly long way. This reminds me of an incredible story.

Bobby was getting colder as he sat outside in the snow.  He didn’t wear boots. He did not like them and he didn’t have a pair anyway. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping the snow out.

Bobby had been in his backyard in the snow for about an hour. Try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother’s Christmas gift. He shook his head and thought, “This is useless; even if I do come up with an idea I don’t have any money to spend.”

Ever since Bobby’s father had died three years ago, the family of five struggled. Not because the mother didn’t care or try. There just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital and the small wage she earned only stretched so far.

What the family lacked in material things they made up for in family unity. Bobby had two older and one younger sister and they ran the house in their mother’s absence.  All three of his sisters had already made their mother beautiful Christmas gifts.  It just seemed so unfair that here it was Christmas Eve and he had nothing.

Wiping a tear back from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and walked down the street where the shops and stores were. It was not easy being six years old without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to. 

As Bobby walked down the street he looked in the beautifully decorated windows.  Everything seemed so far out of reach.  Bobby reluctantly turned and started to walk home when suddenly his eye caught the glimmer of something shiny in the setting sun. He reached down and found a shiny dime.

Never before has anyone felt as wealthy as Bobby at that moment. As he held his new found treasure, warmth spread throughout his entire body as he walked into the first store he saw.  His excitement quickly turned cold as each salesperson after salesperson told him he could not buy anything with only a dime.

He saw a flower shop and he went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented him the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother’s Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten cent offering.  He put his hand on Bobby’s shoulder and said wait here let me see what I can do for you.

Bobby looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers.

Bobby was the last customer in the shop and he began to feel afraid and alone. Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter.  There before Bobby were twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow.  Bobby’s heart sank as the owner placed them in a long white box.

The shop owner looked at Bobby and said that will be ten cents young man.  Slowly Bobby moved his hand to give the shop owner the dime. Could this be true?  No one else would give him anything for a dime. The shop owner sensed his reluctance and said, “I just so happen to have some roses on sale for ten cents. Would you like them?”

This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the shop owner placed the box in Bobby’s hand he knew it was true.  As Bobby walked out the door he heard the shop owner say “Merry Christmas.”

As the shop owner returned to the store, his wife asked who he had been talking to and where were the roses he was fixing.

Looking out the window, the shop owner wiped a tear from his eye.

He said,“A strange thing happened to me this morning when I was setting up the shop. I thought I heard a little voice telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses as a special gift. I was not sure if I had lost my mind or not and set them aside anyway. Then just a minute a go a little boy came into the shop and  wanted to buy his mother a flower with one small  dime.

“When I looked at him, I saw myself so many years ago. I too was a poor little boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man whom I never knew stopped me on the street and said he wanted to give me ten dollars.

“When I saw that little boy tonight I knew who that voice was and I put together a dozen of my finest roses.”

Are you listening?

If you're interested: If you want to contribute to the Annual Pastoral Appeal, please call the church office at 727-821-7989. 

Learn more: Read the Diocese of St. Petersburg's Web post about the Annual Pastoral Appeal and the work your contributions support.