Weekly THIS AND THAT for January 4, 2009: A Change in Our Monthly Envelope Mailing

This and That:
A Change in Our Monthly Envelope Mailing

Beginning in February in our monthly mailing of envelopes, we will discontinue an old familiar envelope and begin a new one. The old familiar goldenrod Capital Campaign envelope will be replaced by a new green one called, “Our Lady of Grace Debt Reduction Fund.” Because we get our February envelopes mailed to us in mid or late January, I thought it important to “get the word out” about the change. This week’s “This and That” is to explain the “What” and the “Why” of the envelope change and to give you a “heads up” before you receive the packet in the mail.

While I have this opportunity, it might be good to explain the different envelopes in the monthly packet you receive. There are the weekly Offertory envelopes, which are your weekly contribution to the support of the parish and its more than 60 ministries. Without the “bread and butter” Offertory we could not provide for our worship, programs or services. The second envelope is the new green “Debt Reduction Fund” which is explained further below. Finally there are the Christmas and Easter Special Collection envelopes. They are your Christmas and Easter gift to your parish.

Regarding the new green envelope, our three-year Capital Campaign was begun in January 2005 to pay for new construction and improvements to the facilities on campus. It also included paying down of some of our debt that was incurred on prior parish projects. The Campaign was a success with all of our planned projects being completed and we were able to reduce some of our outstanding debt.

In December 2007 we completed our Capital Campaign original pledge period for the Campaign, which used the goldenrod collection envelope. There were some parishioners who needed to extend the payment of their pledges beyond the original pledge schedule. There were other families who had joined our parish after the Capital Campaign had officially begun and were willing to make a three-year commitment that extended beyond December 2007. For these reasons we kept the goldenrod envelope in the monthly Offertory packet of envelops for all of 2008.

As we enter 2009, your family and your parish family each faces challenging times. Our parish is not immune to the economic climate in keeping our operational budget balanced and in servicing of our debt. Our Parish Development Committee has recommended that we discontinue the goldenrod Capital Campaign envelope and in its place include a green envelope called “Our Lady of Grace Debt Reduction Fund” beginning with the February envelop packet. These donations will go directly to servicing our debt on a regular basis and will be used for nothing else. The green envelope will now be included in the monthly packet.

The debt which was approved by the Finance Committee, Pastoral Council and Parish Coporators, was a result of our purchasing of some of the adjoining property, the opening of the Middle School, creating additional parking, building of the athletic fields, improvement of the ingress and egress to the campus, and expansion of the Educational Center. It was never our intention to completely pay off the debt to the Archdiocese so now that the Capital Campaign is officially over, we are asking all our people to help us chip away at reducing it, since the more we are able to pay off, the lesser the interest cost to the parish.

Thank you for continued generous support of Our Lady of Grace. Without your financial help we could not have accomplished all that has been done and will be done in the future.

Fondly,
Father Nicholas