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PARMA, Ohio — The Eparchy of Parma is introducing a new program this year, stemming from its annual Stewardship Appeal, that seeks to address both the temporal concerns of the church and the spiritual needs of its faithful in every parish in its 12-state territory.
The 2018-2019 Stewardship Appeal includes an adult faith-enrichment component that will encourage members of every parish community to grow together in their understanding of the Byzantine Catholic faith.
“I BELIEVE” is the theme for both the Stewardship Appeal and the faith formation program. (For more on the faith formation program, see the accompanying article.)
Due to rising costs, this year’s campaign goal was increased to $250,000 from $190,000 last year, said John Popp, Stewardship Appeal coordinator and director of religious education.
Even with this increase, the goal of this year’s appeal, if achieved, will cover only 22 percent of the eparchy’s operational costs for 2019, budgeted at $1,121,000.
“As costs continue to rise for individuals, families, and organizations, it is important to remember that our parishes and eparchy need our assistance as well,” said Popp.
Funds raised through the 2018-2019 appeal will be allocated to four main categories, namely faith formation for families and youth, formation of new clergy, support for active clergy, and care for retired clergy. Funds would also cover all expenses related to the appeal.
In addition to the overall goal, parish goals also have been adjusted to reflect demographic changes and giving ability, based on a mathematical formula used by another U.S. Catholic diocese, explained Popp.
Parishes will be responsible for raising only $230,000 of the overall goal collectively; the remaining $20,000 will be sought from outside benefactors, he said.
One area where costs continue to rise is healthcare for clergy. While parish assessments pay health insurance costs for priests in active ministry, funds from the Stewardship Appeal would cover healthcare for priests who are either retired or who are not in a parish assignment; the number of retired priests of the eparchy rose from nine to 16 this past year. The anticipated cost of health insurance for retired or inactive priests in 2018-2019 is $118,000.
Seminary expenses for 2019 are estimated at $96,000; the appeal would contribute $60,000 toward this budget item.
The appeal would also cover $46,000 of the anticipated $101,000 needed for active priests, including health insurance, relocation assistance, and retreats. This category includes the costs related to bringing new priests from Europe to serve in the eparchy.
Faith formation for families and youth is slated to receive $20,000 from the appeal toward the overall $70,000 needed for this ministry in 2019. The eparchy expects the $50,000 shortfall for this category to come from the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Home Missions grant, said Popp.
Registered parishioners will receive their Stewardship Appeal packet in the mail at the end of October. It will include a letter from Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, of Parma, a newly designed donor form, and a brochure describing the campaign needs.
The new donor form includes several new giving options, which include involving employers in a matching gift program, making a bequest to the eparchy, and setting up one-time or monthly payments with a credit card or automatic bank withdrawal through the eparchy’s new online donation system.
Popp said the eparchy has teamed up with Vanco Payment Solutions for online giving through the eparchial website, parma.org, which enables both one-time and monthly automatic payments. This system is fully integrated with the eparchy’s new database, which was implemented in late summer.
The funding appeal begins Oct. 28 and will run until the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 2019.
“Please prayerfully consider your donation to the Annual Stewardship Appeal so that we may continue to fund necessary expenses for our church, and grow new programming for our families,” Popp said.
“Thank you for your support in previous years and for your willingness to continue to provide for the future,” he said.
Donate to the appeal here.
As published in Horizons, Oct. 21, 2018.
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