The Annual Catholic Appeal kick-off began last weekend and parishioners are now being asked to make their pledge commitments this weekend, Oct. 17-18.

While the campaign’s time frame and name have changed, the invitation to support the many ministries and programs of the Diocese of Helena remains the same.

As parishioners prayerfully consider their own blessings and how they might express their thanks for those blessings through their faithful stewardship, this special section provides information about the annual appeal.

This year’s theme is 125 Years of Mission and Ministry, in recognition of the Diocese of Helena’s 125th anniversary. The ACA funds many of the diocese’s ongoing programs and ministries, as detailed on page 11.

The changes to the annual appeal came after the January 2009 Presbyteral Council/College of Consultors meeting, when several diocesan priests expressed concerns about the timing of the annual appeal, which was known for many years as the Diocesan Offertory Program.

Bishop George Thomas responded to the concerns raised about the economic climate and the close succession between the third block of the capital campaign, from Age to Age, and the annual appeal. He agreed to postpone the annual campaign until fall of 2009. The 2008 Diocesan Offertory Program was rolled into the from Age to Age capital campaign as a case element, so a separate annual appeal wasn’t conducted in 2008.

Parish Goals calculation remains the same

Glenda Seipp, Stewardship Services director for the diocese, explained that a stewardship method is used to calculate goals for the parishes.

Each year, the Diocesan Finance Council advises the bishop on a recommended Annual Catholic Appeal overall goal. Factors in deciding the new goal include program needs, parish growth, economic conditions, inflation and success in reaching the last ACA goal. Once the overall goal is established, individual parish goals are calculated.

In 2007 a recommended increase of 3 percent (approximately the amount of inflation) was adopted.

The diocese has long recognized parish stewardship efforts in calculating the annual parish goals for the ACA. This “Stewardship Method” of calculation provides that each parish’s goal is a percentage of the current diocesan assessment, except that:

• No parish goal can be more than 20 percent over the previous year’s goal if the increase is due to stewardship success and not to such things as the loss of a building drive exemption from Diocesan Assessment calculation for that parish;
  
  
• No parish goal can be more than 5 percent less than the previous year’s goal unless it is due to such things as a new building drive exemption from the Diocesan Assessment calculation for that parish.

In early 2007, several diocesan consultative bodies reviewed the process in light of a suggestion that each parish’s goal be calculated as a straight percentage of the parish’s diocesan assessment. All three groups recommended to Bishop Thomas that the formula remain the same as it has been.

In 2007, using the straight assessment calculation would have had one parish receiving a 92 percent increase in their goal and another parish would have received a 32 percent decrease. Seipp explained that the stewardship method rewards parishes that teach and practice good stewardship by not allowing out of proportion increases or decreases.

“We can see this $1.7 million dollar fundraiser as so complex, or we can see that it’s not complex because we are saying to our people that they are welcomed and loved and nurtured,” said Seipp.

Ed.: Next month’s issue will include a feature on the history of the annual appeal.


Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 25, No. 10, October 16, 2009.