Still not sure what is the Annual Catholic Appeal or why you should give? Dominic and Tara Staeheli, parishioners at St Pats recently gave a witness talk at Mass. Read how they prayerful consider their ACA pledge and why they give generously.
What is the Annual Catholic Appeal or ACA?
At first I was a bit confused with what the ACA was. Now I know this is not the Sacrificial Pledge Drive, which funds our Parish directly, or the Annual School Fund to support Saint Patrick Catholic School. The ACA is for the Archdiocese as a whole and supports 60 ministries. This year’s goal is $133,000 for our parish. If we meet goal, we will get a $12,000 rebate to renovate our church’s restrooms. Last year we had 440 parishioners giving, this year our goal is to raise that number by 5% to 462. The average gift is last year was $343 – which is less than 1$ per day. But any amount you can give is appreciated.
How we started giving?
When we first started attending Mass regularly, giving felt overwhelming to us. We didn’t know how to get started and it felt like something other people could afford but not something we were able to afford. Over time, God walked with us through some incredible personal and marital challenges. As we grew in our faith we began to have a very different view of giving. We began to see that we were truly just the managers of what God had given us. We started giving just small amounts, but each year we started developing goals to increase our giving and a part of that goal was giving to the Annual Catholic Appeal. By making it a priority to give, we found that we became very intentional not only with our giving but with our spending. All of the anxiety we initially felt about giving turned instead to feeling incredibly blessed. As our giving increased we felt like we had more rather than less.
Why we support the ACA?
One reason we support the ACA is for the schools. I loved attending St Pats and my niece was able to attend both St Pats and Bellarmine by taking advantage of the scholarships the ACA funds. I also really enjoyed my days at CYO camp and playing CYO soccer. Again, we were able to send my nieces and nephew to camp by taking advantage of the scholarships. Another ministry that speaks to me is the Sister’s Retirement. A couple of my teachers at St Pats were Sisters. When I mention to people that I went to a Catholic school they always make jokes about rulers and knuckles. While that might have been my father’s experience, I always tell them my nuns were the guitar playing, Kumbaya type. A few other ministries include Catholic Communities Service, Retired Priests, Seminaries, and multicultural ministries, and many others. I like to remember the Archdiocese represents all 175 parishes that are part of our Catholic family. Support for the ACA is supporting us all.
The 2015 Annual Catholic Appeal campaign is still underway in our parish and we have not yet met our goal in dollars or in participation. In order to reach our goal of $133,000 we need everyone’s participation. If you have not yet responded, please click on the link and donate to Annual Catholic Appeal
