Campaign Leadership Looking To The Future
Catholics from across the Diocese of Evansville have stepped up to serve in leadership roles for “Stewards of God’s Grace,” the shared parish-diocesan campaign that will run in three waves for the next 21 months. As a group, they are looking to the future for the diocese and its 46 parishes.
General chairs include Ron Hollander of Evansville, Teri M. Hollander Albin of Evansville, Tricia M. Hollander Henning of Evansville, Jim and Mary Kay Muehlbauer of Evansville, Bernie Niehaus of Vincennes and Mike Schwenk of Jasper. Alan and Dana Hoffman of Jasper and Jeff Wilmes of Evansville are serving on the campaign cabinet.
Pat Koch of Santa Claus is serving as the Honorary Chair of the campaign.
Following are comments from several of the general chairs:
Ron Hollander – “The campaign is, of course, a new venture by the Diocese of Evansville. I think it’s important that it be successful; the goals are modest and reachable. I believe the campaign will make more people aware of the needs of our parishes and our diocese. Since it is a shared venture with all the parishes, it broadens awareness that we are all in this together. With God’s help and everyone’s participation, we can do this.”
Teri M. Hollander Albin – “It’s an exciting time because I think it’s an opportunity for the whole diocese to come together and look at bigger plans for the future. And it’s a springboard for some of the exciting things that can happen going forward.”
Tricia M. Hollander Henning –“The Stewards of God’s Grace Campaign gives all of us, as members of the Diocese of Evansville, the opportunity to strengthen our mission while focusing on key priorities. If we give freely, our generosity can lead to great joy!”
Jim Muehlbauer – “In today’s troubled world, the need for people of strong faith setting examples for others to follow is perhaps greater than ever. This first-ever capital campaign for the diocese will allow us to help form more priests to lead us, allow more students to receive our ever more costly but essential Catholic-school foundation, provide more life-changing help to those most challenged in our communities, do necessary work on our facilities and allow each parish to fund faith growth and facility projects essential to their ministry. I am honored to help on this important undertaking and encourage everyone to give it their prayerful support.”
Bernie Niehaus – “In this campaign, two of our goals are to build vocations and invest in Catholic education and youth ministry. As a result, I believe this effort will help secure the future of our Church in southwest Indiana.”
Mike Schwenk – “Although we all belong to a local parish, we also are all part of the larger Catholic Church. It is our duty to support our parishes as well as our diocese. This campaign is specifically designed to support the diocese, parishes, schools and educational programs, vocations and social-justice needs. I can clearly see the need for and benefits from this campaign, and look forward to its success.”
The campaign’s initial wave includes eight parishes: Good Shepherd in Evansville, Holy Family in Jasper, Precious Blood in Jasper, St. Benedict Cathedral in Evansville, St. Francis Xavier in Poseyville, St. Joseph in Jasper, St. Mary in Ireland and St. Wendel in St. Wendel. The Message will publish the roster of parishes involved in wave Nos. 2, 3 and 4 as they are about to begin.
Wave 2 is scheduled for the spring of 2017, Wave 3 is schedule to begin in the fall of 2017, and Wave 4 is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2018.
Funds raised during Stewards of God’s Grace will be shared between the parishes and diocese on a 50-50 basis. Wave 1 pastors are working with their parish leadership and are discerning their parish’s upcoming needs to identify how funds will best be used in their communities.
In addition to addressing local parish needs, “Stewards of God’s Grace” seeks to provide funding for seminarians and priests, Catholic education and faith formation, and social outreach. For example, the campaign seeks to raise $3 million just for endowments focusing on priestly vocations ($2 million to fund an endowment for seminarian education) and priests ($1 million to fund endowments for retired priests, continuing education for priests, sabbaticals for priests, and for a priest-aid fund).
The campaign prayer has been distributed to all of our parishes. It is available in English and Spanish. Prayer cards will be used at Masses, and quantities are available for families to take home. Parishes in the first wave will recite the campaign prayer weekly during their campaign implementation (September through December). Our other parishes have been asked to say the campaign prayer once per month during this same period, in support of the parishes in Wave 1. This rotation of parishes praying the campaign prayer on a weekly/monthly basis will continue throughout the remaining 21 months in support of all campaign waves.
The Message will provide regular coverage of Stewards of God’s Grace through early summer of 2018, when the final wave of the campaign wraps up. You also will find the campaign prayer (in English and Spanish) in several issues of the paper each year.
