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October 26, 2008

Parishes use appeal rebates to rebuild, repair

By Michelle Martin

ASSISTANT EDITOR

One hundred and thirty-six parishes will receive checks totaling just over $2 million by Nov. 1 from the Annual Catholic Appeal. That money will help parishes pay for unexpected repair bills, help retire loans from the archdiocese and provide nest eggs for future capital improvements.

“We’re doing God’s work with it,” said Father David Ryan, pastor at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Lake Zurich, which will receive a rebate of more than $67,000.

The money is the first installment on the rebates promised to parishes who exceed their goals in the appeal, an annual campaign that helps fund archdiocesan ministries and provides support to parishes and schools that need help.

First installment coming

Each parish is asked to contribute a sum equal to 6 percent of what it took in its regular Sunday collections the previous year. Any money collected over that target is rebated to the parish, with the first check coming by Nov. 1 and a second installment early next year, after the appeal totals are finalized. The campaign runs through the end of January.

Parishes can use the rebate checks in whatever way they see fit, said Barbara Shea Collins, the director of development services in the Office for Stewardship and Development.

For St. Francis and many of the parishes that will receive rebates, much of the good work has already been done — mostly in the form of building projects — and the rebates will help repay loans the parishes received from the archdiocese.

But many parishes said the rebates will also help with current costs and expenses.

At Immaculate Conception Parish, 1431 N. North Park Ave., shifting masonry necessitated repairs that cost more than $300,000 last year. The more than $68,000 that the parish is expecting will pay for some of that, said the pastor, Father Patrick Lee.

Similarly, St. Clement Parish, 642 W. Deming Place, will have some repair bills following the rains of Sept. 14-15, when its ceiling had some leaks. Because of the complexity of the church and its murals, any repairs require the use of special painting contractors who are experienced working with expensive and specialized materials, said the pastor, Father Kenneth Simpson. The parish will receive more than $46,000 in rebates.

But Simpson said he was also counting on the rebate to help offset a dip in collections this year. He attributes the decline both to the economy and to the fact that he replaced the previous pastor. Parishes typically see a small decline in contributions when there is a new pastor, he said.

Doing well in hard times

The appeal, which kicked off in February, did well this year despite the economy, Collins said. It has generated $15.3 million in pledges, up from the $14.5 million pledged by October 2007. So far, $13.2 million has been paid, compared to the $12.2 million paid at the same time last year.

The number of parishes getting rebates so far also has improved, from 131 last year, and the total amount they will receive has increased by $50,000.

St. Catherine Laboure Parish in Glenview will receive more than $52,000, and it has received rebates every year the appeal has been structured this way, said Father Robert Mair.

Parish leaders had been talking about running a parish capital campaign when the Office for Stewardship and Development announced the plan three years ago. At the time, the parish pastoral council decided to simply piggyback on the annual appeal, a plan it has followed every year since.

“We’re taking the rebates and putting them away for the future,” Mair said, adding that the parish has saved about $200,000 so far. “We want to have a cushion when expenses come up.”