A Strong Foundation for Mission and Ministry

A Message From Parish Leadership:

In the bulletin this month we are sharing Mission Goals in the weekly bulletin articles. These four goals are the fruit of months of dialogue and discernment about the mission of our parish. We, as parish staff, pastoral council, and finance council, look forward to laboring with you in striving to meet these goals in the year ahead and beyond.

Our fourth mission goal is to secure our long-term financial future and steward our physical facilities. We are a parish that is fortunate to have the Diocese of Superior’s highest student enrollment, highest seating capacity for a church, and highest number of newly-initiated Catholics. We are also the parish with the largest budget in our Diocese. This means that we have a responsibility to be effective stewards of the resources that we have been entrusted with from God now and into the future.

When Fr. John arrived to our parish in January 2013, there were urgent financial issues that needed to be addressed. Through the success of two capital campaigns and a renewed emphasis on stewardship, parish debt has been eliminated, our school endowment has been restored, and critical maintenance projects have been completed. The parish now has an opportunity to move forward confidently with goals of encouraging a culture of gratitude and accountability, supporting the needs of our staff, and tackling ongoing infrastructure projects.

The United States Catholic Bishops have commented on stewardship noting that: “Stewardship is not merely a set of practices or a financial obligation; it is an integral part of the disciple's journey." Our renewed emphasis as a parish on living a life of discipleship reminds us that we are called to give of ourselves generously in service of the Church’s mission to make disciples. 

Two areas where we have seen positive strides are in our new budgeting process and the work of our building and grounds committee. We were ahead of schedule on our annual budget for this year and are now using month-to-month reports to better assess our revenue, expenses, and investments. Our building and grounds committee assisted us in the past year with the major projects of replacing our church roof, repaving our church parking lot, and repairing portions of the church exterior. The committee has already identified several additional priorities for our church and school buildings in 2026.

This June we will celebrate 35 years of parish life in our church building at 1500 Vine Street. We acknowledge that financial dynamics in that time have shifted and we need to be prepared for future changes as we look ahead to celebrating 40 years or even 50 years in our church in the year 2041. We are grateful for the steady generosity of the faithful but are also aware of the need to explore additional revenue streams including the facilitation of major gifts and accompanying individuals and families with planned giving.