As the spring ends and we look forward to summer, I am happy to say goodbye to snow, the school year, and the Catholic Ministry Appeal. Don’t get me wrong, I love the first day of school (said by all parents), a snowy white Christmas morning, and all the amazing programs and ministries that come directly from the CMA. But it is nice to wrap each of them up, take a break and get away to enjoy the beautiful summer. We also take this time to reflect on how harsh the winter was, how amazing our kid’s teachers were, and if we made our CMA goal.
Back in October 2017 the Diocese of Rochester asked its 90 faith communities to raise 6.55 million dollars at the kick off for the Catholic Ministries Appeal. This HUGE campaign goes to support everything from Catholic Schools, education for seminarians, support for the Catholic Family Center, and hundreds of jobs that make the Diocese of Rochester the wonderful faith community that we are blessed to be a part of.
Holy Trinity parish was asked to contribute $151,384.00 to the CMA. This ask was an increase of almost $9,000 from the previous year’s goal of $142,438.00.
WHY would they increase this number when we didn’t make our goal last year? HOW do they come up with $151,384.00? I asked these questions while I sat in the pew as a parishioner and again when I began working here 6 years ago.
No, they don’t just increase each parish 4%…. No, they don’t divide the $6.55 million evenly over each of the 90 faith communities…..No, they don’t pick a number out of a hat. The CMA for each parish is an allocation based on 4 factors.
1. The number of registered parishioners.
2. The average weekly attendance.
3. The average weekly collections over the last 3 years.
4. The U.S. median income for our area.
These 4 factors tell the Diocese what we already know. That Holy Trinity is blessed to have a large parishioner base of over 2,000 families, and 1,300 people attend mass each weekend. The Diocese rec- ognizes that we are a truly generous faith community and that they can count on us to be leaders in the CMA. There are only 9 other churches that had a higher goal than Holy Trinity placing us in the top 10% of the whole Diocese.
So, how did we do? Six-Hundred twenty-three families (623) pledged $149,645.00. When the campaign ended on May 31, Holy Trinity was $1,420.00 short. 31% of our registered households donated to the CMA (DOR average is 32%). Donations ranged from $5.00 to $5,125.00. The average gift amount was $241.00 (DOR Average gift is $242.00) and most often families gave $100.00.
We didn’t make our goal, BUT we got 99.06% of the way there.
That’s an A+ as far as I’m concerned!
So here’s one last THANK YOU – the CMA only happens because of YOU!
Have a great summer.
Kasey Baker, Business Manager
Scripture Readings for the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Ezekiel 17:22-24
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Gospel: Mark 4:26-34
Scripture Readings for The Nativity Of Saint John the Baptist
First Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab,14c-15
Second Reading: Acts of the Apostles 13:22-26
Gospel: Luke 1:57-66, 80
