Parish Bulletin Article: "New Opportunities with Stewardship": 8-19-18

Brothers and sisters, today I would like to mention several ideas for our Parishes and our School.  I will do so with an introduction and then focus on things we need and things that we want.  Each of these will hone into our stewardship with your time, talentand treasure. 

First, here is where we are with our UCA process:

·     St. Columban is at 50% on the way to our goal (treasure)

·     St. Thomas Aquinas is at 26% on the way to our goal (treasure) 

·     Both parishes needto conclude our goal by December 31st, and if we are short we will write a check to the Diocese of Duluth to finish our 2018 UCA process

Second, here are some essential ideas that we need through our stewardship (time, talentand treasury):

·     We already have one parishioner at St. Thomas Aquinas that will pick up individuals who cannot make it to mass (time). We need to have a list to organize this offer from this individual (time). Could we do the same thing at St. Columban?  Also, who would love to systematize this new program (timeand talent)?

·     We needsupport for each of our parishioners and our school to continue to clean our property and buildings (timeand talent).  If you are interested in these, please email or call to STA, SC leaders and our School.

·     We needmore involvement for our parishioners within several areas: liturgy, servers, musicians, sacristans, ushers, lectors and EM’s, fun events, welcoming people at Mass and our School (timeand talent).  Please contact our leaders in both parishes and School.

·     We also needmore involvement for St. Thomas Aquinas School with our parents and parishioners.  At this point, we could use some help with your participation. Would you like to lead Scrip (as we need a volunteer to cover this…timeand talent)?  Could you organize our School’s library that our children can borrow these books (timeand talent)?  Could we reorganize a relaxed event where parishioners to read to our students like novels or the Bible (timeand talent)?

Third, we wantsome financial opportunities for some of these:

·     St. Columban will be paying into the new roads in Littlefork.  Who could fiscally support these dollars (around $12,000) (treasure)?

·     Our School would wanta second swing set which would cost about $1,000 (treasure)?  Who could support this for our kids?

·     Our Building and Grounds at STA decided to wantto resurface the parking lot with a cost around $5,600.  Who could fiscally support this (treasure)?  And, if this does take place, would you be able to use your timeto help our Buildings and Grounds if they needsome more support in this or other fixer-uppers (timeand talent)?

·     At STA, we have already been saving $5,929 for a new Baptismal Font.  To do so, we would want$3,000 more to receive this blessing (treasure).

Please consider your prayer and your discernment for all the above with a great image of stewardship within our family.  Thank you!

God Bless!