Pastors’ support enlisted for Bishop’s Annual Appeal
By Erick Rommel
Head Staff Writer
It was to look back at a job well done and to prepare for a new year of dedicated effort that Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski and the diocesan Office of Development invited pastors to one of two special luncheons Oct. 4 and 5.
Held in the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway, the luncheons offered an opportunity for pastors to learn more about the services provided through the appeal and the importance of their involvement in achieving the overall goal.
Last year, 57 parishes exceeded their annual appeal goal. Each pastor was honored by the bishop with a recognition certificate for his parish.
Acknowledging that he was impressed by the number of pastors who personally gave money to support the effort last year. “The appeal is for our diocese, our family in Christ.”
Since the appeal’s creation 17 years ago, members of the diocesan community have given more than $60 million. Last year, 32,265 donors raised more than $5.5 million. The money helped support more than 30 services offered by the diocese in five areas; special ministries, Catholic social services, education, pastoral life and personnel in ministry.
This year, Bishop Bootkoski says two new services will receive funds through the appeal. The first, child protection services, has been in place for one year but wasn’t included as part of last year’s appeal because it was created after the appeal began. For the second, “we’re starting an evangelization program that we really need,” the bishop said. It will be located in Perth Amboy and may even include a storefront facility where members of the community can come to have their questions answered.
Among the ways that pastors are asked to participate is by forming committees within their parishes to coordinate the campaign. The pastor is also asked to make his community aware of the appeal and the need for it by way of pulpit announcements and mailings.
To reach out to members of the diocesan community, letters have been sent to most parishioners asking for donations, banners and posters have been created for parish display, cable television ads and billboards have been purchased and a brochure has been created. Some of them materials are in Spanish as well.
Each parish also has a copy of the appeal video. “It gives a broader sense of what we do in the diocese and how it’s shared on the parish level,” said Vincent E. Stahl, director of the diocesan Office of Development.
Father Leonard F. Rusay, pastor, Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Whitehouse Station, agreed, “If we are truly part of our diocesan community, we need to participate and become part of the whole rather than individual entities.”
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law