The annual diocesan appeal will allow the Diocese of Little Rock to maintain existing programs and services as well as expand the ministries, diocesan administrator Msgr. J. Gaston Hebert said.
Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal kicks off for 2008 with an “in-pew solicitation” during Masses March 8-9. All registered households were mailed a bilingual brochure and pledge envelope this week. Additional envelopes will be available at each parish.
“This step we take as a family is absolutely critical in sustaining the work of our Church,” Msgr. Hebert wrote in his CASA letter. “The impact we make together is enormous, supporting the ministries that do the work of Christ.”
Dianne Brady, interim stewardship and development director, said the $1,350,000 goal will enable CASA to support nearly every ministry the diocese operates.
These include:
Black missions
Campus ministry
Catholic Charities
Catholic schools
Clergy Welfare Fund
Hispanic missions
Religious education
Youth ministry
Other diocesan ministries, such as the Family Life Office, Respect Life Office, diaconate formation and Calvary Cemetery
“Typically everything is supported by CASA in some form or fashion,” Brady said.
This year’s theme, “One Family in Christ,” “fits in with the direction I see CASA,” she said. “I think we tend to see ourselves as a parish family, not a diocesan family. Without their help, there are parishes that wouldn’t be able to be sustained. … I don’t think people really know how much the diocese helps the parishes. Until I started working here, I never thought past my own parish.”
Brady said parishes and schools directly benefit from CASA. Grants for religious education and school projects are handed out each year.
“A lot of money is returned back to them,” she said.
Donations can be made three ways: a one-time gift by check or credit card, a pledge paid out through Dec. 31 or gifts of appreciated stock or mutual funds.
For more information, call Brady at (501) 664-0340 or visit www.dolr.org.