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Without the annual Bishop's Appeal, diocesan staff might be unable to train parish catechists and lay leaders - and many parishes ask for that help.

"There's less staffing and so parishes are depending more and more on the diocesan office," explained Jeanne Schrempf, director of the diocesan Office of Evangelization, Catechesis and Family Life.

Among other projects in 2010, her office:

• provided marriage preparation to more than 550 couples,

• trained and certified 31 new Catholic school teachers,

• trained six parish adult faith formation teams,

• planned a retreat for 24 adults with developmental disabilities and

• planned the first diocesan youth rally in four years.

The Bishop's Appeal made much of that possible.

"If that money was cut to our office, we would lose staff," Mrs. Schrempf stated. "It buys the work, the talent, the skills and the experience of the people on staff."

Still, programs like the youth rally and the upcoming Spring Enrichment - a May 16-19 series of workshops for catechists and parish leaders - require registration fees that Mrs. Schrempf's office would love to see waived.

Other organizations that benefit from the Bishop's Appeal, like Catholic Charities, see the demand for their services rise more and more every year.

"Throughout our Diocese, there are dedicated individuals who bring the healing and compassion of the Lord Jesus to people who are homeless and hungry, to those who are sick or living in despair," Bishop Howard J. Hubbard wrote in a letter to Catholics in the 14 counties of the Albany Diocese.

Last year, 32,576 donors gave to the Bishop's Appeal - a decline of 1,066 donors from 2009. Tom Prindle, executive director of development for the Diocese, blames the economy and relocation.

"We can't undersell the recession that we're still in," Mr. Prindle told The Evangelist.

Bishop Hubbard agreed.

"It is never easy to ask for money, and in times such as these, it is especially hard," he wrote in his pulpit letter. "Yet the important work we do in caring for God's people and in keeping our Catholic faith alive relies on the donations received."

Some results of last year's appeal were promising: About 1,000 lapsed donors returned, unpaid pledges were historically low, and 2,094 people gave for the first time.

This year, Mr. Prindle and Bishop Hubbard want to attract younger donors. The average age of donors is 66.

"The facts show that there are many more people, especially those who are younger, who for whatever reason do not donate to the appeal," Bishop Hubbard wrote.

To change that, Mr. Prindle plans to reach out to college campuses - emphasizing that no gift is too small - and communicate more with the Diocese's 96,000 registered Catholic households through newsletters, direct mail campaigns, www.thebishopsappeal.org and the appeal's Facebook page.

He will underscore the fact that donors have eight months to fulfill their pledges.

"We need to tell people about the success stories of the Church," Mr. Prindle said. "It's all quietly done. There's no fanfare. More and more people need to know how the Church impacts lives at all levels. All you really have to do is pick up the diocesan directory."

Organizations aided by the appeal include:

• Catholic Charities, which served 123,281 people in 2010 in areas like support for those with developmental disabilities, caregiver support, kinship care, HIV/AIDS services, foster care and adoption, immigration services, meals, food pantries and emergency assistance;

• the diocesan Catholic Schools Office, which is revitalizing its 21 elementary and four high schools with the multi-year Covenant to Educate initiative;

• the Office of Ministry Formation, which developed the Kateri Institute for Lay Ministry Formation, offered training to 421 people at the annual Autumn Diocesan Gathering and sponsored the first annual gathering for pastoral care coordinators in 2010;

• the Vocations Office, which sponsored programs for 500 high school and college students to learn about religious life, offered 12 discernment opportunities for men and women and sponsored seven seminarians;

• the Office of Prayer and Worship, which organized the ordination ceremonies for four deacons and five priests, the diocesan Chrism Mass, the rededication of Albany's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and workshops on the new Roman Missal;

• support services like the diocesan office of Information Technology, which provides email accounts and technical support for parishes, installs hardware and routers and provides computers and printers to parishes in remote areas. The office has also created websites for about 40 parishes and links independent sites to www.rcda.org.

The Bishop's Appeal kicks off the weekend of May 7 and 8. Learn more at www.thebishopsappeal.org.[[In-content Ad]]

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