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At its halfway point, the 2012 Bishop's Appeal is slightly ahead of the game.

Perhaps thanks to a crop of 2,000 new donors, the annual stewardship campaign - which is the main funding stream for the Diocese - has raised about $100,000 more than it raised at this point last year.

The number of gifts is about the same so far: "Once again, people of the Diocese continue their incredible tradition of generosity," noted Thomas Prindle, diocesan executive director of development.

Many parishes have even met their pledges early - but that doesn't mean it's time to stop encouraging donations. The appeal won't conclude until March 2013.

"It's not over," Mr. Prindle affirmed. The campaign's aim is "beyond meeting a goal. If every household gave something, we would far exceed the goal, and the Church would be far more empowered to give services."

Historically, only about a third of the 100,000 registered Catholic households in the 14 counties of the Diocese participate in the appeal. Mr. Prindle encouraged new donors, since their contributions can offset the loss of donors who pass away.

"Any gift of any size" can help, he said.

Parishes should have an interest in surpassing their assessments because they get to keep 50 percent of the overages, Mr. Prindle said. Plus, "they're joining in the work of the Church. There's a higher calling there.

"The work of the Church is hard to carry out," he added. "Building the kingdom of God is an expensive proposition, and it's become more so in recent years."

Funds at work
Gifts to the appeal provide 70 percent of the operating costs for the Diocese's ministries and programs. Receiving 24 percent of appeal funds are education and support services, including:

•  the diocesan Catholic Schools Office and its Covenant to Educate initiative to sustain Catholic education in the Diocese;

•  the Office of Evangelization, Catechesis and Family Life (OECFL), which trains and supports Catholics who provide religious education and the parishes they serve; and

•  the diocesan Information Technology office, 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 many parishes.

Catholic Charities
About 13 percent of funds raised in the Bishop's Appeal go to Catholic Charities, which provided assistance with food, shelter, utilities and prescriptions to 100,685 individuals last year.

Catholic Charities also provided pregnancy services to 365 young women, counseling services to 2,978 individuals, resettlement services to 76 refugees and time at summer camp for 1,000 children.

Other recipients of Bishop's Appeal funds are pastoral services like campus ministry and communications; religious personnel development; vocations; and responsibilities beyond the Diocese, like support for the pope, the U.S. bishops' conference and the New York State Catholic Conference, which advocates on public policy concerns.

The Diocese provides parish leaders with instructions on conducting the appeal every year. Many parishes create committees, letter-writing campaigns and themed homilies to promote the campaign.

This year, Transfiguration parish in Speigletown/

Schaghticoke tried a few motivational homilies from its pastor, Rev. George Fleming, as well as talks from laypeople and parish youth and mailings. It seems to have worked: The parish is only $2,000 short of its $74,800 assessment.

Transfigured
Mary Clemente, office manager at Transfiguration, called the accomplishment "unbelievable." The parish hasn't met an appeal in six years; it was $12,000 short of its assessment last year.

Mrs. Clemente blames the clergy sexual abuse crisis and the 2010 merger of two parishes to form Transfiguration for past struggles. As for the turnaround, Mrs. Clemente said parish leaders started giving parishioners more details about the Bishop's Appeal.

For instance, even if donations aren't sufficient, "either way, we have to pay" the amount the Diocese assesses the parish for in the appeal, Mrs. Clemente said.

Moreover, parishioners learned that the Diocese forgave a percentage of Transfiguration parish's debt after the merger and covered legal fees when the parish had a scuffle with a contractor during renovations, Mrs. Clemente said. "There are a lot of things that people don't understand" about the support the Diocese is able to provide to parishes because of the Bishop's Appeal.[[In-content Ad]]

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