Capital campaign results spark parish pride

* St. Paul the Apostle parish in Hancock is on the Albany Diocese's southern border. Its pastor, Rev. Stephen Morris, admitted that initially, "I had a lot of fears.

"Hancock's a small place, and we are in a far corner of the Diocese," he explained. "It's a very rural area -- we're about 210 active families -- so the thought of the campaign was scary! But we were able to expose a lot of people in the parish to the project. We dedicated the whole project to Mary and put it in her hands...and we did well."

The goal for St. Paul's was $127,000, but the parish collected more than $318,000. Father Morris said one parishioner coined the phrase "stewardship is ownership," and thinking of the campaign in those terms helped parishioners see the need to contribute.

"They're well aware the picture [of parish life] is going to change in the future, and they want the parish to be as secure as possible," he said.

As such, St. Paul's will use the funds from the campaign to build endowments the parish can rely on for its future needs.

"I'm grateful for generous people!" the pastor stated.

* In Athens, part of the campaign contributions at St. Patrick's parish will go toward parking cars.

"We wanted to purchase a burned-out building across the street and have a parking lot," explained parishioner Jack Houlihan, who helped organize the campaign there. He is principal of St. Mary's School in Waterford.

St. Patrick's goal was $135,000, but parishioners gave $166,000 -- "and we're still collecting!" Mr. Houlihan boasted. The parish was able to purchase the building and is already demolishing it to make way for a 40-car parking lot.

Mr. Houlihan noted that an impressive 80 or 90 percent of the 120 active families in the parish donated to the campaign. He attributed part of that success to parishioners' appreciation of their pastor's 25 years at St. Patrick's, which made them want to help with the clergy retirement fund.

Rev. Richard Doyle, the pastor, "has given us an awful lot of faithful service," Mr. Houlihan noted.

In addition to the parking lot, St. Patrick's plans to use some capital campaign funds for audio-visual equipment for its religious education classes, carpeting for the church and other improvements.

* St. Lucy's parish in Altamont and St. Bernadette's in Berne owe their $322,000 collection to "a great committee," according to parish life director Sister Mary Lou Liptak, RSM. Their goal was $201,000.

"We're very happy with what we did," she said. "The Diocese suggested 20 percent [of families per parish would contribute], and we did 30 percent."

The parish life director feels that parishioners "responded to the diocesan need as much as ours. They were made aware of the gravity of the future, and people really responded to that. The capital campaign is an example of people pulling together."

St. Lucy's hopes to install more seating and St. Bernadette's to take some energy-saving measures with their funds, she said. (KB)

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