Lord, what is your will for my life in this matter as it relates to Your will for our parish at this time?  What do You want to do through me as it affects what You are trying to do through our parish?

A Letter Received at the Beginning of the Campaign from Bishop Kurtz in Knoxville:

     How excited I am about the opportunities that await our diocese as we embrace our call to be good stewards of all the gifts given to us by our loving God. 

     As one family we embark on a diocesan capital stewardship campaignm, "Growing in Faith Together".  Your generosity will enable your parish and diocesan family to grow in faith today and in the future.  By ensuring the education of our children and youth in our faith, preparing our lay leaders to teach, caring for retired priests, providing resources for newly arrived immigrant families, and expanding the facilities in which we worship, teach and minister to one another, we can deepen our faith and assure a solid faith formation for our children and grandchildren. 

     As the Lord has been generous, so He calls you to become generous with each other.  Consider those in your life who have helped you grow in faith.  As we accept responsibility for the spiritual needs of our diocesan community, we are each called to be true stewards of our faiath.  I hope that you will join with me as we take an active, purposeful part in "Growing in Faith Together".

     As we embark on this great challenge, please take the time to read carefully the information included here, and to involve yourselves personally in this campaign.  Only through prayer and reflection will you come to know how God is asking you to respond.  I can tell you from my own personal journey into stewardship that I have rarely experienced greater joy or better opportunities to deepen my faith. 

Sincerely in Christ, 
The Most Rev. Joseph E. Kurtz 
Bishop of Knoxville

Yes, Notre Dame really needs a new ParishLifeCenter!  Our current Parish Hall is woefully inadequate for parish gatherings.  It can't accommodate half of all parishioners.  The classroom situation is noisy, disruptive, and you can't close the partitions without cutting off entrance/exit access.  Construction was inexpensive and is starting to sway; roof leaks are common, mechanical problems exist, and it has heating/AC issues.  The kitchen is a hodge podge, and there are no real meal prep services, i.e. dishwasher & ovens.  We need an adequate ParishLifeCenter to house church services before we address anything else.

Yes, but the nature of this campaign is such that we would like everyone to commit to the total effort.  We will be happy to discuss the particulars of your interests at the time of your pledge.

We're not at the point to even set a date, we have no master plan, we've not turned to an architect yet, and we can't/won't until our Building Committee figures out the questions they have to cover on the ground work first.

Not equal amounts, but equal sacrificial giving.  As our past priest said, "Since God has blessed each of us but in different ways, it should be understoon that every parishioner cannot and should not give the same amount.... This is what is known as 'proportionate giving'.  It is our prayer that commitments will be made that reflect individual blessings of God and exemplify genuine sacrifice.

We don't want to be the cause of your financial ruin; however, every effort to honor your pledge is appreciated because we are basing all our future endeavors upon them.  If you move, and you are able, please continue to honor your pledge until it is paid.  If you experience a financial set-back, just inform the church office about your situation and what you need to do.

It is not required, however, a down payment of 10% will help us by having the funds available to kickoff our planning activities sooner.

Parishioners have stated that the prime need of the parish is to develop a new ParishLifeCenter.  We cannot begin to address worship space expansion until we have a Master Plan for parish facilities in place and a ParishLifeCenter that will accommodate us for worship services when we expand our worship space.  At present no funds from this campaign are earmarked for worship space expansion.

There's no detail at this point. Estimates of square footage, projected construction costs, etc. are about all we can reasonably derive at this time.

The Pastor/Pastoral Team along with the Pastoral Parish Council will develop operating policies along, og course, with Diocesan mandates and insurance restrictions/parameters.

Yes, securities and other assets can be pledged.  All pledges of securities etc. need to be converted to cash.  Diocesan policies by and large control these transactions.  The pastor can administer or delegate these duties in consultation with the diocese.

This can be done through a broker, but please inquire with the Church Office for further instructions to make this process as smooth as possible.

No, but the Building Committee will tackle this task at the appropriate time.

Yes, major furnishings including kitchen equipment, chairs, tables, and carpet will be included in our total cost.  It should be noted at the outset that we believe it will take more than just this initial campaign to raise sufficient funds for the ParishLifeCenter.

No!  The management and operation of parish programs must come out of our ordinary operating budget funded in large part by weekly offertory receipts.

We are debt free on one hand, but have little savings towards a building fund.  At present there is $30,000 in our building fund, so essentially we'll have to raise the majority of the money needed exclusively by fund raising.  Diocese policy dictates that we have half the money needed up front in hand and a viable play to show how we'll pay back the other half which we may have to take out on a loan with interest from the diocese.

Yes, the GIFT program is set up so that the collection of pledges happens over a 3-year period.  In the case of a very large pledge, a period of five years is possible.

The Master Plan is partly the answer to this question, but along with this the Building Committee is using some information that was collected 8-10 years ago.  In addition, the committee is trying to make some projected estimates about the future shape and size of our faith community; i.e. a growing Hispanic population, increasing number of youth and young people in religious education, an increasing diversity of new parishioners.  We are seeing increases in the number of families, number of singles, and a drop in the number of elderly.  However, the number of new retirees is growing and in time will result in increasing our elderly population. 

Our goal has been set at $865,000 to meet our Parish Priority as well as the diocesan component of the fundraiser.

No, a formula was established so that a portion of all capital campaign pledges would be dedicated to the diocese from every parish campaign.  Under the formula, Notre Dame's liability is $114,946.00, which we have already fulfilled.  Much of those funds will come back to Notre Dame in the way of programs and services.