Happy Mother's Day from All Saints Parish!

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"The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother."
- St. Therese of Lisieux

Fr. Jamie, Fr. Brandon, parish staff, and the Capital Campaign committee wish all mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and motherly figures in our lives a blessed and Happy Mother's Day! We would also like to thank all those who signed up to help us with the campaign last weekend.

On Friday May 5th, we mailed out over 800 invitations to all registered parishioners. We invite you to an upcoming one-hour informational gathering in the Multi Purpose Room. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by returning the reply card in the collection basket, at the campaign table after Mass, or at the parish office. You can also RSVP online by visiting bit.LY/asrsvp2

Capital Campaign Kickoff

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Our All Saints Parish Leadership Team, the Parish Finance Council, our Parish Staff, Fr. Brandon, and I… are very pleased to announce the kickoff of the All Saints… Renewed Capital Campaign.

It’s no secret to anyone that our wonderful church needs some work. Over the years, we’ve had some water damage and the plaster has fallen. Our hanging lights are so old, the glass is fragile and has begun to crack, the fixtures get so hot they’ve scorched the ceiling, and sometimes the lights flicker so much during Mass, you’d think we had installed disco lights! Now that our choir sings from upstairs, our loft needs better lighting, a safer layout and railing, and we have to make it more accessible. And for sure… you can’t miss all the stains on the church walls from dirt and soot.

Also, with every past renovation, things have be changed and added, so much so that many parts of our church are mismatched and dated. In the 1970s, a renovation updated the look of our parish, but our traditional statues were removed, and those very long pews were installed. To move the altar closer to the assembly, in 1991 a Blessed Sacrament chapel was constructed with the partial wall and grillwork behind the altar… but it made it so the tabernacle is unseen and the sacred contents within virtually ignored. When the elevator was constructed, we lost our confessional. You see, all those very good efforts had unintended consequences.

If television had a show for churches that need a makeover… All Saints would be on the first episode.

Anyone who has done a renovation or updating of their own home or business knows that this kind of work is not cheap. Church renovations are no different. Although some of the numbers are still coming in, we anticipate the renovation to be in the neighborhood of $1.7 million. And hold on… I’m not done yet. We intend to include in this capital campaign, our Upper Peninsula Catholic Services Appeal goal for this coming year – that way our parish won’t need to raise money for UPCSA in the fall. Once we include some additional renovation costs that we’ll complete this summer, and the capital campaign costs, it brings us close to $2 million dollars.

Now here’s some very good news: through a generous donation and bequest from the estate of Tom and Alice Davis, and with some very careful stewardship from our Parish Finance Council, we’ve already secured about half of what we will need. That’s right. We’re half way there. With just about $1 million in the bank, we are well on our way to reaching our goal.

Over the next nine weeks, Fr. Brandon and I, along with several of our parishioners, will share information on the All Saints… Renewed Campaign from the pulpit, in the bulletin, through the mail, on social media, and via Flocknote emails and text messages. In other words… you’re going to hear a lot about our renovation!

Most importantly, in a few weeks, we’ll be holding a series of informational campaign receptions at All Saints. Every family is invited to attend one. Your presence at these receptions is vital to the success of this campaign and the future of our parish. Invitations will be mailed out the first week of May, and so we’ll be watching for your RSVP. The receptions will offer some light refreshments, while we will share our vision and explain the church renovation in greater detail. Anyone who does not receive an invitation by mail will receive one at the campaign table after Mass in the coming weeks.

Much help is needed in order to reach our goals in the months of May through June, and so we are asking for volunteers for this campaign. Volunteers may choose to assist with mailings, receptions, campaign table, and/or reception reminder phone calls. Please consider getting involved to ensure the success of our campaign. Next weekend, we will have volunteer cards in church, and an opportunity to sign up online available. No prior experience is required, just your willingness to help.

Please add our parish capital campaign to your prayers. In a couple of weeks, we will have the campaign prayer cards available in the pews. We will need your prayers for this campaign and renovation to be successful.

For the past 100 years, our church building has served us well, but now when it requires repair, refreshment, and renewal. Along with the renewal of our building, I assure you that our worship itself will also experience a new burst of energy and excitement. This will be a challenging endeavor. However, I am confident that we will succeed for two reasons: (1) the spirit and enthusiasm of our parish (2) the generosity of our parishioners. If we only set for our parish, goals that appear easily achievable, we’ve counted out the Holy Spirit, and we’re not thinking big enough. The Holy Spirit is truly with our parish family. So let’s dream big, All Saints.