Capital Campaign
A Message from Bishop Aymond
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, As we begin this historic journey in our diocese, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the many gifts that you bring to our diocese and our parishes. Christian stewardship is recognizing that everything we have is a gift from a good and gracious God. Stewardship is a way of life—a caring attitude that builds a strong and vibrant Church.
The Catholic Church of Central Texas is growing rapidly and we are uniquely blessed. We are challenged with keeping pace with the pastoral needs and concerns of the increasing numbers of our faithful. Our rapidly growing Church has reached a point where we must have a plan to accommodate new Catholics to our diocese, as well as leave a legacy for our families and the generations to come.
The Diocese of Austin has taken proactive steps during several years of planning and discussion to ensure that we better meet our faith community’s needs. Therefore, we have embarked on a first-ever capital campaign – Our Faith ~ Our Legacy: Strengthening the Catholic Church of Central Texas. This $45 million effort will play a critical role in transforming our Catholic life for years to come.
The Our Faith ~ Our Legacy campaign will, upon its successful completion, make our Church ever more vital for those around us by:
- Creating dedicated funds for the education and formation of our seminarians, as well as help meet the needs of our deacons and religious.
- Strengthening the pension and medical benefits for our priests and providing housing, so they can live out their days in dignity.
- Elevating Religious Education (RE) diocesan-wide by providing more RE directors with the opportunity to earn a master’s degree in theology. We will also establish new distance learning centers and help those parishes in need by obtaining religious texts and resources to advance their RE programs.
- Providing additional funding for youth programs.
- Providing more Spanish-language materials and programming to accommodate our diverse church.
- Addressing the needs of our poor, who have no constituency except ourselves, through the work of Catholic Charities.
- Conducting an assessment of our current Catholic schools to determine how best to meet our most pressing needs and to build up our schools endowment, as well as set aside funds to build new schools where they are needed.
- Creating challenge grants for our campus ministry programs and helping establish and strengthen programs to reach to our Catholic young adults.
- Supporting parishes in addressing their own needs by returning a minimum of 20 percent of the money they raise through the campaign.
The Our Faith ~ Our Legacy campaign is necessary if we are to have a strong and vital Church for the future and meet these growing needs throughout Central Texas.
As we approach our 60th anniversary, let us embrace this work together. With God’s help it will strengthen our beloved diocese for many years to come.
Wishing you God’s blessings, I am Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Gregory M. Aymond
Bishop of Austin