Special Collections

The national collections material ordering system is available for dioceses to order all USCCB collection materials for parishes. This includes collection envelopes and bulletin inserts. Each parish is currently set up to receive one Pastor Kit.
 
The online ordering system, www.nationalcollections.org, is free of charge (as are materials). It is only available for dioceses to order on behalf of their parishes and is not available for individual parish use. 
 
If you need to make changes to your current collection materials or have any questions about the online system, please don’t hesitate to contact Margaret Kappel at (512) 949-2444.

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Traditionally and historically, Catholics are known for sharing their blessings. Early Christian communities often solicited funds for their fellow Christians in other cities and nations. They understood that for a young missionary church to grow and thrive, they needed to help one another willingly. “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s needs.” 
(Acts 2:44-45).

Christian charity was equally understood as a tenet of faith and an expression of love for one another. “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pt 4:10). While charity is still the basis of our worldwide outreach today,
we may often forget that it is also our “expression of love” as Christians for one another. The special collections in today’s Catholic churches are as important as they were two centuries
ago in the new, struggling communities of faithful.

Special collections are important for two reasons:

1. They help fund a specific need that the Church has identified as worthy and true to the Church’s mission.
2. They offer opportunities for us, as Christians, to support the Church’s mission on earth.

While the first satisfy monetary needs, the second satisfies a spiritual need that should be inherited by each and every Christian. But often the reason that special collections are so bothersome to us is not that we couldn’t give out to others in charity and love or we don’t
have a personal relationship with the people or the cause seeking our support - it’s much more difficult to respond to an impersonal, special collection basket with only a vague understanding
of its purpose.

So what are these special collections that seem to be promoted so frequently?

Second collections serve many needs, but their greatest purpose is the opportunity they present
to participate in the work of the church outside a parochial community. Developing an attitude of stewardship not only for your own parish but also for the faith community around us is part of
our faith formation.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and
you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me” (Matt 25:35-36)

On Oct. 19 and 20, all parishes in the Diocese of Austin will take up the World Mission Sunday Collection to support the proclamation of the Gospel, the building of churches, together with the work and witness of mission priests, religious Sisters and Brothers, and lay pastoral leaders. These missionaries reveal the compassionate heart of Jesus through their work that often entails providing not only spiritual support but also food, education, and medical care to the most vulnerable communities in the Pope’s missions.
The Pope specifically requested from The Pontifical Mission Societies their help to spread the message of Christ to the world, mainly in those countries where Christianity is too recent, or too poor to sustain itself, and in any place where He has been denied, forgotten, persecuted, or shunned.

The societies care for and support new churches until they can be self-sufficient. This was the case of the Church in the United States which was considered a mission territory until 1908. Many of the churches in this country were built thanks to the support of The Pontifical Mission Societies. For more information, visit click here. 

Please be generous in your support of this most worthy cause.

Ways to Give:

• Drop off your gift or mail your collection envelope directly to your parish. Online Giving: Check your parish website to make a secure online credit/debit card donation.
 
• Mail: Checks may be mailed to your parish or to the Diocese of Austin (6225 E US HWY 290 SVRD EB, Austin, TX 78723). Please include the collection name and your parish on your check.

   

Parish Special Collections - Most parishes have their own set of monthly special collections for various ministries. This would include St. Vincent de Paul and parish social ministry, parish debt reduction, youth ministry programs, capital campaigns, building funds, etc. These are collections that occur primarily for the benefit of the parish.

Catholic Services Appeal - Annually, on the first weekend of November, the Diocese of Austin asks for your support through the Catholic Services Appeal. This collection sustains the countless ministries and programs, diocesan-wide, that no parish could sponsor on their own. We as Catholics are part of diocese that sustains Catholic schools, campus ministries, Catholic Charities of Central Texas, Catholic education and formation, Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center, seminarian education and clergy formation, youth and young adult ministry, Hispanic ministry, diaconate ministry, immigrant concerns, Ethics and Integrity in Ministry and much more. Your contributions reflect an understanding of the responsibility we have to the larger faith community in central Texas.

Diocesan-wide Special Collections - Periodically, we also have diocesan collections for the worldwide church. These collections, created by the U.S. Bishops’ Conference, are designed to support the works of the local American Church in addition to supporting our Christian brothers and sisters in other countries. These special collections are typically used to support programs like the home missions in the U.S., aid to the Church in Eastern Europe, Peter’s Pence (support of the Holy Father), support for seminarians, support for world missionary activity and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

Accounts Receivable Transmittal Form