For the
average person who comes up the driveway, our campus looks so solid and
massive. This is one big, well-built
church!
What they
wouldn’t know and wouldn’t notice is the hundreds of not-so-stationary elements
that make this church as solid as it is.
No one of them is big, but all of them together are impressive and
effective.
One of
the inevitable and important elements of our existence as a parish church is
the annual Cardinal’s Appeal. We
participate as individual members of the local church, but also as a parish
community supporting our Archdiocese.
Normally by late April I let you know how we have done on our pledging
and participation, but this year I have been reluctant to say.
That’s
because there was a problem; several, in fact.
The initial report of our pledges came back crazy low, 59% of goal. But it didn’t come to me until crazy late,
late June, instead of early April. The
report was late and uncertain because the Cardinal’s Appeal people had inaugurated
a new database system this year. They
couldn’t tell me why our numbers were low; they weren’t even confident that the
reports were accurate.
Right
about that time we started getting calls from folks asking about their checks
and their pledges that had not been processed.
I knew something was wrong, and began to investigate. You may remember I made announcements at
Mass. A few weeks later, we found it.
All of
our pledges from the in-pew were neatly sorted and sealed in bags for delivery
to the Archdiocese – and sitting in our counting room downstairs. The volunteer had done all the prep work and
assumed the staffers would deliver them to the bank; the staffers had figured
the volunteer had delivered them. And so
they sat.
When I
found them, I called the Cardinal’s Appeal office with some embarrassment. He was excited, because it meant there were
Appeal pledges and donations he had not received. I was excited, because it meant our parish
was not dodging the Appeal. He called
everyone whose pledge or check and not been processed, explained what had
happened, and asked permission to deposit the checks or reschedule withdrawals
for the full amount. 100% of the folks
said yes!
So now,
we are at over 95% our goal pledged for the Appeal. I am grateful, and the Appeal office is
impressed with, everyone’s generosity and understanding. Thank you all very much.
You will
have noticed last weekend that the organ is back. Chesapeake Organ Service brought us the
console late last week, and because of the generous response of parishioners
David Fricke and James Horstkamp, necessary electrical work was done. Further fine tuning was applied this
week.
You may
not be able to hear the difference from before, but I think I can. Mainly you hear the difference of having a
real instrument working properly, with craftsmanship and beauty, played by
a master like Richard Fitzgerald. Many
parishes do not have a real organ; through the commitment of our forebears, we
do.
After
Mass today, come up the side aisle to see the new console. Richard will be happy to give you a “tour” of
it, and point out the improvements and features.
Musicians
and technicians, Appeal volunteers and rectory staffers; all are components of
a marvelous instrument that is our parish.
Bigger than our buildings, diverse and harmonic rather than massive or
monolithic: our parish is one big, well-built Communion.
Monsignor Smith
