All five counties in the Diocese of St. Petersburg and our neighboring counties were directly impacted by Hurricane Idalia. To begin assisting those most affected, on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, Bishop Parkes presented Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Petersburg with $100,000 from the Diocese of St. Petersburg Disaster Relief Fund. Our Disaster Relief …
Our diocesan ministries, education and outreach programs offer support, professional guidance, and direct delivery of services to and for our people, parishes, schools and communities. They do this while maintaining a very tight annual budget which relies on specific revenue sources, including interest earnings, donations and grants, bequests, parish assessment payments and direct donations to …
Continue reading “Offering Thanks to Those Who Give So Much”
The Diocese of St. Petersburg is dedicated to Courageously Living the Gospel, our diocesan mission statement which defines who we are and how we live our faith as a local Church. To offer special thanks to those who have given so much to bring our mission to life, Bishop Parkes established the Mater Dei Giving …
The 2022 Catholic Ministry Appeal has reached 124% of the overall goal from about 20% of our households. To date, we have received almost $8.4 million in payments on more than $8.8 million in commitments. Forty-one of our parishes have exceeded their individual goal, and 11 more parishes have pushed past 90% of goal. This …
Members of the Mater Dei Giving Society will be receiving an invitation from Bishop Parkes to join him at an afternoon prayer service at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle on November 20, 2022. A reception will follow the 2pm service. Our giving society recognizes those who have supported diocesan ministries, Spirit FM, Catholic …
Continue reading “Prayer Service for Mater Dei Giving Society Members”
To assist parishes working to promote legacy giving, end of year generosity and/or new, creative options for giving with parishioners, the Catholic Foundation has created camera ready, downloadable materials and pre-drafted text for message development. Please visit the Parish Resource Page to download the following materials: bulletin inserts and articles text for article, pulpit and …
Each year, the Diocese of St. Petersburg is blessed with gifts of time, talent and treasure from our faith family across the five counties that make up our diocese. As Bishop Parkes explains in his introductory note, “The generosity that you have shown through your support of our ministry and services here in the Diocese …
Parish leaders have spent months planning and diligently working to complete recommended activities and run a successful and positive Catholic Ministry Appeal active phase. And now, the first parish has officially exceeded its goal for our new Catholic Ministry Appeal. Congratulations St. Brendan Parish Family for surpassing goal in record time! “This accomplishment has little …
Throughout January, parishes and missions began sharing information about the new Catholic Ministry Appeal through the bulletin, from the pulpit, on their websites and via social media channels. In addition, parishioners received a mailing from Bishop Parkes and a follow-up communication from their pastor. All of this laid the groundwork for pastors to ask parishioners …
Throughout Fall 2022, the Office of Stewardship and Development reached out to those who have historically supported diocesan ministries, programs and outreach to make sure they were aware of the upcoming change from Annual Pastoral Appeal (APA) to the new Catholic Ministry Appeal. That communication process revealed thousands of families and households willing to share …
Continue reading “Why Support Shared Ministries and Services?”
After six months of planning, and engaging our parish leadership and historical donors in the transition process, our new Catholic Ministry Appeal has officially launched in all 79 parishes and missions. The Catholic Ministry Appeal replaces what was formerly called the Annual Pastoral Appeal (APA). This change from APA to Catholic Ministry Appeal came after …
Bishop Parkes launched the Mater Dei Giving Society on November 9, 2020 with a special live stream event featuring prayer and conversation. Named in honor of our Blessed Mother, the Mater Dei Giving Society recognizes those helping our diocese put our faith into action so the world can see who we are by the good …
The Office of Stewardship and Development is sponsoring three (3) scholarships for the International Catholic Stewardship Conference (ICSC) being held in Orlando, Florida September 12-15, 2021. The scholarship is open to Parish Leaders from all 79 parishes and missions of the Diocese of St. Petersburg who are looking to participate in the conference for the …
Continue reading “Scholarships Available for Stewardship Conference in September!”
An integral part of our diocesan vision to courageously live the Gospel is to equip our people as Missionary Disciples inspired to invite and accompany others in their journey to Christ. The question is, in times when we are encouraged to maintain distance, how do you accomplish this? The Office of Evangelization & Missionary Discipleship …
To date, we have received a couple of hundred gifts made from IRAs. This week alone, we received and acknowledged more than 50 gifts made from the IRAs of donors. We expect this number to keep jumping up. Why? Not-for-profits across the country are also seeing dramatic increases in the number of IRA donations. Right …
A giving society is established by organizations to give thanks to those who make it possible for them to fulfill their mission. While this is usually done through in-person events, the Diocese of St. Petersburg courageously jumped into the unknown last November to launch their Mater Dei Giving Society virtually. “For the last couple of …
Continue reading “Behind the Scenes of a Live Stream Event with Bishop Parkes”
The theme for the 2021 Annual Pastoral Appeal is “Hope in the Lord”, inspired by Isaiah 40:31 – “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Through hope, we find strength, …
Even through difficulties and challenges, our more than 24,000 generous donors provided more than $10 million in support of our 50+ diocesan ministries and services through the 2020 Annual Pastoral Appeal. Gifts were also made to support special projects through the Forward in Faith Campaign, and Bishop Gregory Parkes launched our new Mater Dei Giving …
We know that many of our parishioners actively search for ways to invest in their parishes, the greater Catholic Church as well as other organizations that align with our Catholic Values. They look to support good deeds through their generous giving. Because of this, we are proud and excited to announce the launch of the …
Continue reading “New Donor-Advised Fund is Introduced in the Diocese of St. Petersburg”
With the suspension of public Masses and social distancing in place to support community efforts to slow the spread of illness, a reality our parishes face is that basic operational expenses are addressed through active participation in offertory giving. The intent is for our parishes to continue ministering and serving our communities through this time, …
Office of Stewardship & Development It is our hope and prayer that the faithful of the Diocese of St. Petersburg remains healthy and steadfast, keeping God at the center of our lives and the lives of our families and those we love and serve. Understanding that it is times like this when we as Church …
The Office of Stewardship and Development is hosting three FREE ½ day workshops this spring open to anyone looking to make stewardship a way of life in their parish or school. Our focus is “hospitality”, one of the key elements of our diocesan mission, Courageously Living the Gospel, and one of the seven pillars of …
Continue reading “Spring 2020 Stewardship Workshop Series – 2 of 3 Announced!”
The Office of Stewardship and Development is hosting three FREE ½ day workshops this spring open to anyone looking to make stewardship a way of life in their parish or school. Our focus is “hospitality”, one of the key elements of our diocesan mission, Courageously Living the Gospel, and one of the seven pillars of …
Continue reading “Spring 2020 Stewardship Workshop Series – 1 of 3 Announced!”
2020 is quickly approaching! A fresh start, a fresh year, a new beginning. Before all of us take that step into the new year, there is still time to make a difference in this one. All gifts given by December 31st count for 2019 and help reduce your tax burden before we start our new …
The nationally recognized Msgr. McGread Stewardship Conference will take place at our Bethany Center in Lutz on January 30th. Catholic Stewardship Consultants, Inc., the conference organizers, are pleased to offer top-notch stewardship formation developed with the assistance and guidance of renowned stewardship pastor and long-time stewardship advisor, Msgr. Thomas McGread. Msgr. McGread, who passed away …
Continue reading “2020 Msgr. McGread Stewardship Conference being held at Bethany Center”
The Office of Stewardship and Development is hosting two FREE ½ day workshops this fall open to anyone looking to make stewardship a way of life in their parish or school. This year, the focus is “hospitality”, one of the key elements of our diocesan mission, Courageously Living the Gospel, and one of the seven …
Continue reading “Fall 2019 Stewardship Workshop Series – 1 of 2 Announced!”
August 8, 2019 – Registration is open for 57th Annual International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC) Conference scheduled for October 6-9, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. Following in the footsteps of Jesus, and journeying through our diocesan mutually-shared vision, Courageously Living the Gospel, this year’s ICSC Conference offers us tremendous resources, experiences, and professional testimony on how …
August 8, 2019 – #GivingTuesday kicks off the giving season on Tuesday, December 3, 2019. What is #GivingTuesday you might ask? #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Immediately following our national day of thanks (Thanksgiving), retailers get us focused on HUGE sales (Black Friday, Cyber …
Continue reading “#GivingTuesday – a national day of giving!”
August 5, 2019 – According to the feedback from those who participated in our 1st EVER 2019 APA MID-Year Webinar it was a great success! Thank you to those who joined us! The Office of Stewardship and Development, courageously and successfully branched out into technology! As good stewards of all resources and YOUR time and …
February 20, 2019 – New materials are ready and available to spread the Good News about the 2019 Annual Pastoral Appeal, BE COURAGEOUS Live the Gospel through the Annual Pastoral Appeal! Digital materials are available now for download by clicking here. Digital promotional items include: Leadership Resource Manual (English) – contains materials to help prepare for …
Continue reading “APA 2019 Materials Available for Download”
January 9, 2019 – Last year, our generous donors provided almost $10 million in support of our diocesan ministries and services through the Annual Pastoral Appeal. In addition, gifts were made to support special projects through the Forward in Faith Campaign. Just as each person must be accountable, the Church must also be accountable to its …
January 9, 2018 – Last year, our generous donors provided almost $10 million support our diocesan ministries and services through the Annual Pastoral Appeal. In addition, special gifts were made to support special projects through the Forward in Faith Campaign. Just as each person must be accountable, the Church must also be accountable to our donors for …
September 6, 2017 – Plans are underway for special collection for our seminarians, which will take place in all parishes and missions of the Diocese of St. Petersburg on October 7 and 8. Seminarians, staff working with our seminarians, and recently ordained priests will be presenting at Masses at approximately half of our parishes. We will also …