. . . That we have a “Building Our Church Fund” for special, unexpected needs for our two-campus Parish?

After the loan on the new (2006) church was paid off in an astonishing seven years, it was decided to continue the monthly offering for the “Building Our Church Fund” to meet two needs: to fund unexpected (and unbudgeted) expenses for maintaining the buildings and grounds of our two-campus Parish (St. Andrew’s and Good Shepherd Mission in Whetstone) AND to provide funding for special Mission projects here in the U.S. and world-wide. 25% of the “Building our Church Fund” donations is designated for Mission projects, such as the Mole St-Nicolas parish schools in Haiti, the Catholic School in Nepal, the Missionary Diocese of Santo Domingo in Ecuador, Via Christi Community needs in Nigeria, and the Mission in Kyrgyzstan, to name a few. The ”Building Our Church Fund” has been of enormous importance in meeting emergency repairs and necessary upgrades for our two-campuses. Most recently, the 32-year-old A/C unit at Good Shepherd Mission broke down, and because of the age of the unit, replacement parts could not be found. This replacement was not in the Parish Budget, but the money was there to purchase a new unit for Good Shepherd Mission, without having to ask our parishioners to make additional contributions! Numerous attempts have been made to deep clean the tile floors in Madonna Hall which have now seen 25+ years of very hard use. Because of the successful application of a new floor system in the Knights of Columbus’ ‘Columbian Hall’, it was recommended that this new flooring be applied over the existing tile in Madonna Hall, and after months of research, it was decided to go forward with this project, which again, will be funded by the “Building Our Church Fund” eliminating the need to ask for additional donations from our parishioners! Because of your continued generosity, we are able to pay for these two items, however, our reserves are somewhat depleted. The “Building Our Church Fund” has been a tremendous parish asset, allowing us to respond quickly to emergency needs – such as the new A/C unit at Good Shepherd and to purchase necessary upgrades – such as the flooring in Madonna Hall! Because of your faithfulness in contributing to the monthly “Building Our Church Fund” collection, we are enabled to be the best stewards possible of the beautiful buildings and grounds of our two-campus Parish! Would you prayerfully consider an additional gift to the building fund in order for us to have enough to take care of unexpected needs?" THANK YOU!

St. Andrew’s recently received a very generous bequest from the Estate of Ed and Marge Harms. The Harms wanted to continue their legacy of generosity to and through their Parish and did so through their Will! Have you considered making a bequest to St. Andrew’s in your Will?

Some years ago, parishioners Pat and Genevieve Berens named St. Andrew’s as a beneficiary in their Will, because Pat said, “I want to look down from heaven and see what I was able to build on earth!” A loving and generous thought!