St. NIcholas Eparchy is resuming its Annual Eparchial Share 2021
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I am grateful to the Almighty God for the wonderful people of our Eparchy. I thank you for your love, prayers and support for the Church and for all the good that you do. I am truly inspired by your faith and generosity.
I am also grateful to our Eparchial staff and all of you for the great things we were able to accomplish in 2019-2020: the launch of the Eparchial Capital Campaign; the start of the St. Nicholas Cathedral renovation; the implementation of the Mission Institute and its preparation of deacons, cantors and catechists for various ministries; our fundraising effort for St. John the Baptizer Parish, and our first virtual Eparchial social event.
These successes and accomplishments notwithstanding, this year has also had its share of challenges. These challenges are in many ways no different than the ones many of you are facing as a result of the world-wide pandemic and the ensuing financial crisis. The Eparchial administrative operation, while operating effectively, continues to face financial obstacles. For example, aside from the day-to-day administrative costs, the Eparchy is also responsible for the care of elderly or ailing priests and providing support to financially challenged parishes struggling to pay their mortgages, property insurance, staff salaries, utilities and various other necessary expenses.
Internally at the Eparchy, we are in the process of reorganizing our staffing structure and offices to make them as efficient as possible. Our Financial division has been instrumental in refinancing both the Eparchy loans and also the loans of some of our parishes. Our efforts are geared toward saving every penny we can.
However, no matter how efficient our cost controls are, our administration cannot function effectively without additional financial support. Thus, it is necessary for us to resume our annual “Share" Program, which we have suspended for two years because of the Capital Campaign. Please see the enclosed brochure with more financial detail on the administrative costs of the Eparchy.
Funds raised through the “Share” program have always been critical to the administrative responsibilities carried out on a day-to-day basis in our Eparchy. So, we once again ask you for support to better administer our system of 43 parishes, missions and monasteries operating throughout the Midwestern and Western United States.
In these difficult times, I ask you once again to consider supporting the 2021 Share Program. I thank you for your demonstrations of faith that continue to inspire me, for your support of your own parishes, and your contribution to St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy.
Yours in Christ,
Bishop Benedict
1) a poster that we ask you to print and put up in your church
2) a sample brochure
3) Share 2021 ad for bulletins
