Centennial Campaign assists four main needs

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
Posted November 21, 2002

When the Diocese of Sioux City opted to hold a capital campaign, a feasibility study identified four main areas of need. These areas were Catholic schools, Catholic Charities, faith formation including adult and youth programs, and multicultural ministries.

About $14.3 million in cash pledges was raised during the Centennial Campaign for Excellence for use to establish endowment funds for the four areas of need. Directors of the diocesan entities that will benefit as a result of this effort expressed gratitude to the people of the diocese and spoke of plans for use of the money made from investment income of the endowments.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

Kevin Vickery, superintendent of Catholic schools in the diocese, expressed gratitude to those who continually give of themselves to help the schools.

"I think we have a tremendous support in the commitment of parents who continue to support our schools through the tuition and their support of the parishes," he said.

According to Vickery, monies from the campaign that are designated for Catholic schools are for increased teacher salaries. Catholic schools will receive direct distributions based on the number of teachers they employ and dollars directly designated for their school.

"This will aid us in our ability to provide a fair and just wage for teachers in our diocesan schools that might be more equitable to salaries in the public school sector," he said. "It is a justice issue. If in fact that we believe we have quality teachers - and we do - then we have to find a way to pay them what we feel is a just wage."

The superintendent pointed out that through the awareness raised by the campaign they have planted a seed as to the importance of paying teachers well.

"This is not the answer in and of itself," he stressed. "Parishes still need to find ways to meet those needs. Unfortunately, it does not lessen the job that we have always had to raise money through the parish assessments and through tuition to increase teachers salaries. This campaign helps, but it will not provide all of the answers even in the long term."

He commended the commitment of the teachers of Catholic schools. Many teachers look at their position as a form of ministry and a gift they offer to the church. This attitude has allowed many of the schools to keep quality teachers despite the lower wages.

"The intangible things we get as Catholic educators is not always measured by what they are compensated with in actual dollars, but we also have to be realistic in knowing that we have teachers with families. We want to be fair in what we do for them," said Vickery.

He would like all parishioners to continue to affirm the teachers.

"By providing quality teachers who have a commitment to our schools that is an investment in our young people - that will provide us with the leadership of our church in the future," said Vickery.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES

Jerry Eaton, executive director of Catholic Charities, said, "It is always gratifying to know that people take very seriously the mission of Catholic Charities - to love one another and help those in need."

As the work of Catholic Charities is very private and confidential, he pointed out that they can't always tell the donors exactly how their money makes an impact.

"For them to give us this generous support is tremendously gratifying," added Eaton.

Money from this campaign will allow Catholic Charities to stabilize finances within the agency.

"We are always in a situation where there is more to do than we can do because we don't have enough money to do it," he stressed. "We are always living on the edge, financially. By building up the endowment, it will allow us to better control our finances and better meet the needs of the entire diocese, not just people living in certain areas."

Catholic Charities is headquartered in Sioux City and has branch offices in Fort Dodge/Algona and Carroll/Storm Lake. The agency desires to expand services in Storm Lake and Spencer.

Years ago, Eaton explained, Catholic Charities established as its main objective to provide the highest quality counseling services to those most in need. Many people drive some distance to seek the services.

Catholic Charities offers its services on a sliding-fee scale based on income.

"We used to see more services available to people through the government. The government and the Department of Human Services would be able to pay for services for people, but now with the government cutbacks, it is harder for people to be eligible for services," he said. "There are more people coming in on the sliding-fee scale rather than being paid for by the government. And the cost of insurance has made it so there are a lot of employers that don't pay for counseling services so they people are also on the sliding-fee scale."

In these tough economic times, the demands for services have increased. At the same time, the agency's already established endowment has been losing money so less investment income is available.

The need is great and the funds raised through the centennial campaign are greatly appreciated.

FAITH FORMATION

Kay Morrissey, the director of the Office of Faith Formation that encompasses Catechesis, Adult and Family Ministries, and Youth and Intergenerational Ministry, pointed out the money from the campaign will be used for diocesan level programs that will in turn positively impact parish programs for both adults and youth.

For instance, she explained that when they first began to reflect on the campaign, Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo identified formation for catechists who teach in parish religious education programs was a key component.

"Staff from this office will go out and meet with parish or cluster staffs to find out what their primary needs are in terms of adults in general and those serving in leading roles as catechists and youth ministers and directors of religious education," noted Morrissey. "After we have a sense of what people are expressing as their needs, then we will look at methods of delivery. We may do area inservices, make use of the ICN (Iowa Communication Network) or suggest written resources. We will develop a variety of means for response. We understand that funds will be quite limited as people continue to pay their pledges. The key is to start with assessment and build from there."

Money will not be sent directly to parish programs but will none the less have a positive impact on all of them by aiding in the development of adult leaders.

In the future, the Office of Faith Formation hopes to expand on some programs it presently offers such as the Church Ministries Program that offers adult faith enrichment and possibly make more grant money available through the Partners in Empowering Leadership for lay leaders wishing to enhance their theology background.

"At this point we are looking at a variety of options," she added. "We are also aided by the fact that the U.S. bishops have said that adult faith formation should be a key component of parish life and that all faith formation should evolve from it."

That is one of the reasons why the Office of Faith Formation has established the Youth and Intergeneration Ministry - to minister in a way that can effectively impact children and whole family units.

MULTICULTURAL MINISTRIES

Funds raised through the centennial campaign will be used mainly at the diocesan level to help impact parish ministries that serve parishioners of Hispanic and Asian ethnicity.

Sister Maria Ybarra, director of Hispanic ministry for the diocese, pointed out that she currently is working to develop the leadership among the Hispanic people with the long range goal that they would be integrated into main parish community. At the present, however, language barriers necessitate the need to have distinct programs and services for the specific groups.

She stressed the importance of having programs that also identify with their cultures.

"Everyone responds to the gift of faith according to their culture," said Sister Maria.

Along with the ministry formation program that is offered at two sites in the diocese, the Office of Hispanic Ministry offers individual courses in parishes that aids in the training of people serving in ministries. Recently, a workshop was presented in Rock Valley for lectors and eucharistic ministers. They have also presented training sessions for catechists and baptismal prep programs.

Eventually, they would like to expand training to the area of marriage prep.

In addition to funds from the campaign used for training and resources, Sister Maria pointed out that the additional funds will help offset the expenses of personnel who serve in the ministry. For instance, the diocese recently sought the services of a Mexican priest to minister in a number of parishes throughout the diocese.

Sister Maria came to the Diocese of Sioux City just about 14 months ago. In that short time she has already seen an increase in the number of immigrants to the diocese.

"I am making a study of the public schools so that will give me an idea of where the pockets of Hispanics are," she explained. From there, she can direct them to the areas where Spanish language services are offered.

As they develop their leadership skills, Sister Maria added, it will ultimately help them integrate into their parishes.