The diocese begins a $30 million capital campaign in the middle of a national financial crisis — with surprising results

By Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald

Campaign timeline February 2008: Capital campaign office opens May 2008-February 2009: Leadership gift phase August-December 2008: Pilot parishes bloc Sacred Hearts, Lanai City Sacred Heart, Pahoa Holy Trinity, Kuliouou Blessed Sacrament, Pauoa Valley St. Stephen, Nuuanu Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu Our Lady of Sorrows, Wahiawa St. Rita, Nanakuli January-May 2009: Bloc I Kauai Immaculate Conception, Lihue St. Theresa, Kekaha St. Catherine, Kapaa Holy Cross, Kalaheo St. Raphael, Koloa Maui Maria Lanakila, Lahaina St. Theresa, Kihei Big Island Sacred Heart, Naalehu Holy Rosary, Pahala St. Benedict, Honaunau Our Lady of Lourdes, Honokaa Immaculate Heart of Mary, Papaikou St. Anthony, Papaaloa St. Michael, Kailua-Kona Oahu St. John Vianney, Kailua St. Augustine, Waikiki St. John Apostle and Evangelist, Mililani St. Jude, Kapolei Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Ewa Beach St. John the Baptist Sacred Heart, Punahou St. Pius X, Punahou Korean Catholic Community St. Anthony, Kalihi (Three tentatively scheduled parishes are not included in the list.) June-October 2009: Bloc II, all remaining parishes November 2009: Final campaign totals are announced How will the $30 million be spent? $3 million: Vocation endowment for seminarian recruitment and education $3 million: Clergy retirement $2.5 million: Leadership development of clergy, lay staff and volunteers $2.5 million: Social service programs (affordable housing efforts) $2 million: Faith formation programs for religious, deacons and laity $2 million: Youth and young adult programs $2 million: Tuition assistance endowment for Catholic schools $6.25 million: Parish share (going back into parishes) $2.75 million: Campaign costs (for campaign staff and materials) $2.5 million: New parishes and facilities and management of land assets $1.5 million: Renovation of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace What percent goes back to the parishes? 25 percent of what is raised, up to a parish’s goal 50 percent of what is raised over goal up to 150 percent of goal 80 percent of what is raised over 150 percent of the parish goal

As the election campaigns wrap up in early November, another kind of campaign will be fully underway in the Diocese of Honolulu.

The diocese, having just created its “Witness to Jesus: Diocesan Road Map” strategic plan, now needs the money to implement that vision.

Enter “With Grateful Hearts,” the capital and endowment campaign, which seeks to raise $30 million in less than two years.

Just as every vote counts in an election, every parishioner counts when supporting the Road Map.

“More so than some efforts, the capital campaign is really a grassroots movement that will find its success only if it finds success in each of the parish campaigns,” says Gary Hawkins, vice president for Community Counseling Service, the mainland company hired to head the diocese’s campaign office.

“So far parishioners have been very supportive of the efforts of their parish and the leadership has embraced what it’s about,” he said.

The money from the Capital Campaign will support the Road Map’s six priorities:

• Leadership Development of Clergy, Lay Staff, and Volunteers

• Youth and Young Adult Programs
• Faith Formation
• Homelessness
• Repair and Maintenance of Church and School Facilities
• New Parishes and Facilities and Management of Land Assets.

All the funds will go into the newly established Hawaii Catholic Community Foundation, separate from the diocese’s operating budget, before being distributed. The largest segment of money raised — $6.25 million — goes into the Parish Share Fund to be returned to parishes.

Campaign starts

The campaign office, established in February, is staffed by Hawkins and others. Two more will be added when more parishes are actively campaigning. The office’s goal, Hawkins said, is that of “education and invitation,” training pastors and people on parish campaign teams to go out and reach their fellow parishioners.

In May, Bishop Larry Silva began seeking pledges toward his “Leadership Gift” goal of $5 million. Since August, eight “pilot” parishes have been running parish campaigns. Eventually every parish will be involved. (See sidebar.)

The parish pledge process involves a core group of volunteers making calls and visits to parishioners, explaining the details on the campaign and where their money goes. Parishioners are asked to fill out pledge cards with the amount they can give over a three to five year period.

A “With Grateful Hearts” DVD giving an overview of the capital campaign is also shown to all parishioners.

Because of the current economic downturn, Hawkins said that volunteers will have to be a little more diligent.

However, he said, “while the economy has affected the size of some gifts in this, it really hasn’t affected participation.”

Hawkins said that 95 percent of people who are asked to donate do so and that most do not request that their pledge be restricted to one particular area of the campaign. (See sidebar.)

“The vast majority of the funding is going to come from the parishioners themselves,” he said. “It’s not going to be found in major corporations or foundations, though we hope they play a part.”

Pilot parishes

Two of the pilot Honolulu parishes, St. Stephen and Blessed Sacrament, gathered its campaign teams for a weekly evening meeting in the St. Stephen parish hall on Thursday, Oct. 23, to report on how the pledge efforts were going.

CCS consultant Jaime Mah reviewed details of the pledge process and talked about an upcoming phone-a-thon before attendees broke into separate parish groups to report on pledge calls, visits and amounts raised.

After the meeting, over a meal of stew, crackers and cookies, and fruit, the parish volunteers shared how they felt the campaign was going. They acknowledged that it’s a tough time to be asking people for money, even for the church.

But all were optimistic and with good reason. Along with Sacred Hearts Parish on Lanai, both parishes were the first to exceed their pledge targets — months ahead of goal. As of Oct. 24, Blessed Sacrament had gotten $265,300 in pledges, or 196 percent of their goal. St. Stephen has raised $174,300, or 129 percent of their goal.

“There was a lot of hesitancy, especially in the beginning,” said St. Stephen campaign chair Vicki Solidum. “But God has been really great. People have given beyond in what we thought would be such a hard, hard process, especially with the financial crisis and the way the economy has been.”

The pastor of both Blessed Sacrament and St. Stephen parishes, Father Khanh Pham-Nguyen, had worked on a CCS-run capital campaign once before, in 2002, at his former parish in Colorado. At that time, the priest sex abuse scandal had recently broken and Colorado was experiencing a drought.

“There is no good time for any campaign,” Father Pham-Nguyen said. Yet his parish went over 200 percent of its goal. He says that was because the people never lost their faith or trust in the church.

“We do this with a lot of prayers,” he said. “All of our volunteers pray because we know it’s tough, and when it’s tough where else do we go but to God?”

“From the two campaigns that I have been a part of, I have learned that I trust people more than I trust myself,” the priest said. “It is the people that make it happen.”

Blessed Sacrament campaign chair Bernard Ho said, “For me it’s really enjoyable to see people who aren’t typically salespeople believing in the cause so much that they go out and solicit support.”

“I look at our small Blessed Sacrament Parish and see that we’re still able to bring in dollars because of the strength of the people,” he said. “It demonstrates that when you believe in the mission and the Road Map, the prayerful sacrifice is doable.”

Many of the new “salespeople” at the St. Stephen’s meeting said a big side benefit of soliciting pledges was getting to know fellow parishioners

Mario and Corazon Orbito of Blessed Sacrament have made many McDonald’s coffee visits so far. They “talk story with people first” before going over the pledge process.

“We’re looking forward to the visits because we’re getting to meet people we’ve never talked to before,” Mario said.

Elizabeth Lum, also of Blessed Sacrament, said she relies on the Holy Spirit and a small icebreaking gift of food or flowers when she visits fellow parishioners.

After all, the campaign is about “the people and their faith and their hope for the church of today and also the church of tomorrow,” Father Pham-Nguyen said.

“We know that families are suffering and that people are afraid,” he said. “But I believe that love for the church in Hawaii is carrying them through a very difficult [economic] time.

“Faith is what we come from and also what we run to in this campaign.”