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Dear Friend,
"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7
This scripture reminds us of our parish's purpose, which is to grow the Kingdom of God. It aligns with our five Parish Anchors: Belong, Pray, Learn, Serve, and Share. These anchors are ways for us not only to welcome the Kingdom of God within our hearts, but also to bring it forward in our service and care for one another.
I am writing to express my deepest gratitude for your incredible support in prayer and in giving that has enabled us to be the fastest-growing parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Since 1905, Saint Clement has been an uplifting place of Catholic worship, community, belonging, and dedicated service.
This year, we welcomed nearly 500 new members, approaching nearly 4,200 households! We gathered over 6,000 people for our courses and experienced a 40% growth in our Sunday church attendance. Our annual Theology on Tap and Ever Wonder series brought over 1,200 young people, and our Wine Down Wednesday, Saturday evening hospitality and Transition Group welcomed over 600 guests! Led by Fr. Matt, our excellent RCIA prepared nearly 50 people for the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist! And with incredible support we shared over $220,000 with those in need in our city and around the world.
These are the kind of stories that make me excited about what the Holy Spirit is doing in our midst and grateful that we all can be part of it. Your support has enabled us to invest nearly $900K in our infrastructure, from tuckpointing to our sewer systems, to security, and much-needed updates to both our school rooftop and Ministry Center. Thanks to the generosity of our parishioners, we finished up this year with a moderate surplus of $34,296.
As we do every year, we come to ask you to partner with us again this year in philanthropic giving that enables your spiritual family to flourish, but also supports our commitment to provide for the needs of others. Please remember that 10% of our ordinary collections go to our annual Clement Commits program that shares our first fruits with those who are most in need in our city and the world.
Higher prices and ordinary running of the place continues to simply cost us more, so do our programs and courses that bring more and more people into relationship with Jesus. Our budget this year is 10% higher than last year. Therefore, we kindly ask every member of our community who can, to add 10% more to their annual giving. Just to illustrate where our collections are please know that Sunday collections were $2,022,807, which was almost the same as our collections in 2015 which was $1,911,705 while a cumulative price increase for this period of time is 29.54%. If you have any questions or would like to support Saint Clement through stock donation or a giving match, please contact Helena Tylka.
Thank you once again for your generosity and commitment to Saint Clement. You are a great gift to our community.
Blessings,
Father Peter Wojcik
Pastor of Saint Clement Parish
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