St Jerome Catholic Church
10895 HAMLIN BLVD. LARGO, FL 33774-5051
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We Begin!
A message from Reverend Thomas Morgan
I have been honored to serve as your pastor for the past four and a half years. As I reflect on the time we have spent together as a community of faith, I am struck by the overwhelming generosity of spirit shown by the people of St. Jerome Catholic Church. I am inviting you to join me in an effort to provide for the future of our parish. We have been working to take care of a much needed construction project – a new roof for our church building. It has taken us a long time to get here – but the time is now! We begin!
This campaign is named for exactly what we need to do – Raise the Roof! I am confident that our plans can only strengthen and grow our parish. Together we affirm our commitment to our Catholic faith, our faith family here at St. Jerome, and our neighbors in our community.
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Praying Together
“Pray constantly… always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17
As Catholics, we are the beneficiaries of the faith Christ revealed to his Apostles. We believe that all things are possible with the power of prayer. Last week, we asked our parishioners to join together in the power of prayer. This week, we present to you our campaign prayer.
Please keep this prayer in a a special place to remind yourself to pray for this campaign and our entire parish family as we move forward in building for our future!
Raise the Roof Campaign Prayer
God our Father, With thanks and praise we celebrate the many ways in which You have blessed our parish. Your Spirit has formed us into a welcoming community built on a foundation of faith, hope and love.
We ask your blessings upon our campaign, Raise the Roof. All that we do is for the glory of Your name. Please accept and bless our stewardship offerings to make this effort a success for our entire community.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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Question & Mission of the Week:
Question:
Who sees your light? For whom are you “salt of the earth?”
Mission:
Someone near you needs your light-maybe in charity or maybe in testimony. Find one concrete way to lift the gloom for a friend or stranger this week.
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SAVE THE DATE! Devotion to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist
St. John Paul II said “Your faith will help you realize that it is Jesus Himself who is present in the Blessed Sacrament, waiting for you and calling you to spend one special specific hour with Him each week.”
Please join St. Jerome’s Lenten EUCHARISTIC EXPOSITION:
Thursday, March 26th – Saturday, March 28th. Schedule and sign up sheets will be available in March.
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MOVIES of JUSTICE
Come join our conversation using contemporary movies which provide Spiritual witness to Justice issues in our world. Sponsored by St Jerome Justice & FAST Ministry.
Monthly meeting: 4 pm. Movie shown on mega TV screen: 4:30 pm Informal discussion following movie. (Come for what you can)
St Jerome Catholic Church: Education Center Lounge (first door & parking adjacent to main church entry)
February 27 –
Amazing Grace
. Movie starts: 4:30 pm.
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The weekend of February 9th we will kick off our Raise the Roof Capital Campaign to raise money to replace our church roof. We are replacing our roof with a metal roof which will meet or exceed all State and Federal requirements for wind resistance and last at least 50 years. Our goal is to raise $600,000 and we are asking parishioners to make a pledge they can pay as a one time gift or over a period of 3 years. Envelopes are available in the pews and church vestibule racks and in addition, we offer online e-giving, which can be accessed through our website: www.stjeromeonline.org. We appreciate your financial support.
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Lifeline Annual Report for 2019
Mission:
Lifeline’s mission is to provide food assistance to those in need in the Largo, Seminole, and beaches area. Those coming to us who live outside the area are provided with emergency food and a list of other food banks in their area. Nobody seeking help from Lifeline is turned away. Lifeline is staffed by parish volunteers. There are currently approximately 45 volunteers including a director and two assistant directors who coordinate the work of the ministry under the leadership of the Pastor and appropriate parish staff. Given the seasonal nature of the parish, the number of volunteers fluctuates throughout the year. The activities of Lifeline are centered around three primary functions of acquiring, packing, and distributing food. Other than space and facilities, Lifeline is entirely funded by the generous monetary and food donations of St. Jerome’s parishioners and the community at large.
Donations:
In 2019, parishioners donated 6,866 bags of food to Lifeline for an average of 572 bags per month. This total is almost 800 bags more than the 2018 total. Average cash donations were approximately $3,000- $4,000 per month excluding several individual large one-time donations. Various organizations including The Martha Mary Guild, ECC, Faith Formation, Bethlehem Center, Bingo, Knights of Columbus, Silly Sinatras, Pinellas Suncoast Fire/Rescue, Bauder Elementary School, Mary Spence’s Yoga Group and individual lifeline volunteers have continued to support Lifeline through monetary and food donations. Candy Kitchen, Dairy Mix and 688 Wine and Spirits generously provide boxes used for distribution. The annual Letter Carrier Food Drive yielded 5,765 lbs. of food which is 890 lbs. more than last year. Our partnership with Feeding Tampa Bay enables us to provide produce, meat, and other food at low cost to us.
Families Served:
Lifeline provided food to an average 249 families per month (approximately 778 people). This is an increase from the average 237 families in 2018. Our busiest month was October, when we served 310 families. Our busiest day of the year was December 18 when we served 83 families. A record which was broken last week when we served 87 families. Our reception staff advised that they have seen an average increase of 10 new families per month. Our Saturday distributions have seen a marked increase in larger families being served. Our annual Thanksgiving dinner distribution was 223 families up from 205 in 2018.
Infrastructure Improvements:
Front reception area painting and clean-up Improved system for transporting large quantities of food in the van.
Other Accomplishments:
Full two years of Saturday service hours which resulted in serving larger/working families Improvements to our Thanksgiving distribution with new food lists, new more reliable turkey provider, improved sign up and distribution logistics Four food bag drives Partnership with Indian Rocks Beach Food Pantry at Calvary Episcopal to minimize food waste Increased involvement of Confirmation students and Youth Group towards their service hours Increased volunteer involvement in unloading and sorting food on Tuesdays as needed Advent Calendar food drive was very successful
Goals:
Provide clients with additional Community Resource information via a bulletin board in the waiting area Improve food storage capabilities (in progress) Pursue delivery of monthly pallet order with FTB Continue Food Bag program to maintain sufficient donations Explore food drive possibilities with local Catholic Schools to increase our food inventory Fr. Tom would like to hold a Morning of Recollection for our volunteers.
Respectfully Submitted,
Fred Bach, 1/15/20
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