Development

The Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, a family of Catholic Communities, is called to deeper discipleship and stewardship in the mission of Jesus Christ.

Established in 1962, the Diocese of Santa Rosa includes:
41 parish communities,
22 missions,
15 schools and numerous social service centers across six counties of California’s sweeping North Coast.
* STEWARDSHIP
* ANNUAL MINISTRY APPEAL
* CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
* PLANNED GIVING
* SECOND COLLECTIONS
* PARISH BUILDING
* WAYS TO GIVE
                                                                       * CONTACT US

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STEWARDSHIP

Stewardship is a spiritual concept that defines and describes our personal relationship with God. It expresses our gratitude for all of God’s gifts to us and acknowledges our dependence on God’s love and mercy . This spirituality motivates us to live our lives for God and to actively use all that He has given us to serve Him – by serving others.
Our Bishops encourage four key steps to stewardship:

• ACCEPT GOD’S GIFTS IN GRATITUDE
  All that we have, our lives, health, family, friends, financial capability, creative or physical attributes, come from a loving God. We should accept them while always giving HIm thanks.

• NURTURE THESE GIFTS LOVINGLY
  Musicians study and practice – as do athletes – we should, too. Every gift can likely be enhanced – we should also take care of our bodies, and the environment – the air that we breathe, the water that we drink.

• SHARE OUR GIFTS GENEROUSLY
  These were not given us for our sole enjoyment; rather, we have been put in charge of them and it’s up to us to see that we, our family, and others benefit from them.

• RETURN ALL TO GOD AT THE END OF TIME – WITH AN INCREASE
  Increase occurs when we enhance the basic gifts God gave us (through study and practice), and it happens when we use a gift for someone else and our act inspires that someone to live their life more for God. (USCCB Pastoral Letter; “Stewardship – A Disciple’s Response” 1992)

STEWARDSHIP IS MORE ABOUT  THE DISCIPLE’S NEED TO GIVE THAN ABOUT  SOMEONE ELSE’S NEED TO RECEIVE!
 

ANNUAL MINISTRY APPEAL

The ministries of the Diocese of Santa Rosa provide education, enrichment, hope, care, social services and opportunities for spiritual growth to over 160,000 men, women and children. The Annual Ministry Appeal, One Family in Mission, helps to support these important ministry efforts.

Bishop’s Message

My dear friends in Christ,

This year of 2017 has gotten off to a fast start and many good things are going on around the Diocese. Your generosity continues to inspire those of us who depend on you for support. Your support of prior Annual Ministry Appeals has enabled our existing ministries to continue assisting our parishes and schools so that these parishes and schools can better serve our people. Your support of our capital campaign, “Professing our Faith, Walking in Hope, and Building God’s Kingdom”, has provided the funds necessary to expand some existing offices and to add new ones.

The Annual Ministry Appeal (AMA), One Family in Mission, helps to pay the on-going costs of the nineteen existing ministries. A list of those ministries, and a brief description of each, can be found on this website [Click here]. Many of you will identify with the need to support our schools. Others will want to support our deacons’ on-going education, or our seminarians or our priests – especially our retired priests, many of whom continue to serve our parishes and schools. Others will appreciate the work with Youth and Young Adults or the Religious Education Office’s support of teaching our faith to young people and to new comers to Catholicism.

Thanks to your generosity, our hope of reinitiating a Family Life Ministry has been realized under the leadership of Sr. Caritas Marie, a member of the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa, yet another supported ministry. In addition, we have been able to add staff, Sr. Mary Vianney, MSSR now serves the Marriage Tribunal assisting Father Abel Mena our Judicial Vicar. There is need to reinvigorate our Diocesan Respect Life efforts, strengthen Hispanic Ministry, and move forward with Evangelization initiatives. None of this can occur without your active participation and support.

Giving to charity is deeply personal. No one, except God, knows your financial situation as well as you. No one knows the extent to which you feel blessed by God or the present extent of your charitable giving. We simply encourage you to give sacrificially. Sacrificial giving means that there is to be some element of sacrifice involved in the gift. It should ‘cost’ us something so that we feel some portion of the burden our gift desires to lighten. This kind of giving makes us a part of the lives of those who receive the benefit of our gift. The website now contains some helpful guidelines [click here], but your decision must be a personal one. If you have given to the AMA in the past, please try to increase your gift this year. If you haven’t given to the Appeal recently, perhaps you can seriously consider doing so this year.

Please give this your prayerful consideration, then make and complete gift or a pledge to help us continue and to expand the ministries of our Diocese.

With gratitude for your generosity and your consideration, I remain,

Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus,

 

The Most Reverend Bishop Robert F. Vasa
Bishop of Santa Rosa

 

Parish Goals
Each parish is assigned a goal to be raised each year. In 2018, 85% of that goal MUST be reached, or the parish will make up the difference. Any contributions OVER the goal are returned to the parish.

Click here for a list of the parish goals

We encourage pledges of up to 10 months. This enables each donor to pay off the pledge over an extended period of time, thus enabling a larger contribution without incurring a financial hardship. Simply print off the pledge card in either English or Spanish, complete the pledge, and mail to the Diocese at P.O. Box 4077, Santa Rosa, CA 95402 (Click here for pledge card).

Click here for a brief description of each of the ministries that benefit from the Appeal.

There are a variety of ways to give and to make payments on pledges (Click here)
Click here to view the Appeal brochure 
Click here to view the book mark  

This annual drive helps support the ministries of the Diocese which provide services to the parishes and schools. Those ministries are:

Ministries in our Diocese

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

The spirit of generosity and service among the people of the Diocese of Santa Rosa is unwavering. Our people strive to fulfill the mission of the Church in all seasons: to teach, feed, heal and pray. It is a mission that flows from our identity as Eucharistic people, a people gathered to give thanks for the abundant blessings that we share. We envision an even stronger, more vibrant Catholic community, entrusted by God to meet the pastoral needs of the people in Northern California. To accomplish this we plan to build on our storied history by:

• Providing direct financial support to parishes
• Expanding the infrastructure of Catholic Charities to serve the most fragile or our sisters and brothers, as well as increase its operational support
• Providing added support for our seminarians, continuing education of our priests, and adequately caring for our retired clergy
• Increasing the access to education in our Catholic schools
• Strengthening existing ministries and creating new ones to address the needs and issues that challenge the values of our Faith and family life
• Providing support for the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa

(Click here for a list of parish goals).

Five year pledges are encouraged in order to facilitate parish and Diocese planning. Gifts and pledge payments may be made in a variety of ways (Click here to view donation possibilities)

* Includes donor specified gifts.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Catholic schools educate children with strong academic curriculum to help them grow to understand their faith and to develop and use their God-given gifts and talents as servant-leaders – serving God by serving others. This is the three-fold mission of Catholic education: teach the Gospel message, build community, educate for service. This mission has a profound effect on individual lives, in families, and in our society.

The generosity of the greater Catholic community is integral to our ability to accomplish this mission by making the cost of Catholic education more affordable to the families who desire this for their children. Benefactors and generous donors support Catholic education in our Diocese in general through contributions to (1) the Aquinas Fund which provides scholarships for Catholic students with financial need; and (2) direct gifts to the Diocese.   

Every contribution, whether large or small, can change the life of a student.

Questions – please contact Associate Superintendent of Schools, Sister Mary Rose, MSSR at 707.566.3311 or [email protected]

PLANNED GIVING

We encourage the use of planned approaches throughout one’s life, and especially at one’s death, to transfer accumulated assets to family members and charities. This ensures that a person’s own wishes are followed and that the cost of such disposition is minimized, thereby providing the maximum benefit to the selected heirs.

An organized approach to assisting our people in this process is a new activity in our Development Office. We held our first parish seminar in July of 2016 at Saint Eugene Cathedral in Santa Rosa. This pilot program will be followed by seminars throughout the Diocese thereafter. These seminars will be casual meetings conducted by qualified attorneys and certified financial planners. There will be no charge.

This will be a growing activity.

SECOND COLLECTIONS

Throughout the United States, Catholic dioceses support a variety of Catholic causes through Special Collections requested by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In addition, our Diocese will from time to time request the parishes to take up a second collection to benefit some portion of our population; examples would be the support of parishes in Napa following the earthquake two years ago, or last year to support the parishes and people in Lake County following the devastating forest fires. Parishes add their own special collections to meet the needs of their school, their St. Vincent de Paul Society, or other local needs. (CLICK HERE) for a list of USCCB requested special collections.

PARISH BUILDING

For parishes striving to build engagement of existing parishioners in order to both increase service and ministry with the parish and to reach out to non-church goers, we offer assistance. This support is primarily based on programs available from Gallup. Their experience in business and with faith groups, Catholic and non-Catholic, can be applied inexpensively within the parish.  Their experience also shows that fully engaged parishioners become better volunteers and donors. Such programs are led by parish members with our help. Call the Development Office (707) 566-3344 for more information.

WAYS TO GIVE

CONTACT US

Telephone:      (707) 566-3344

FAX:                 (707) 566-3360

Email:              [email protected] or [email protected]

Thank you for your generosity and for including the Diocese of Santa Rosa in your charitable giving.