There are also several, specific gift opportunities that exist and give donors of qualifying gift amounts the unique chance to designate their gift to a particular portion of the project and dedicate it in honor or memory of those they choose. These special gift opportunities include:

We have scheduled a couple of special Creative Giving Seminars to educate members and others about the many various and very beneficial ways people can make gifts to our campaign...ways that can offer special benefits to the campaign effort at our parish as ell as our donors.

Topics to be explored and explained in depth include the methods and benefits of giving cash, securities, personal property, real estate, life insurance policies, retirement savings as well as gifts through various trust arrangements and bequets. We'll discuss how to minimize or avoid taxes and generate income through various giving vehicles that you or we can help you to arrange.

Additionally, we'll have a panel of experts on hand to answer questions and to help further explain and explore various gift-giving strategies. We can even continue to work with you and your advisors to help arrange for these special "creative gifts" where an interest exists.

So please plan to attend one of these special Creative Giving Seminars if you can. Two separate seminars are planned. The first one is scheduled for Monday, April 4th at 7:00 p.m. and will be held in the Religious Education Center Room 3 here at our parish. The second seminar is set for Monday, May 16th, at 7:00 p.m. and will be held in the Religious Education Center, Room 3. No reservations for these special seminars are needed but it would be helpful if you could call the Campaign Office at 916-376-7792 to let us know you plan to attend. You'll be happy you did.

A special Kick-Off Celebration to mark the official start of the Our Dream Continues - In Service to All Campaign is scheduled for the weekend of Sunday, April 3rd at 7:00 p.m. This event will be held in the Parish Hall and all parishioners and their families are cordially invited and encouraged to attend.

The event will feature fine desserts and refreshments that are being specially prepared. More detailed information about our project and campaign will be shared. You'll have the chance to meet and mix with fellow parishioners and to hear from parish, project and campaiagn leadership about our needs, our plans, the campaign and the various ways you can become invested and involved. Our newly printed campaign brochure will be distributed and our recently completed campaign DVD will be shown. In addition, project and campaign leadership will be on hand to answer any and all questions that people may have.

In short, our Campaign Kick-Off Celebration promises to be an informational and inspirational event that you definitely don't want to miss! So please plan to attend if you can, and remember that we absolutely will not be asking people for their gifts at this special event. 

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The campaign officially commenced with a special "Kick-Off Celebration" on Sunday, April 3, 2016, and will culminate on Saturday and Sunday, May 21 -  22, 2016 - Commitment Weekend - when members will be asked to make their campaign gift commitments.

 

We are pleased to announce the launching of a very special campaign effort for the benefit of St. Paul Catholic Church. It's entitled the "Our Dream Continues - In Service to All Campaign" and has as its aim, raising the funds required to pay off our debt on the Religious Education Center and to support the Diocesan ONE Campaign.

Our minimum goal is $600,000 which will enable us to pay off half of our existing Religious Education Center debt and to support the Diocesan ONE Campaign. A miracle goal of $1,000,000 has also been set which, if met, will enable us to almost completely pay off our debt.

The campaign will officially commence with a special "Kick-Off Celebration" scheduled for Sunday, April 3, 2016, and will culminate on Saturday and Sunday, May 21 & 22, 2016 - Commitment Weekend - when members will be asked to make their campaign gift commitments.

Our campaign leadership "cabinet" is now in place. This critical core group of leaders will give guidance and drive the overall campaign.

Serving as Chairpersons of this special effort are Dale and Kit Yamamoto and Phil De Leon who will assume primary responsibility for the Advance Gifts Committee phase of the campaign and Lennie and Clara Heimericks and Henry Loret de Mola, who will oversee the Community Gifts Committee and phase.

In additiion, we have also been blessed with an excellent supporting cast who are tasked with leadership of the various support committees needed. They are Joe Monteagudo; who will lead our Prayer Committee, Norma Bolante, who will lead our committee for Hospitality; Sister Katrina Quidlat, RVM, who will lead our committee for Youth and Children's Gifts; Paul Pham, who will lead our Communications Committee; and Dan Cairns, who will lead our Creative Giving Committee.

Finally, we are also blessed to already have the following people strep us and agree to serve on our Advance Gifts Team - the group of volunteers that will be visiting a select group of members in advance of Commitment Weekend and inviting them to consider their gifts. Serving on the Advance Gift Team so far are: Ernesto and Carlota Agard, Edna Clegg, Patricia Harp, Karen Hurskainen, and Marciano and Evangeline Viado.

Many more leaders and workers are also needed to help with this important effort, so please say "yes" to volunteering when you are asked, or call the Campaign Office at 916-376-7792 to say that you'll happily help!

The first part of our campaign slogan is "Our Dream Continues." Since our dream began a while ago, perhaps e should look at the dream, and see what it really is.

In October 2003 Father Rey Bersabal became pastor of our parish. The parish had built a new church in 1993 and converted the first church to the parish hall in 1995. When Father Bersabal became pastor of Saint Paul, it was evident that the parish physical facilities were inadequate and drapidly deteriorating.

The results of numerous meetings and obtaining input from parishioners was what eventually developed into the parish dream.

The first step was to develop a means of saving funds which would allow the accomplishments of the plans that were laid out. In order to raise funds for these parish upgrades, we began using the "pink envelopes," and we instituted a special collection on the first week-end of every month, in October of 2006. This source of funds permitted the upgrade of the sound system in the church in July 2008. Additionally, in late 2008 the parking lot was expanded to accommodate the increasing number of new parishioners.

Once these two essential physical upgrades were accomplished, Father again gathered his parish advisors and the dream of a new parish campus came to shape. Our facilities for teaching our Catholic faith to our young people were inadequate. The old classrooms were hot in the summer and cold in the winter and the lighting was inadequate. In addition, the old parish hall was literally falling apart. After falling tiles in the ceiling barely missed hitting a student, the building could no longer be used to teach classes.

The dream, in its first phase, called for replacement of the old classrooms with a state-of-the-art education facility. The second stage provided for a parish administration center to allow the office functions to be removed from the rectory and to provide for a private residence for our priest. Two additional classrooms would be constructed to meet all our classroom and meeting space reuirements. The last phase of the plan will replace the current residence, which is composed of three buildings which, like the original buildings, were purchased and moved to the campus.

Father Vicente Teneza became pastor in July of 2010. Father Vic reviewed the "Field of Dreams" plans and approved them. The savings from 'Pink Envelopes" was almost $1,000,000. Father approached and received permisssion from Bishop Soto to begin planning the first phase of the dream - a Religious Education Center.

Architectural plans were approved and construction bids were recived. The new Religious Education Center construction bids came in at $3,000,000. A capital campaign - Together We Dream - In Faith We Build - was undertaken to raise funds for the construction. This Campaign raised a little over $1,000,000 and the Bishop approved a loan to complete the construction.

Construction of the Religious Education Center began in 2012 and was completed in June of 2013. When construction was completed the Parish had borrowed $1,249,672.89 from the Diocese. The parish has continued to use "Pink Envelopes" and contribute to the building fund collection. The balance as of April 1, 2016 is approximately $868,000. 

Father Joyle Martinez became Pastor in July of 2014. Father Joyle quickly embraced the parish dream and immediately began to work on reducing the loan the parish has with the Diocese. With Father's guidance and with the approval of the Bishop we have undertaken the Our Dream Continues - In Service to All Campaign. In addition to reducing by at least half and hopefully eliminating the Religious Education Center debt, Father's goal for the campaign is to omeet the Bishop's request to assist the Diocesan ONE Campaign.

Realizing dreams, as we all know, is often difficult. But with the guidance and perhaps gentle prodding by the Holy Spirit, we will completely pay for the Religious Education Center and begin saving for construction of the Parish Administration Center. 

God bless you all for your support and please pray for the success of the Our Dream Continues - In Service to All Campaign. 

 

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