Saint Paul's Outreach 2014 Annual Report
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2014 ANNUAL REPORT CONTENTS FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 3 ABOUT SPO 4 THE NUMBERS 5 SPO 101 6 MISSION CENTER NEWS 7 REACH: FORGING FRIENDSHIPS 9 CaLL: AWAKENING FAITH 10 FORM: WELCOME HOME 13 SEND: THE SCHOOL OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION 14 HOW YOU CAN HELP 16 2013-14 finANCIAL OVERVIEW 17 SUPPORTERS 18-34 EPISCOpaL SUPPORTERS 19 BROTHERS IN MISSION 20 SPO’S FIRST BISHOP 25 THANK YOU 26 MEET TIM GaLLIC 31 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 32 SPONSORS 35 2 FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR by Gordon DeMarais It was a year ago that Pope Francis world — a turning away from the faith in a promulgated the Apostolic Exhortation, way never experienced before in Christian “EVANGELII GaUDIUM” (The Joy of the Gospel). history. Our young people are losing their faith and abandoning morals in alarming numbers. A new pope’s first letter of his pontificate is According to a national study, only 10% of often said to articulate his priorities and vision Catholic millennials attend Sunday Mass for the Church. Pope Francis is calling the regularly.1 Church to focus on what is essential, and for him, this is the centrality of love in the Christian message and experience. Evangelii Gaudium THE NEED FOR A NEW APPROACH TO calls each of us to enter more deeply into the EVANGELIZATION mystery of the saving and merciful love of God “If something doesn’t change in the next ten revealed to us in Jesus Christ. It is a call to years it will cease to matter whether there is a them to life-changing conversion, forming deeper conversion and the experience of joy priest shortage,” states Sherry Weddell in her them to be mature Catholic personalities, that comes from the Gospel. recently published book, Forming Intentional and sending them out into the world as Disciples. In the face of this crisis, we need leaders. Saint Paul’s Outreach is transforming This great treasure is not meant for ourselves fresh approaches and new strategies to the way Catholic campus ministry is done. alone, but rather this love of God compels us mission and ministry in the Church. With your help, through our work the Holy to share with others what we have come to Spirit is transforming young people, who are know. And so writes our Holy Father: Pastoral ministry in a missionary key transforming the Church and the world. seeks to abandon the complacent If something should rightly disturb “ attitude that says: ‘we have always done The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are us and trouble our consciences, it is it this way.’ I invite everyone to be bold few. Thank you for your partnership with us in this important work. Please find hope and “ the fact that so many of our brothers and creative in this task of rethinking encouragement in the pages of this 2014 and sisters are living without the the goals, structures, styles and Annual Report. strength, light, and consolation born of methods of evangelization.” (#33) friendship with Jesus Christ, without 1 I feel privileged to serve in a position of Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life: “Faith in a community of faith to support them, Flux,” conducted in 2008 and released in 2009 (online at without meaning and a goal in life.” (#49) leadership in a new work of the Holy Spirit http://religions.pewforum.org). in the Catholic Church that has a fresh, How urgently necessary it is for us as Catholics new, and bold approach to evangelizing to embrace this missionary call! We are college students. With each passing year, witnessing — particularly in the Western we are reaching more young people, calling 3 With my faith life strengthened by my time in SPO, I have solidified my identity as a “Catholic and continue to be passionately involved within the Church. My encounter with SPO was an incredible gift of God’s grace that changed my life forever.” — mARC, DAVENPORT, IA ABOUT SPO Mission Strategy Saint Paul’s Outreach actively invites college REACH CALL FORM students to a life of Reach out to college Call students to Form students to SEND Christian discipleship. With students by building embrace faith and maturity in the Send students out St. Paul as our example, we relationships and salvation in Christ and Catholic faith and life as missionaries and create vibrant, faith-filled community (page 9) environments that challenge His Church (page 10) (page 13) leaders in SPO, the • Peer ministry Church, and the world students to deepen their • Retreats • Households relationships with Christ in • Social events (page 14) • Bible studies • Formation the fullness of the Catholic • Sporting events Program • School of the New • Prayer events Church. Evangelization • Missionary Corps 4 THE NUMBERS MN NJ OH Annual Student Impact KS REACHED by SPO Missionaries through a AZ 11,650 personal witness of faith or invitation to participate in SPO TX FL CALLED to embrace faith in Christ through 1,540 their weekly participation in SPO programs FORMED to maturity in the Catholic faith 510 and life through SPO’s Households and Formation Program Alumni Impact Results gathered from 2014 online survey SENT out to spread the Gospel as SPO staff 180 members and Student Missionaries Attend Mass weekly 98% Donate to the Church 97% SAINT PAUL’S OUTREACH CHAPTERS Spend at least 5 minutes in prayer daily The following Chapters serve students at more than 90% 40 local colleges and universities: Currently volunteer for the Church 84% • Arizona State University (AZ) 1 Consider themselves to be passionate Catholics after • Benedictine College (KS) 81% participating in SPO, COMpaRED TO 33% before participating • Johnson County Community College (KS) 2 Share Jesus with others in words and actions frequently after • Kansas City Young Adults (KS) 63% participating in SPO, COMpaRED TO 17% before participating • Ohio Dominican University (OH) Now serve the Church full time (priest, religious, SPO, youth • The Ohio State University (OH) 27% ministry, parish work, etc.) • Seton Hall University (NJ) Divorce rate • St. Olaf College (MN) 2% • Texas State University (TX) Average margin of error: ±3.7% • University of Miami (FL) 1 Choices: Passionate Catholic, Practicing Catholic, Non-observant Catholic, Christian (not Catholic), • University of Minnesota (MN) Atheist/Agnostic, Other • University of St. Thomas (MN) 2 Choices: Frequently, Occasionally, Rarely, Never • West Virginia University (WV) 5 SPO 101 MISSION CENTER NEWS MISSIONARY: A young adult ARIZONA KANsas recruited and trained to carry out SPO’s SPO Arizona is thriving thanks SPO Kansas is having its evangelization strategy on a college to strong student investment in best year yet! Johnson campus. Some are recent graduates the mission and the leadership County Community serving full-time, while others are part- of Arizona State University College selected SPO as time student volunteers. Student Missionaries! After a its Most Outstanding New Club, more than year filled with new initiatives — a 60 young adults are now participating in CHAPTER: An evangelistic community Two Kingdoms retreat, the inauguration of faith formation through the Kansas City of students and SPO staff on a college the “New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating” Young Adults Chapter, and for the second campus. The life of a Chapter is based speaker series, “SPOken” prayer meetings, time Missionaries at Benedictine College on Christ-centered relationships and a and a worship event with other Christian led 400 freshman students through an structured pattern of frequent events and groups — things are settling into a lively opening semester Alpha retreat. SPO was activities. routine for the 2014-2015 school year. also recognized by the Archdiocese of Perhaps most promising: the Formation Kansas City for its inaugural Summer of MISSION CENTER: An operational Program continues to expand as students Service program, and more than 50 students hub that establishes and supports agree to commit valuable free time for and young adults are now living in SPO’s SPO Chapters within a geographic catechesis. 8 Kansas Households. area. Today, SPO Mission Centers are headquartered in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, and Texas. FLORIDA MINNESOTA SPO Florida is beginning SPO Minnesota is expanding its second year of formal its influence on Twin collaboration with University of Cities campuses thanks Miami campus ministers. Efforts are to new partnerships and underway to form a fraternal Bible programming. Most notable study, and students are beginning street is the enhanced collaboration evangelization and embracing the charism between SPO and the University of of SPO. For the first time, the University of Minnesota St. Lawrence Newman Center, Miami Fall Retreat was at capacity two weeks which has witnessed an exponential growth in advance, and praise & worship events on in daily Mass attendance and the launch campus continue to grow in numbers and of Gopher Catholic. The University of energy! Together with St. Augustine Catholic St. Thomas also kicked off its Alpha speaker Church, SPO is blessed to be the main source series, challenging students to answer deep of Catholic campus ministry for students questions such as, Who is Jesus? So far this at all three major Miami colleges: Florida school year, more than 2000 students have International University, Miami Dade College, participated in events at the U of MN, UST, 6 and the University of Miami. and St. Olaf College. MISSION CENTER NEWS NEW JERSEY TEXas FUTURE MISSION CENTERS SPO New Jersey continues to SPO Texas continues to go Ten years ago, SPO only existed grow, adding two more Mission big with every event and in Minnesota. Since then, we have Leaders to Seton Hall University’s is meeting with success opened six additional Mission Missionaries-in-Residence program every step of the way! The Centers across the country.