THE PARISH of SAINT MONICA
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THE PARISH of SAINT MONICA Called by Name; Gifted by God; Committed to Prayer; Driven to Serve… Abiding in Hope THE CHURCH of The Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Week of September 20, 2015 SAINT MONICA Founded January 11, 1897 FROM THE PASTOR ’S DESK… Parish Offices (Pastoral Administration; Religious It’s not easy to generalize about American Catholics as a whole. Education; Business & Finance; There are more than 65 million of us, and a more diverse slice of Worship & Music; Facilities) Saint Monica Rectory America is hard to imagine. Catholics are now well represented in every 635 First Avenue part of the country and at all points along the socio-economic scale, Berwyn, Pennsylvania 19312 from the very top to the very bottom. Yet one generalization about Phone: 610.644.0110 Catholics in America does seem to be sustained by the research data: Facsimile: 610.695.0850 Catholics are among the worst givers in the country. Office of Religious For years, one financial rule of thumb was the “80-20 principle” - where it was believed Education (Rectory) that 80% of Catholic Church funds came from 20% of parishioners. Another model 610.647.4757 suggested a “1/3 model” - one-third of the registered members of a parish give constantly and Parish Website generously, one-third give occasionally, and one-third give essentially nothing. More recent, www.saintmonicachurch.org specific and systematic studies by Matthew Kelly from Dynamic Catholic found the picture is just 7% of parishioners. In addition, the Twitter & Instagram much worse. 80% of parish income came from @StMonicaBerwyn majority of parish ministries were led and/or fulfilled by this same 7%. Since the end of World War II, American Catholic households have benefited from the Parish Staff E-mail steady growing U.S. economy, with incomes averaging more than $50,000, as reported by FirstInitialLastName@ saintmonicachurch.org Villanova University professor Charles E. Zech in a recent book, Why Catholics Don’t Give . And What Can Be Done About It. Still, many indulge in what church officials call “free riding.” Parish Leadership Based on his research, Gary Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish and Community parishcouncil@ Research in San Francisco, estimates that mainline Protestant believers give 2.9 percent of saintmonicachurch.org their income to their local church. Jewish giving is somewhat lower while Catholics give, on financecouncil@ average, 1.5 percent. Alex Carrion is a member of the National Catholic Stewardship Council. saintmonicachurch.org His organization sells parish members on “Time, Talent, and Treasure” as a slogan to guide Mass Schedule Catholics on what they can give. According to Carrion, the phenomenon of “‘People giving a Daily Mass 8:30 a.m. dollar a Sunday’ still goes on.” (Monday thru Saturday with a Communion Service on Wednesday) There is no one set pattern for Catholic giving, and Catholics are not always poor givers. Research has found no relationship between the locale or size of a (Continued on Page 4) Saturday Vigil 5:00 p.m. Sunday 7:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 11:30a.m. Holy Days 8:30 a.m. OUR PARISH PRAYER INTENTION of Obligation 12 noon The Sacrament of for THIS WEEK Reconciliation (Confessions) Saturday from 4 to 4:45 p.m. Lord, we pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis. We pray Anytime by appointment. that his Apostolic journey to the United States is a safe one and brings us closer to You. May Pope Francis continue to influence all families, all nations, and all faiths to live in peace and love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Saint Monica Parish Bulletin — 141 Page 2 The Church of Saint Monica F ROM the O FFICE of RELIGIOUS EDUCATION The 2015-2016 Religious Education Program Looking ahead: The Religious Education Program is opened last week, boasting 12 enthusiastic catechists in session on September 20, 21, 27, and 28. and 160 students. The catechists and students are enjoying the new curriculum, the Pflaum Gospel Parent-Catechist Meet and Greet sessions are Weeklies. planned for the families of registered RE families on The parents of our students are asked to be Sundays, September 20 and September 27 and certain to have your child bring his/her binder and Mondays, September 21 and September 28th. Light the student handbook to class each week, in addition refreshments will be served. Please refer to the RE to a pencil or pen and other materials requested by Parent Update for specific information. We hope you his/her catechist. will join us! AMILY OUTH INISTRY F and Y M F ROM the OFFICE of WORSHIP and MUSIC OPEN PARISH CHOIR REHEARSALS and sing with us — a no pressure way to see if the JOIN US! music ministry is the right fit for you. A very simple Parish Choir Rehearsals for the 2015-2016 Choral audition to assure the ability to match pitch is Season have resumed on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm in required. the Church. Please consider attending any rehearsal For further information, please contact Frank on the following dates if you have an interest in Orman in the at 610.644.0110 ext. 118 or e-mail joining the Music Ministry of our Parish: [email protected]. Remaining: September 30th — 7 pm Can you help by supporting October 7 — 7 pm a professional choir section leader? We are happy to welcome anyone interested during All levels of donations are welcome — please help! those times. You can sit and listen, or jump right in Contact Frank Orman for more information. Saint Monica Parish Bulletin — 141 The Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Page 3 MUSIC AT MONICA PRESENTS… THE 2015-2016 CONCERT SEASON Acclaimed virtuoso soprano “the world’s reigning male chorus” - The New Yorker MELINDA WHITTINGTON with pianist Jeffrey Uhlig CHANTICLEER: An Orchestra of Voices 18 October at 3 pm 2 November at 7:30 pm Program of music by Strauss, Schubert, Mozart, General $25 — Front Seating $40 — Student $10 Debussy along with sacred music and spirituals. WWW.SAINTMONICACHURCH.ORG Free-will offering. Reception on the Church Plaza will follow. The San Francisco based GRAMMY® award-winning Melinda was the soprano section leader in the Saint Monica ensemble Chanticleer celebrates its 38th season in 2015-16, Parish Choir for the past two years, while a post-graduate artist performing in Germany, Austria, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macao, and the People’s Republic of China. Chanticleer will also fellow at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. She represent the United States at the biannual Festival de las Chiquitas recently moved back to her home state of North Carolina to in Bolivia, celebrating the rich musical heritage of the South continue her blossoming singing career, which brings her American missions. Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for their throughout the world. We’re thrilled to be able to present “tonal luxuriance and crisply etched clarity,” Chanticleer is known Melinda in a solo concert in the church she considered ‘home’ around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for the seamless while she was in Philadelphia! Please come and support blend of its twelve male voices ranging from soprano to bass and Melinda and the Music at Monica’s Series as we open a very its original interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to special 2015-2016 Season! jazz and popular genres, as well as contemporary composition. SUNDAY COLLECTIONS for AUGUST 2015 August 2015 $71,616 43% Electronic August YTD 2015 $142,309 45% Electronic August 2014 $67,598 38% Electronic August YTD 2014 $146,018 42% Electronic August Budget 2015-16 $70,053 August YTD Budget 2015-16 $146,458 SPECIAL COLLECTION SUNDAY COLLECTIONS There will be a Second Collection this weekend for our local parish Sunday, September 13, 2015 efforts for World Meetings of Families. Next week there will be a Special Collection for the Saint Monica Saint Sunday Collection $10,627 Vincent DePaul Fund. May God bless you for your continued generosity. Electronic $4,717 Total $15,344 The Fiscal Year 2015 budget for Saint Monica Parish is available on We have 167 families line at www.saintmonicachurch.org, under the Parish Information tab contributing electronically. in the Parish Leadership section. Saint Monica Parish Bulletin — 141 Page 4 The Church of Saint Monica NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK… (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1) parish and parish collections. A Catholic school also seems to have no impact on the direction of giving. The information seems to suggest that parishioner attitudes and religious convictions have a lot to do with other factors and how contributions are made. Research by Dean Hoge and others1 on giving attitudes show that the pastor, parish leadership and management styles can affect the level of giving. For example, members of several denominations were asked if their church leaders were sufficiently transparent and accountable to parishioners/church members regarding how church contributions were used. Four out of five denominations queried received negative responses as seen below: Lutherans - 24%; Assembly of God members - 26%; Presbyterians - 29%; Catholic (the highest of all groups) over 39%. Obviously, we have to do a better job in this. [From The Cost of Catholic Parishes and Schools.] “People sit in the pew and say ‘What’s the difference — they’re not going to miss my money,’” they say. “When you have a whole parish saying that, you’ve got a problem.” In addition, “A lot of folks say ‘Why give to my church?’ It’s impersonal,” says Charles Zech at Villanova University. “It freezes me out of the decision-making process. That’s where the Protestants beat us up.