By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Ohana in Christ, the Diocese of Honolulu’s new fundraising campaign, is progressing well.
According to Mark Clark, the diocesan director of stewardship and development, by the end of 2021, the appeal had raised $582,042 from about 2,000 donors.
It has already surpassed last year’s contributions to the Bishop’s Circle of $385,000 from 731 donors. Ohana in Christ last year replaced the Bishop’s Circle campaign as the primary annual diocesan appeal.
Each parish was assigned a target goal of 25% of its current annual assessment — the “tax” it pays yearly to the diocese to help cover diocesan operations. Twelve of the diocese’s 66 parishes have already met that goal, said Clark. Another 12 are at 60%. The campaign has six more months to go. It ends June 30.
Clark is “very” happy with the response so far, it being the first year and the campaign less than half over.
He also has been “very impressed with our hard-working pastors and lay leaders who have devoted time and energy to already making goal or being within striking distance.”
The appeal has been a winner thanks to a “more focused effort” formulated by Bishop Silva and a planning committee of clergy, staff and lay leaders, Clark said, enhanced by promotional videos and parish kits that “encouraged broader support at the parish level and throughout our faith communities.”
“Setting target goals for each parish was also a key ingredient for success,” he said.
Bishop Larry Silva introduced the new campaign to previous donors to the Bishop’s Circle in September and in all Hawaii churches the first weekend in October.
While the Bishop’s Circle had targeted a select diocese-wide group of donors, Ohana in Christ broadened its participation to include all Hawaii parishioners. Ohana is the Hawaiian word for family.
The bishop asked each parish to help raise awareness of the wider church mission and services and to raise funds to sustain them.
The appeal will support priests’ needs, seminarians, deacon formation, youth and young adult ministry, and service to the poor through social ministries.
According to Lisa Gomes, director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Ohana in Christ money will help pay for programs like the “Christian Leadership Institute for high school teens, youth days for middle school and high school youth, events for young adults and training for ministry leaders.”
Father Gregorio Honorio, vicar for clergy, said the funds will support priests in the areas of recruitment, assignments, professional development, health and wellness.
The diocesan director of permanent deacons, Deacon Michael Weaver, said the Ohana in Christ funds “will have both immediate and long-term effects on the diaconate.”
He said the campaign helps pay for the recruitment, screening, selection and preparation of deacon candidates, as well as contribute to post-ordination education.
“Most importantly, the funds are foundational in assisting our deacons and their wives in their ministries,” he said.
The campaign counted 1,401 “direct” donors, those who gave directly to the diocese as recommended by the campaign. However, a “significant” number of people made their contributions through their parishes, some through second collections, so it is not known exactly how many of these additional donors there are. Clark estimates the total number of donors, direct and indirect, to be 2,000.
More than $46,000 listed as “Bishop/Diocesan Fund” came from people not associated with a parish but who have other connections with the bishop.
“When you give to the Ohana in Christ appeal, your gift not only assists the diocesan mission, you also help support your parishes, pastors, schools, service agencies and communities,” Bishop Silva said when introducing the campaign last year. “Your generous contribution is indeed needed to strengthen vital programs as ‘fellow citizens’ striving to make a difference in our Islands by our witness to Jesus.”
Ohana in Christ uses the same six “donor societies” the Bishop’s Circle had used to identify the amount of the gift. They range from the Catholic ‘Ohana Society for donations of $625 to $1,249, to the Stewards of the Gospel Society for contributions $20,000 or more.
Those joining a donor society will be invited to a special gathering and be recognized in the Hawaii Catholic Herald.
Non-society donors are asked to consider a gift of $365 — a dollar a day.
Clark said that in early 2022, the Ohana in Christ campaign will conduct a follow-up mailing to past Bishop’s Circle donors who have not yet made a gift. It will also encourage parishes to consider a second collection date and/or make a “parish gift” to the campaign.
Contributions must be received by June 30, 2022, to count toward a parish’s goal.
Three ways to make a gift
- By credit or debit card online at catholichawaii.org or by contacting the gifts office at (808) 372-3472
- By check payable and mailed to: Ohana in Christ, P.O. Box 380019, Honolulu HI 96838-0019
- Via your parish special collection
