It Has Been Awhile

Greetings to all of you!  Well it has been awhile since I have written an article to you and     finally the powers that be have given me permission to dust off my typing skills and venture back into the realm of amateur “columnist.”  I thank all those who have been sitting in for me these past months writing about their desire for a new Church and I have been very impressed by their heartfelt writings and impressions.  Speaking of which,
I have received very good news on the progress for constructing our new church. We will be able to commence construction when we have cash of five million dollars in our account. To date, 401 families have pledged $3,613, 861 of which we have $1,290, 486 in our account.   Therefore, we have need for an additional $3,709,514 in cash so we can   commence construction.  I am so appreciative of the very good work accomplished by our campaign chairman Monty Weigel and his committee thus far.  So folks, if we want to build our Church in the near future, we need to start making pledges!  I find it amazing that 401 families thus far have made pledges which amount to over a third of the grand total of $10 million.  It is also amazing to me that 2500 families in our parish have YET to make a pledge!   I do realize that economic times are tough, but this is also an opportunity to strengthen our faith in a God who has been so generous to us and who will never be outdone in generosity!  Take a step IN FAITH and make a pledge!  Then sit back and watch how God will work in your life.  We may even start building our Church as early as next year! 

We also have some great plans ahead of us in securing additional funds to bring about much needed cash to our Campaign.  They include fund raising events such as our annual golf tournament, Parish socials, etc, in addition to our continuing second collections, and new parishioner pledges. 

As I have stated before, our current facility is not really an adequate church building [in the traditional sense]. Frequently it is difficult to provide needed space for many of the parish functions we have here. With the new church, the present worship area will become an “all purpose” facility providing needed space for activities, meetings, youth functions, religious education and social hall for the parish and New Tampa community.

So PLEASE make a pledge and help us to make this a real Spiritual Center for New Tampa!  Just think how many others will be touched by your sacrifice as we try to bring more and more people to God!

Peace,
Fr. David

PS: learn more about our new church at: www.stmarktampa.org/NewChurch