The Catholic Foundation is collaborating with the diocesan Office for Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization to establish a new endowment fund that would help parish leaders expand their faith and ministry formation. The new fund will be called the St. Carlo Acutis Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization Fund.
The Carlo Acutis Evangelization Fund, for short, is expected to open the doors for many people within the Diocese of Gary to receive personalized formation and serves as a symbol of the diocese’s commitment to support and help lay leaders be formed in their faith.
“We've been talking about it for a while,” said Sean Martin, coordinator of catechesis and faith formation within the Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization Office. “We are trying to help people, help leaders in the parishes. When it comes to taking classes, going to workshops or conferences, things that would be ongoing formation for them, a lot of times, finances can be an inhibitor.”
Vicky Hathaway, coordinator for youth and young adults within the evangelizing office, explained that the primary intention of the fund is to offer support to the lay people of the local Church. Through their interactions within the diocese, she said, the department has encountered many volunteers and staff involved in various ministry roles, who have expressed interest in benefiting from such a fund.
“It's really to help parish leaders,” Hathaway noted. “In talking with some members of the diocese, we heard things like, ‘I would really love to do this, but I don't have the funds,' or ‘The parish doesn't have the funds,’ and so it was just kind of a good response to see what we could do to help.”
Martin said the fund would allow the diocese an opportunity to approach individuals personally and encourage them to consider furthering their faith formation.
“We’d be able to say to somebody, ‘Why don't you take this workshop or go to this conference and take this class, and we have the means to help you with that,’” he said.
The details regarding the application process for those interested in receiving assistance through the fund are still being finalized, but tentative plans are for the monies to be awarded once or twice a year. The members of the Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization Office stated that the response to setting up the fund thus far has been positive.
“Whenever we've talked with people and explained that this is something we're in the process of creating, everyone has been really positive and sees that there is a need for it,” Hawathay said.
Hathaway commented that in youth and young adult ministry, many new people are becoming more involved with the Church, wanting to be better formed and have a strong foundation in faith. She said many “veterans” are also looking for something new to attend.
“I think the call for ongoing formation is always there, but I think financially, just like with everything, there is a greater need for assistance,” she said.
Martin offered yet another reason for the increased need for financial assistance and those wanting to participate in faith formation. He stated that there are simply more opportunities to do so that were not available in the past.
“There are more classes, conferences and workshops out there that you can go to to help your skills as a leader in the parish,” he said.
So far, $500 has been given toward the $5,000 needed to establish the fund. Another donor is offering to contribute $1,000, with a matching gift of an additional $1,000. To take full advantage of the matching gift opportunity, the diocese is eager to invite people to share a gift so the fund can be established as soon as possible.
“The sooner we can put this process into action, the better,” Hathaway said. “There is a sense of urgency (to establish the fund) to start helping people.”
Martin explained that once it becomes a fund, it needs about a year to mature before the diocese can tap into it. The dream, he said, would be to eventually have unlimited funding, so money is not an obstacle in building up leadership within the parishes, ensuring leaders have the skills necessary to be able to do the ministries in the parishes.
“I think it always helps to be better formed in whatever ministry you're doing,” Hathaway said. “I find for myself, any time that I attend a workshop, I always grow a little bit more. I'm allowed to dream a little bit bigger, because I'm seeing what else is possible.”
Hathaway said seeing what's out there through continuing formation opportunities will help parishes, especially in a time of parish planning, open the imagination of ministry and see what could be. Those at the parish might be inspired to see where else God might be calling them in this moment and go a little bit deeper in their own personal call to ministry.
“What I've seen is that when people have been able to attend outside conferences or workshops, or even some online training, they have been able to become better formed in their faith,” Hathaway said. “They hear a different perspective on the different ministry aspects that they're engaging in, and can connect with people that they wouldn't normally be able to connect with.”
She continued, “A fund like this helps parishes and helps individuals focus more on their own formation as they're helping to form others, as they're helping to minister to others.”
Martin added that continuing faith formation builds new skills in addition to whatever somebody has learned through a college degree, certificate, etc. He said it goes beyond what people have been skilled in, “so it opens the opportunity for somebody who might say no to something to be able to say yes, because I have the funds to be able to do it now.”
The Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization Office liked the idea of working with the Catholic Foundation for Northwest Indiana, versus just budgeting an amount of dollars for continuing faith formation from the very beginning. Budgets can shrink or go away, but a fund is designed to mature, grow and remain in existence for a long time.
Hathaway said that with the work the Catholic Foundation has done, they have witnessed the positive impact with a lot of the grants that have been provided, for example, through the Mercy Grant, “and so we wanted to do that to help parish leaders specifically. It is something that is really exciting, that we can look forward to, as this grant receives funds and grows.”
Coordinator of the Office of Stewardship and Development Judy Holicky was very enthusiastic when approached with the idea to start the Carlo Acutis Evangelization Fund and immediately reached out to a few people whom she thought would support it, including alumni from the Lay Ecclesial Ministry (LEM). Holicky noted a similar fund was initiated in 2011 to provide scholarships for the LEM program, which was funded by students from the initial LEM class and that has been very successful in helping future ecclesial ministers and future permanent deacons in their formation and spiritual education.
“We are seeing a tremendous thirst from our lay people for additional faith training,” she said. “The need is great! There are so many excellent programs across the country that do not fall under the LEM scholarship umbrella. It is important to develop and grow our leadership for the Church of Gary.”
Holicky proudly stated that the founders of the Catholic Foundation had the vision to plant the seeds, and donors have continued to water the tree. She said most of the diocese’s 50+ endowment funds have started to provide support for Catholic education and formation. For more information, email Holicky at info@catholicfuture.org. Those interested in donating are encouraged to visit catholicfuture.org and click on “Support” at the top of the home page.
