Letters and Numbers: APA, CMA, 12K, 129K

From the Pastor:    Letters and Numbers: APA, CMA, 12K, 129K

       A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the newest numbers available across the diocese showing how many people attend Sunday Mass. It was based on counts taken at all parishes during this past February (we send in official counts every February and October). If you missed it, you can see the results hanging in the social hall. The short of it is that Epiphany continues to grow. This week I want to point out something that goes hand in hand with the increase in the number of parishioners, namely, an increase in the amount of money we are asked to send to the diocese to run programs, pay salaries, train seminarians, and all of the other things that are done on a diocesan-wide level.
       Earlier this week I was rummaging through a file in my desk and came across a letter showing some old Annual Pastoral Appeal goals for years gone by. As you know, APA has now changed names and is called CMA (Catholic Ministry Appeal) and has changed in several ways that take way too much space to explain, but the changes are mostly for the good. One big thing is that the CMA goal is not mandatory to hit as the APA goal was. Rather, the Bishop is relying on the pastors to give their best shot to encourage people to give willingly to pay for the expenses of the diocese. Only if he thinks the pastor is not doing his best will he make that individual parish’s goal a mandatory one. So far it has worked and most parishes have exceeded their goals. People like being able to specify where their money is going and they have responded well. The oldest APA goal I found was for Epiphany based on pre-”resurgence” income, the resurgence of the parish beginning in August 2015 when the first TLM since 1969 was celebrated here. To reach that year’s goal we needed to raise $12,192! Of course, there were only 87 people attending Sunday Mass in February of 2015, which means that Epiphany didn’t have a whole lot of income when that APA goal was calculated. The following year, since we grew exponentially in our first year of becoming Tampa’s Center for the Traditional Latin Mass (we grew to 335 people in February of 2016), our income shot up as well (thanks be to God, for we sorely needed the income to stay open). The next year’s goal was $42,058. Talk about a huge jump! 64 families responded to the Appeal and we raised the entire amount. The next few years our APA goal outpaced our parishioner numbers, for the goal kept growing faster than our parish did, but then in 2020 our attendance numbers took off again. The current CMA goal of $128,653  is based on last year’s income, and our attendance was 875. This year our attendance rose to 912, so I expect an increase in the CMA goal for next year as well. It is good to remember that if the overall income of the parishes in the diocese stays the same or falls but ours rises, our goal will rise even if the diocese doesn’t ask for more money as a total goal. Many parishes these days seem to be losing people and income, though, and at the same time the cost of everything from property insurance to health insurance to electricity is skyrocketing, so the diocese will probably need to raise even more money just to make ends meet. So I fully expect another increased goal next year.
       If you remember, for the last two years Bishop Parkes has called me into his office to say that we were so far behind most parishes in donations toward the CMA goal that he had to assume that I wasn’t putting in my best effort to reach the goal. He was wrong, of course, for we were right on par with our fundraising as it had always been for the old APA. For whatever reason, probably largely because I don’t preach about money every week, most people here have put off giving to the diocesan collection until the last half of the year. And having the guillotine blade hanging over our heads didn’t help instill much good will, either. But, having explained that to him and to you, you all came through. We reached our goal last year and I expect to do so again this year. And this time the Bishop hasn’t called me in, so he must trust you, too! After all, we certainly want to support our Bishop at all times, but especially as he figures out how to keep the TLM going in the future no matter what comes out of Rome. So please remember to write your checks or give online and support our much-needed diocesan programs. You can specify where you want your money to go if you wish, or simply donate and let it be spent wherever it is needed most. Just be sure when you give that you state clearly that you are giving on behalf of Epiphany of Our Lord in Tampa. If you don’t specify, we don’t get credit. An online CMA information and donation link can be found on the homepage of EpiphanyTampa.com. Thank you for your continued generosity to Epiphany and to the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

With prayers for your holiness,
Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka

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