Just last week, I was speaking with my friend and dentist of over 25 years down in Ventura County. The good dentist is getting ready to retire, and he and his wife were discussing ways to make some sizable charitable contributions before the year’s end. The very first place they thought to make a gift was St. Mark’s. He told me that he and his wife were reflecting that any parish which focuses on keeping students in church during the college years is absolutely worthy of maximum support. He had also heard that we have incubated a number of priestly vocations (9, to be exact, over the last 10 years), and so, with little fanfare, he wished me a Merry Christmas and said “the check is on the way!” I find this little story interesting in that the dentist has never visited St. Mark’s nor does he have any relatives that are UCSB alums. He just knows we are that important!
What is St. Mark’s worth to you? If you can think of a more worthy enterprise, I do think you should give to that charity first, but I do hope and pray St. Mark’s is also on your radar. We are a small but vital organization that focuses on one primary mission: pastoral outreach and care to college students at UCSB. In addition to a small number of local year-round parishioners, we receive some assistance from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and a little help from a couple of charitable foundations. That’s it. As you may also know, we run a very tight ship here. We have exactly zero full-time employees. Our finance council, our bookkeeper and our local bishop will testify to this fact. I get a little ribbing for it from time-to-time, but I can see no other way to operate on a such a small budget. I promised 8 years ago that I would not run a debt-model parish, and I am happy to say that we have NEVER created debt for our parish nor for the Archdiocese. On the contrary, during this time, we have managed to raise almost 1.6M in funds for our our parish remodel project which begins in the coming months. Finances and building campaigns aside, we do something incredibly more important here: we nourish and build the Catholic faith of college students. Like my dentist friend, if you think this mission is important, please consider helping this year with a generous year-end gift of $100, $250, $500, or even $1000.
If you want to give right now, the process is very simple and certainly no more difficult than ordering something from Amazon. Just press the graphic below and you will be directed to our on-line giving site, where you will be able to give directly to any number of specific ministries or programs, such as our building campaign, “Casting the Light of Faith,” or our student ministry efforts. You can give one time or you can set up continuous giving. You can even give one-time without settting up an account. just try to do that with Jeff Bezos and Amazon!
If you are a student with little or nothing to give at this time, please consider forwarding this message to a parent or family member with a capacity to give.
From the bottom of my heart, thanks for considering St. Mark’s University Parish among your important charitable giving organizations.
Blessed Christmas Season and New Year,
Fr. John W. Love, V.F.
Pastor
St. Mark’s University Parish
UCSB/Isla Vista, CA
What is St. Mark’s worth to you? If you can think of a more worthy enterprise, I do think you should give to that charity first, but I do hope and pray St. Mark’s is also on your radar. We are a small but vital organization that focuses on one primary mission: pastoral outreach and care to college students at UCSB. In addition to a small number of local year-round parishioners, we receive some assistance from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and a little help from a couple of charitable foundations. That’s it. As you may also know, we run a very tight ship here. We have exactly zero full-time employees. Our finance council, our bookkeeper and our local bishop will testify to this fact. I get a little ribbing for it from time-to-time, but I can see no other way to operate on a such a small budget. I promised 8 years ago that I would not run a debt-model parish, and I am happy to say that we have NEVER created debt for our parish nor for the Archdiocese. On the contrary, during this time, we have managed to raise almost 1.6M in funds for our our parish remodel project which begins in the coming months. Finances and building campaigns aside, we do something incredibly more important here: we nourish and build the Catholic faith of college students. Like my dentist friend, if you think this mission is important, please consider helping this year with a generous year-end gift of $100, $250, $500, or even $1000.
If you want to give right now, the process is very simple and certainly no more difficult than ordering something from Amazon. Just press the graphic below and you will be directed to our on-line giving site, where you will be able to give directly to any number of specific ministries or programs, such as our building campaign, “Casting the Light of Faith,” or our student ministry efforts. You can give one time or you can set up continuous giving. You can even give one-time without settting up an account. just try to do that with Jeff Bezos and Amazon!
If you are a student with little or nothing to give at this time, please consider forwarding this message to a parent or family member with a capacity to give.
From the bottom of my heart, thanks for considering St. Mark’s University Parish among your important charitable giving organizations.
Blessed Christmas Season and New Year,
Fr. John W. Love, V.F.
Pastor
St. Mark’s University Parish
UCSB/Isla Vista, CA
