Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,
There are three Newman Centers in our diocese. Each is set up, financed and conducted in a different way. I have been blessed to be connected with two of our Newman Centers.
Here in Kirksville, even though the parish and Newman Center are considered separate entities, we are still very much connected. Students and parishioners switch between Masses and attend both places for different reasons. Mary Immaculate uses the Newman Center for large holiday Masses, penance services, social gatherings, and retreats, among other things. Newman students serve as catechists for our PSR program, they serve in our after school care, and they even teach in our school. We indeed benefit from our Newman Center and the students who are a part of it.
Each Newman Center in the diocese is financed in a different way. Ours is heavily dependent on donations. Just last week Father Franklin, Deacon Chris Korte, the bishop, the financial director of the diocese and I had a meeting. It takes about $125,000 a year to finance our Newman Center. There are about 450 students attending Mass at Newman each week. And our Newman Center is operating at a deficit of about $40,000 a year. As you can probably see, that cannot continue.
Bishop McKnight is asking us to explore ways of making our Newman Center more sustainable. What I will be asking the parishioners of Mary Immaculate is How do we insure that the ministry of Newman continues in our community?
I hope you can appreciate that even though they are considered separate, Mary Immaculate and the Newman Center are in fact very much connected. What affects one affects the other.
After years of work begun by Fr. Chris Cordes and the Finance Committee, Mary Immaculate Parish has achieved a firm financial foundation that it has never had before. We need to work together to make sure that the same happens for our Newman Center.
I would ask you as a part of your charitable giving to consider making a pledge to the Newman Center. Please do not take this out of what you give to Mary Immaculate, as that will not solve anything. This should be a part of your other charitable giving that is above and beyond what you do to support our parish.
This is not something we can fix overnight or even by ourselves but this is a beginning. I will be meeting with Father Franklin and Deacon Chris to discuss other funding options, but this affects Mary Immaculate the most and I wanted you to be aware of the problem. Please pray that God will be with us to secure the success of both our parish and the Newman Center.
Msgr. Cox