ELLEN VINCK AND HER husband Alex moved to South Orange County almost 10 years ago to be closer to family, especially their grandchildren. The couple had been active in their San Diego parish, especially with stewardship, capital campaigns and trying to get a new church built. However, they never saw it built prior to their move north, so they were looking forward to finding a new parish that was built and paid for so they could focus on other ministries.
But God had other plans.
The couple joined Holy Trinity in Ladera Ranch — a parish located between her and her daughter’s family. The young parish was just about to break ground on the permanent church, and Vinck joined the capital campaign committee already working to raise funds for the construction.
The new church was dedicated in 2017 but still has an enormous debt. Then the pandemic hit, and offertory revenues dropped significantly, suffering just like many other churches and businesses.
This is where Vinck’s experience with the concept of Sacrificial Giving at her former parish came in, like the Holy Spirit, with a new approach to giving. The journey to transforming Holy Trinity to being a Sacrificial Giving parish began.
According to Fr. Michael St. Paul, pastor of Holy Trinity, “The essence of Sacrificial Giving is to put God first in every decision, including our gifts to the Church. It’s not the money; it is the joy and sacrifice of giving selflessly. It’s not just throwing money in the basket at church but understanding the ‘theology of giving’ and being intentional about doing your part in the Church.”
After Vinck shared her thoughts with Fr. Michael, she was immediately contacted by Steve Day, chair of the Pastoral Council, who believed that this initiative was the most important work that the Council would ever endorse. The next PC meeting exploded with support starting with Deacon Randy and Linda McMahon, who shared that they had also been part of a Sacrificial Giving parish while being stationed on the East Coast and that experience had changed their hearts on giving from the first time they attended Mass there. Next up was Rick Volpo, who had already rolled out a very successful “Parish Upgrade Corner” program where parishioners can financially sponsor a project in need of support.
The seeds had now been sown and were already starting to germinate, but Vinck gives credit where it is due and it’s absolutely not just with her.
“This would not have been possible without the participation and contribution of our clergy,” she shared. “The parish staff and other parishioners who stepped forward to help the team and who each gave their time and talent to make the program successful.”
The program seeks to create a deeper connection with each family in the parish so that as they seek God’s guidance in their giving, they become closer to Him and their parish community.
“So many people don’t think about how they support their parish’s mission,” added Fr. Michael. “We see it on Sunday when some people scramble to put a few dollars in the basket during the offertory. The process is reflexive and not intentional and, more importantly, it doesn’t reflect the reverence of the Mass.”
The parish formed a “think tank” known as Team SG, with key staff and volunteers already working hard on other related councils and committees who volunteered to develop a clear and compelling roll-out. Beginning in the fall of 2021, the program was introduced in stages and always with prayer.
Fr. Michael spoke at Mass about parish finances, with very clear and transparent financial reports so parishioners could fully understand the situation. He talked about stewardship and responding to God with an intentional portion of our gifts. The program was reinforced with a series of bulletin articles explaining in detail what Sacrificial Giving was and how it would deepen each family’s relationship with God and their parish. These included not only descriptions of various aspects of stewardship but also questions for personal reflection, such as: How am I actively being a part of The Faithful? Am I being a good steward of the talents that God has given me? and am I using them at my Holy Trinity spiritual home? Where and how can I further grow my talents as the foundation of my own path of Stewardship?
The education phase continued long before the first official “ask” was made. Messages were tied to Scripture to emphasize the spiritual journey, not just the financial necessities of parish support. By Phase Three, the parish family had learned the difference between a regular offertory and Sacrificial Giving. The most crucial step was to have an honest and prayerful conversation with God and their family and decide what a Sacrificial gift would be for them.
It wasn’t the amount but the intentionality of the gift that was most important.
It changed the giving dynamic from a last-minute “cash in the basket” approach to a thoughtful and consistent weekly or monthly contribution that reflected the entire family’s commitment to the church community.
Finally, each family was asked to sign a scroll entitled “Our Giving Journey…It Takes a Parish, Our gift to God in return for His many gifts to us…” The document formalized the family’s intentional giving amount or range weekly or monthly. It also spelled out how the gift would be made – electronically or by check. The promise/agreement ended with “Remember that God is not as concerned with the size of your gift, but rather what the gift means to you when you present it to Him.”
Responses began slowly but were consistent and eventually, of the 500-550 active parishioners, more than half have declared they are a Sacrificial Giving parishioner/ family. The new Sacrificial Giving offertory revenue first provides for the parish’s own 5% Sacrificial Giving donation that goes to a deserving local Catholic charitable organization that serves the community and reflects the belief that the parish also has to be sacrificing to support God’s work.
Those donations average $2,500-$3,500 per month and total over $40,000 to date benefitting organizations such as Catholic Charities, The Life Center of Santa Ana, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Restorative Justice Ministry and more. The remaining increased giving goes to balancing the annual budget, which is a challenge from
year to year with increased costs. Vinck is the first one to make it clear that they are not done yet. The goal is to have 100% parishioner support that will enable the parish to achieve their goal of offering all faith formation at no cost to Sacrificial Giving families. And that final elusive step will be to pay off the parish building debt, eliminating the need for future capital campaigns to pay off the debt.
“What families prayerfully give is a sacrifice; that’s the seed we wanted to plant,” said Vinck. “It appears that it has taken root and is growing like a mustard seed.”