By Alison Bradish
George Kress is not in an enviable position.
His work entails sharing the Gospel, as well as seeking financial support to help build up the Church; support for works of mercy, and support in making reparation for injustices and for healing and reconciliation initiatives with Indigenous peoples.
Welcome to the world of the new Interim Director of Development for the Archdiocese of Regina. Kress has worked in this role previously with a couple of Catholic missionary organizations, but never in a moment of history like this.
He brings zeal and a compassion from years working or volunteering within the Catholic church in the fields of evangelization and development. He has the lived experience of the demands and joys associated with fundraising in the non-profit sector.
His role is interim. Over the next year, he’ll be actively looking for someone to replace him while at the same time prioritizing the needs of the Archdiocese.
He and his wife Louise grew up in the Archdiocese and are originally from the Odessa and Montmartre area. The Catholic faith was part of their upbringing. He describes growing up in a faith filled community where he and his wife never doubted the existence of God.
When they moved to the city of Regina, they began to go deeper into why they practiced the religious traditions they did. When a brother-in-law, a missionary in the Anglican Church at the time, shared his personal relationship with Jesus Christ with Kress and his wife, they had a profound glimpse into the power of personal testimonies.
“We (Kress and his wife) understood now that God is a personal God, and that we really can get to know Him personally. God, the Father, wants us to know his son Jesus Christ personally. It’s through that timeframe that our faith changed completely,” recalls Kress.
He said everything they had learned up to that point, dropped from their head to their heart.
“Our love for God just expanded dramatically. We understood how loving God was that he sent Jesus Christ to die for us. That changed everything, including our love for the Catholic faith,” says Kress.
Through that experience the Kress’ delved into their passion for evangelization. They became supporters of groups such as Catholic Christian Outreach (CC0), a university student movement founded in Saskatoon that has now spread to campuses across Canada, and NET (National Evangelization Team) Ministries dedicated to helping young people embrace the faith.
Kress served on the boards of these organizations and new opportunities arose from the connections he made.
For 30 years Kress worked in the Information Technology sector as an account executive. In 2015 he retired from this line of work and started on a new path as the Development Officer for CCO for Western Canada. He served in this capacity for two years. After a couple of years, another opportunity presented itself and Kress took on an interim position with NET ministries Canada as their Executive Director, with the goal of leading the ministry for a year while searching to hire a new director.
All these experiences have helped prepare him for the work he is now doing for the Archdiocese of Regina.
The Director of Development fosters relationships with current and potential financial donors. It is a position where you are asking and encouraging people to give more.
Building relationships with people and hearing their stories is what Kress says he enjoys most about the work.
Kress and his wife raised three children and are familiar with the demands of family life and the activities that come with it. But Kress notes a change he has seen in recent years. “I just found it was getting busier and busier in people’s live and it was hard to connect with people in personal ways. Then Covid came and made it tougher, but we have learned some things about connecting in new ways,” says Kress.
In his view, online meetings did simplify things at time and he was surprised how effective virtual formats could be. However, his preference is still to meet with people face to face.
Another challenge in his field of work is to learn not to take things personally.
“God has given all of us gifts and some of those are financial gifts. It’s up to every person to decide what their generosity level is going to be. Don’t take it personally when they say no,” says Kress. He says when a fundraiser chooses not to take rejection personally, it helps them overcome the fear of going to talk to people about money, a topic that is not easy to broach.
“If someone turns you down, it is important to realize that God is asking us just to be a servant. It’s only the Holy Spirit that opens the heart, where it becomes a generous heart. You can’t compel anyone to give. It doesn’t work,” says Kress.
He says the role of someone working in the development field is to just share the story. “We just share the Gospel lovingly, then it is up to that person about what they will do with the message.”
Kress has come on board during a time where Covid-19 has created a new way of relating to others. He is also working during a time when Catholics are hurting, reeling, and healing from the understanding of the impact of the residential school system and the Church’s part in grave injustices committed therein.
Kress acknowledges how much clarity in communication is needed to help people understand how the Archdiocese is addressing the call to action of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) to raise $30 million Canada wide to support healing and reconciliation initiatives.
The Archdiocese of Regina has temporarily paused its fundraising Campaign for repairs to the Cathedral and the construction of a new pastoral facility in order to prioritize Truth and Reconciliation Healing Response Fund, and the annual Archbishop’s Appeal.
The faithful of the Archdiocese have been asked to prayerfully consider contributing to both.
Kress looks forward to meeting with familiar faces and new people in the Archdiocese as he strives to show the value of the campaigns the Archdiocese has launched.
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Alison Bradish lives in Moose Jaw with her husband and two children. They attend St. Joseph’s Parish. She earned Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at the University of Regina. She is naturally curious about local and world events. She writes from her home where she strives to bloom where she is planted. She often feels pulled to the topics of religion, education and politics. |
