By Michelle Sanche and John Dipple, on behalf of the Campaign Cabinet Committee
You may recall seeing a video at Mass in the fall of 2019 about the Archdiocese of Regina’s Rebuilding Our Church Capital Campaign. As the video expressed, the goal of this project is two-fold: to restore Holy Rosary Cathedral and to build a permanent pastoral ministry centre on the cathedral grounds.
If you missed the video you can still watch here: https://youtu.be/BSXQBrIRSJ4 (5 minutes). There is also a video behind-the-scenes tour of the cathedral showing the work that needs to be done here: https://youtu.be/4ig22YH7hf8 (13 minutes).
As two of the three co-chairs of this campaign, we are part of the Campaign Cabinet Committee. This committee began its work by inviting clergy, archdiocesan staff, finance council members, Holy Rosary leadership, and major donors to support the campaign. By February, 2020 we had received $5.4M and towards our goal of $17M, and we were full of optimism.
After the Covid-19 pandemic hit in mid-March, we put all donor meetings on hold, and moved our committee meetings online. It was a time of caution as we waited and tried to discern the best time to restart our conversations with potential donors about the campaign. We also worked on background items such as the Archdiocese of Regina Foundation to receive campaign funds, and project pre-planning with project manager Teresa Drew. We created a website with information, photos, history, donor stories and campaign updates at: rebuildingourchurch.ca .
In early fall, we began our work with potential donors again, with Covid precautions in place. As the temperatures plunged and Covid numbers rose in southern Saskatchewan, we moved to online platforms for all donor meetings.
Has Covid-19 derailed our optimism? Not at all! We are happy to report that our meetings are enjoyable and fruitful, and that those who are able, whether urban or rural, major or mid-level, are willing to share their resources to strengthen our church. We have now received a total of $6.58M in gifts and pledges and are expecting that number to grow as donors are inspired to support the campaign.
At this time, we ask for your prayers for the success of this project and for engagement and generosity all through our archdiocese. This shared effort has the potential to strengthen our faith community in a new way. Together we can make it happen!
