Dear Friends:

I think you would agree that each of us feels privileged to be given the opportunity to be a part of something that has a positive impact on others. It is my belief that God is giving us such an opportunity through our Legacy for Our Mission -- Honoring Our Founders' Vision program.

As we focus on this capital stewardship program, I want you to reflect on the blessings of God in your life and in the life of our parish. Certainly, we cannot help but feel a sense of gratitude. And as we look to what God wants to do for us and through us, we should be filled with anticipation.

I am confident that as a result of our campaign, new doors of opportunity will be opened for St. Lawrence. With the success of this program, we will be able to effectively broaden our ministries, provide additional programming for spiritual nurturing, and increase our support to missions, both here and abroad. Legacy for Our Mission -- Honoring Our Founders' Vision is a splendid challenge, and I am grateful that God has brought us to this day and time in our ministry.

Legacy for Our Mission -- Honoring Our Founders' Vision challenges us to do the extraordinary, to give sacrificially over and above our current giving, for three years. It focuses on individual’s willingness to respond to God’s goodness. Each of us is asked to pray, to seek God’s will, and to give sacrificially as we feel led by Him. I genuinely believe that the people of St. Lawrence are ready for the challenge that this campaign offers. Let each of us enter into this endeavor prayerfully, trusting God.

Please examine this beautiful brochure carefully. With joyful gratitude and expectant faith, I ask you to consider your part in this campaign. What is given is a personal decision between you and God. What we accomplish together will benefit many. May the Lord bless you for all that you mean to Him and His parish and may He glorify Himself through us in the days ahead.

In His love,

Fr. John Beitans

Our active and prayerful Catholic Church and School is a community enabled by the Holy Spirit to embrace all people with love and understanding.  We are called to share our faith and knowledge as caring followers of Jesus Christ.  For decades, we have gathered, worshiped, learned and played with each other on our adequate parcel of real estate in northeast Indianapolis, which has become a beacon of hope and opportunity to thousands over the years.   Periodically, our founders and leaders have taken pause to review and renew commitments to the ongoing and changing needs of our parish. 

Most recently, in 2004, Father Beitans commissioned a Long Range Planning Committee.  We became critically aware that changes necessary today could impact decisions and opportunities on our parish campus in the future.  Therefore, the committee performed an assessment of our facilities and met with all parish organizations to determine space needs.  Subsequently, they developed a Long Range Plan (master plan) as a guideline for the long-range implementation of construction required for needed program and facilities upgrades over the next 30 years in multiple phases.  The plan also identified immediate facility and space needs that should be addressed as soon as possible.  Phase I of the plan addressed all of the most pressing facility and program needs, but the budget exceeded $6 million. 

Meanwhile, earlier this year, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis came to St. Lawrence asking that we seek to raise new gifts to address its most essential capital, endowment and ministerial needs.  Each of the 150 parishes across the Archdiocese will participate in this Legacy for Our Mission campaign at some point over a period of a few years to raise these funds for both the Archdiocesan needs and individual parish needs.  St. Lawrence, under the direction of Father Beitans and parish leaders, agreed that our parish was ready to embrace its next capital campaign.

During the past few months, an ad-hoc committee assembled by our pastor reviewed our Long Range Plan up against what our parish could potentially afford and what our most immediate needs were.  The committee developed a project scope that implemented as many of the most pressing needs of the parish while suggesting the postponement of a few other needs to the future -- bringing forth Phase I of the building plan with a much more affordable target -- $1.3 million.  This budget, coupled with what we hope to raise to help fund our share of the most pressing Archdiocesan needs, St. Lawrence is launching Legacy for Our Mission -- Honoring Our Founders' Vision this fall with the goal of raising a total of at least $1.8 million. 

Pledges will be solicited under the guidelines of Christian stewardship for 2007-2009.  We are pleased to share that seed money exists to get the project moving more quickly, thanks to $500,000 still in the bank from our most recent capital campaign, Legacy of Hope.  With the successful gathering of gifts and pledges for Legacy For Our Mission -- Honoring Our Founders' Vision, we will begin implementing facility changes as soon as 2007 and addressing such needs as adult meeting space, accessibility, storage, adequate heating, cooling and ventilation, updated flooring and lighting and other improvements that will bring our beloved founders' vision into clarity for the future.