Gracious and Loving God, we thank you for all your blessings. Inspire us to be welcoming to all who seek to find a spiritual home with us. Move us deeply to share our faith, and to be mindful of the needs of others. Teach us to trust in your providential care. Form us, through the Holy Eucharist, to be the Body of Christ, your Church. Guide us to be generous in sharing our gifts of time, talent, and treasure. Help us to grow as stewards of the resources You have entrusted to us. Continue to bless St. Austin Catholic Parish as we work to build up your Kingdom. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Guidelines for Giving
These guidelines may help you determine an appropriate level of giving based on your means.
Suggested Weekly Contribution Based on Income
Annual Income
3% Commitment (annually/weekly)
5% Commitment (annually/weekly)
$15,000
$450/$9
$750/$15
$25,000
$750/$15
$1,250/$25
$30,000
$900/$18
$1,500/$30
$40,000
$1,200/$24
$2,000/$40
$50,000
$1,500/$30
$2,500/$50
$60,000
$1,800/$36
$3,000/$60
$75,000
$2,250/$45
$3,750/$75
$100,000
$3,000/$60
$5,000/$100
Our Pastor's Appeal
of April 19, 2022
To the Dear People of St. Austin Parish
HAPPY EASTER! In this time of renewed hope, I am grateful for your faithful participation in the life of our parish. These past two years have been extraordinary times, being isolated by the pandemic, and yet moving forward with the life of the parish and our major development project.
While building our parish/school campus is an important focus, we must still attend to the day-to-day expenses that are the essential support of our mission. Salaries for our dedicated staff, utilities, and upkeep of our Church and facilities continue. One parishioner observed, "St. Austin's feeds my heart and soul. One of my top priorities is to support my parish just as it supports me on my faith journey."
With humble gratitude, I ask for your continued generosity to our parish as we plan for our new fiscal year that begins July 1. In Holy Thursday's Mass of the Lord's Supper the Psalmist asks, “How can I make a return to the Lord for all the good God has done for me?” Our answer is simple. We're called to bring to the Lord the first fruits of our labor, be they our time, talent, or treasure, or as we like to say, stewardship.
We'll celebrate Stewardship Weekend on April 30 and May 1. I am requesting that you pledge a return to the Lord for all the good the Lord has done for you. You'll fulfill that pledge each time you make your offertory contribution. We're committed to be good stewards of the financial contributions you make, as seen in our Annual Report and the Independent Auditor's Report, which has finally been completed. Both are on our website, StAustin.org. Please check them out.
A Stewardship Pledge accompanies this letter. Prayerfully consider your level of support. We hope you'll consider making your pledge commitment online as that's the most efficient and economical method. Or you may complete and return the form on Stewardship Weekend or by mail, using the enclosed envelope.
You are in my prayers as you decide on your pledge commitment. Please pray for our parish, me, and all the staff at St. Austin.
God Bless,
Offering Our First Fruits in Thanksgiving
Our Annual Stewardship Appeal
Your Generosity Provides 100% of Our Operating Funds
Your pledge of stewardship allows the members of our Finance Council and our parish staff to forecast and budget for our new fiscal year. Your financial commitment to keep the parish running is realized through your offertory giving, whether those gifts come to the parish every week, once a month, or less frequently. It's important to remember that the good people of our parish provide 100% of the funds needed to meet our mission of love in service and action in our time and place. Thank you for responding generously to this request by completing the electronic form on this page - it's the most efficient way to process your pledge of support.
With grateful hearts, we thank the volunteers (some of whom are pictured below) who prepared the letters requesting your support of the daily operations of our parish.
Many Hands Make Light the Work
We Give Thanks to our Merry Mailers!
Consistency Creates Confidence
We ask that you continue your generous support for the mission of our beloved community of faith. As you make your commitment for this pledge period, July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023, we encourage you to consider a recurring pledge of stewardship. To better plan our ministries and operations, a predictable income flow is our best tool.
Please complete your Stewardship Pledge below and press the SUBMIT button. A confirmation message will appear on your screen with further directions.
Click the link to Online Donation on the confirmation screen. At Online Donation, select your Donation Frequency. Set the Start and End Dates for your recurring gift. If you have an existing ongoing gift from a credit card or bank account, please contact Mitzi or Pat to make sure that your old and new gifts are running as intended. Our pledge period runs from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.
If you wish to complete a paper pledge form, scroll down to find the link below the heart-in-the-hand photo. Please print and complete the form, then bring it with you to Mass or mail it.
Stewardship Prayer
Gracious and Loving God, we thank you for all your blessings. Inspire us to be welcoming to all who seek to find a spiritual home with us. Move us deeply to share our faith, and to be mindful of the needs of others. Teach us to trust in your providential care. Form us, through the Holy Eucharist, to be the Body of Christ, your Church. Guide us to be generous in sharing our gifts of time, talent, and treasure. Help us to grow as stewards of the resources You have entrusted to us. Continue to bless St. Austin Catholic Parish as we work to build up your Kingdom. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Where Does It Go?
Folks have wondered...
...what are we asking for when we ask you to make a pledge of Stewardship? How is my Stewardship pledge different from what I've given to the Bishop's Encountering Christ Campaign? The Conditions in the Property Development letter describe a Capital Campaign to begin before December and then there are our Persons in Need (PIN) and Second Collections! That's a lot to process. We offer this explanation.
The current Stewardship Pledge campaign is our appeal to our parishioners to commit to giving to our Offertory regularly - be it weekly, monthly, or annually. It's a commitment to the Offertory. We ask for pledges so that we can have an idea of what our revenues will be and budget accordingly. These Stewardship or Offertory dollars are what we rely on for the day-to-day operations of the parish.
The Encountering Christ Campaign, begun in 2018, is a capital campaign to raise $85 million in gifts and pledges for local parish needs while strengthening ministries, Catholic education and faith formation, supporting our clergy and enhancing growth and development across the diocese. St. Austin's received a portion of the funds pledged and fulfilled. We used those funds to do the church lighting and sound improvements. St. Austin's at 66% of its pledge fulfillment. If you have questions about this campaign or completing your pledge, please contact Mitzi at 512.477.9471.
Our Persons in Need collection (usually on the first Sunday of each month) funds the support we offer to those in need through our St. Vincent de Paul Conference and our Outreach Program. We provide a variety of support including rent and utility assistance, HEB cards for food, information on Food Banks, help paying for prescription medications, eye glasses, work boots, etc. Read more at Charity.
And then there are Second Collections that fund a specific need that the Church has identified as worthy and true to the Church’s mission.