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, 

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. 

...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.