1. What is the difference between the offertory, building fund, and the capital campaign?
The weekly Offertory is a fund that pays for routine operations of the parish. It includes salaries, rent/mortgage, maintenance, utilities, and day-to-day expenses.
The Building Fund is an ongoing and long term, regular savings account to which parishioners contribute and have contributed to since the Mission was formed in 2002 – and will continue even after this project is completed. It funds building, and improvement projects, but most of the funds will be used to build a permanent Church. The current account balance is about $500,000.
Our Capital Campaigns have been designed to raise funds rapidly to build a permanent Church. Parishioners are asked to pledge an amount that can be paid at once or over a period of up to 3 years. The expectation for a Capital Campaign is to raise significant amounts quickly, like a burst, as opposed to routine, weekly or monthly contributions.
Funds from the Building Fund and our Capital Campaigns will be used to build a permanent Church.
2. How can I contribute to building our new church?
We ask that you complete our SKD Cornerstone Campaign Pledge Form on the website and make payments via Faith Direct, the weekly offertory, or by mail.
Cornerstone Campaign I and II Information
- Pledge form required for funds to be included in the campaign. If no pledge form received, funds will be directed to the SKD Construction Fund
- Do not combine payments for the two campaigns (separate checks). Checks should be made payable to SKD Cornerstone Campaign or SKD Cornerstone Campaign II to be applied to your pledge properly.
- Funds received for SKD Cornerstone Campaign II will be deposited into a separate account to be used for the future construction of the offices
Questions? Email our business manager, Lori Trout trout@saint-stephen.org
Here are related additional links.
3. Can I use Faith Direct to make SKD Cornerstone Campaign contributions?
Yes, it’s the most convenient way to support our church. Faith direct allows you to link payments to bank accounts and/or credit cards. You can schedule payments to automatically occur monthly or you can make them on a one time basis. Please sign up at www.faithdirect.net/. The St. Katharine Drexel code is VA786.
4. What happens if my financial situation changes and I can’t fulfill my pledge?
Don’t worry. Give what you can, when you can, if your financial situation changes.
5. What other activities are being pursued to raise money?
We are pursuing a full range of fundraising activities – internally and externally. These include parish events, like the Annual Golf Tournament and smaller events. However, we expect that most of the needed funds will be raised through our Capital Campaigns and Building Fund.
6. When will the Church be built?
We will host a groundbreaking in January 2022. This will be followed by the beginning of site work. Once site work is complete and if we raise the additional $600,000 needed through the SKD Cornerstone Campaign, we will begin building thereafter.
7. What happens to the money pledged if we fail to raise enough during the capital campaign?
If we fail to raise enough money then we will continue fundraising until we have enough to start construction. The funds are retained in a Diocesan account until such time as enough money has been raised to complete the project.
8. Why does it take so long to build the Church?
There are several reasons that completion will be in 2023 and not sooner. First, the Building Committee was formed in early 2014 and the initial step was to assess what the Mission needed, what it could afford, and where the church could be sited. In concert with that effort, it took over a year to find the right piece of property. Then it took another year to prepare the master plan, Special Use Permit Application, and obtain approval from Prince William County – all of which were required to complete the land purchase. Second, it takes considerable time to raise the funds. For example, the first Capital Campaign started in 2015. As of May 2018, we’ve raised 43% of our minimum goal. and we need until at least 2020 to raise the remaining funds. Third, it takes at least 2-3 years to complete the design, obtain the necessary permits, and complete construction (2 years approximately for construction).
9. Why does the Church cost $7M?
The cost includes the design of the Church, extensive site work to prepare the undeveloped land for a building, construction, fit out, and Prince William County permit requirements such as landscaping, paved parking lots, sidewalks, utility work, and entrance and exit lanes. The cost estimate was professionally prepared, checked, and validated. The estimated cost of our project well within similar recent projects in the Arlington Diocese and the Mid-Atlantic area.
10. How does our status as a Mission versus a parish affect construction of a permanent Church? When will we become a parish?
Our status as a Mission does not affect our project. We will become a parish when the Mission exhibits enough support (membership and financial) to warrant the appointment of a full-time priest by the Bishop. The Diocese purchased the land at a cost of $1.5M, which demonstrates that the Diocese is fully committed to our project.
12. Why can’t we just use a tent or other temporary building for services?
We can’t do that for two reasons: 1) Temporary buildings and tents are not allowed by the county; and 2) Holding Mass on the site before the work is done is very unsafe due to lack of parking, lack of facilities, adjacency to a major U.S. highway, and the extremely rough terrain on the site.
14. Where will we have Religious Education classes when the Church is built?
It is unlikely that the Phase 1 Parish Center (which we will use initially as our small church) will be large enough to accommodate Religious Education classes so we will likely continue to rent space for the 8-10 required classrooms.
15. What is being done to expand the number of registered SKD families?
A significant number of families living within SKD boundaries attend Holy Trinity Church, All Saints, and St. John the Evangelist in Warrenton. We plan to continue outreaching to area families who are zoned to attend St. Katharine Drexel Mission.
17. How much more money is needed?
We need to raise at least $600,000 in addition to the funds already on hand and that which we will obtain through a loan from the diocese. We intend to borrow approximately $3.5M from the Diocese to satisfy the $7M budget.
18. How can I get involved?
We would love for you to be an active part of our growing church community! To get involved, please contact Tim Freeman, Chairman of the Building Committee at tbfreeman@aol.com. To get involved with our various church ministries, please see our Ministries and Organizations page.
19. What is the status of design?
We are in the process of working with Prince William County on final approvals and will host a groundbreaking in January 2022.
20. Will there be a school, community hall, a larger Church?
The Special Use Permit approved by Prince William County proscribes 2 Phases: 1) Phase 1 has been permitted to be a combination Parish Center (which is effectively a small church) of up to 550 seats and other support space; 2) Phase 2 is permitted to include a school (K-8) and a larger church (up to 1000 seats). Based on our priorities and affordability, Phase 1 resources will be focused initially on constructing a space for worship (i.e., a small church that can later be converted to a parish center after Phase 2 is constructed).
21. What will the church look like?
The conceptual design is currently being updated. It will be a very appealing and functional church. The renderings (which represent one potential configuration) will be available to view at the Mission Office shortly.
22. How can I get more information and what if I have more questions?
The website is frequently updated to provide the latest status. For additional information, please contact Tim Freeman, Building Committee Chairman at tbfreeman@aol.com.
