Dear Parishioners,
As we prepare to celebrate our 150th anniversary in 2025, the Church of St. Mary is participating in the Generation to Generation: Answer the Call campaign, along with every parish across the Archdiocese of Chicago. This campaign is an opportunity to celebrate the anniversary of St. Mary’s and support the broader Catholic community in the Archdiocese by spiritually renewing our parishes, supporting our priests, and assisting parish communities in need.
I am fully supportive of this campaign and encourage your participation to join with the faithful from across the Archdiocese of Chicago who are helping to ensure our local Church is strong and vibrant for generations to come. In celebration of our 150th anniversary, our campaign projects include interior revitalizations to our church, improvements to our Parish Center, and caring for future generations.
Please take a moment to review the impact of the Generation to Generation: Answer the Call campaign. I encourage your participation to join with the faithful from across the Archdiocese of Chicago who are helping to ensure our local Church is strong and vibrant for future generations. Your pledge will make a significant impact within our parish, the Archdiocese and local Catholic parishes. As your pastor, I am grateful for your thoughtful consideration of this request, and I ask you to pray for the success of our campaign.
God Bless you!
Fr. Mike Nacius
Revised Parish Goal:
$4,425,000
Parish Share:
$2,877,000
St. Mary’s 150 Year Story of Faith:
The Church of St. Mary has a strong history dating back to its humble beginnings as a mission church of St. Patrick’s. Founded in 1875 the Church of St. Mary has been a parish where the gospel of Jesus is preached, families grow in faith, and the sacraments of the Catholic Church are celebrated. Thanks to God’s grace, as our community has grown, our parish has grown. Today, St. Mary’s stands as a pillar of faith, compassion, and charity in Lake Forest, continually evolving to meet the needs of its parishioners. As we prepare to celebrate our 150th anniversary as a faith community in 2025, we pray that God will bless and guide the parishioners for future generations.
It was eleven years ago that St. Mary’s participated in the previous Archdiocesan Capital Campaign. Our parish has grown in many ways in the past eleven years, welcoming hundreds of families to St. Mary’s.
St. Mary’s Share of the Funds
We will not only play a significant role in this historic moment in the Church’s history, but we will also support new and exciting projects within our parish. While past capital campaigns have addressed structural issues of our church and school buildings, this campaign will allow us to enhance the beauty of the interior of the church, improving our Parish Center and to care for future generations. St. Mary’s share of the funds raised will address the following:
Church Interior Revitalization
It has been over a quarter century since we have updated and improved the interior of our church where we worship and give thanks and praise to God. With your support, we will be able to repaint the church, replace the flooring, refurbish the pews, and provide other enhancements to our worship space. Additionally, we will be working to improve the plaster, ceiling, and lighting throughout the church. Through thoughtful revitalizations and aesthetic improvements, our worship space will provide inspiration for prayer and celebration of the sacraments to be enjoyed for generations to come.
Parish Center Improvements
Originally constructed as the convent for the Sisters of Mercy that staffed the School of St. Mary, the Parish Center needs improvements and upgrades. Your support will enable us to install central air conditioning in the Parish Center, and make additional improvements that will greatly enhance the offices for Parish Staff members, and meeting spaces for parishioners, and guests who visit the Church of St. Mary Parish Center. The Parish Center is often the first part of our parish seen by visitors, candidates for RCIA, or new parish families, and should be well-functioning and welcoming, and inspire confidence in St. Mary’s as a faith community.
St. Mary’s Caring for Future Generations
The gospel calls us to care for our brothers and sisters of all ages in need. Parishioners have taken the gospel to heart and to prayer for 150 years. This campaign will allow us to establish an endowment to care for our neighbors in the Church beyond the border of St. Mary’s. The corpus of an endowment fund remains untouched in perpetuity. This endowment will provide an annual funding source to be allocated to the Church of St. Mary’s future charitable initiatives to care for brothers and sisters in our parish, potential sister parish, or other sharing initiatives.
Gifts to Generation to Generation will be held in separate, unrestricted accounts and used solely for the specific priorities set forth in the Generation to Generation campaign case statement as well as this parish case statement. The campaign goals are approximate and based on anticipated needs and contributions.
Please contact Rebecca Quackenbush, Church and School Operations Director, with questions or to make your pledge.
Direct: 847-582-2502 | rquackenbush@churchofstmary.org