When the Called to Renew campaign was first launched in 2018, many took it simply as a way to raise funds for capital projects across the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Six years later, several such projects have come to completion: new wheelchair ramps at St. Thomas More Church in Alhambra, a modern PA system at St. Anastasia Church in Westchester, waterproofing against flooding at Holy Angels Church in Arcadia — among others.
Lesser known, however, is the other side of the capital campaign: grants meant to directly help ministries reach hearts and souls inside — and outside — those buildings.
“We didn’t want it just to be about the buildings, because we are Church,” said Sister M. Anncarla Costello, SND, the archdiocese’s chancellor who has spearheaded project funding for Called to Renew. “The Church is not buildings. Churches are the people. And so that’s why we needed to have that ministry aspect, serving others in whatever capacity it can be done.”
As 2024 winds to a close, several parishes across the archdiocese are seeing the impact of the Called to Renew campaign, first launched with a goal to raise $500 million as a response to long overdue infrastructure needs and the need to create or bolster programs designed to serve needy populations.
The donated money is earmarked for several “pillars” that archdiocesan leaders decided needed funding: “Strengthening Our Parish,” “Serving the Vulnerable,” “Supporting Priestly Vocations,” and “Investing in the Faith of Future Generations.”
Since many parishes are more than 60 years old, the bulk of the funding would go to restoring these “spiritual homes.” The list of needs was long with undertakings that could not simply be paid for from the Sunday collection.
Roof repairs. No functioning air conditioning or heating; earthquake retrofitting.
“You had a lot of parishes that did not have any renovation done, any updating done, and they just sort of motored through life,” said Judy Brooks, executive director of the Called to Renew campaign and the Archbishop’s Office of Special Services.
Now, thanks to Brooks, for the development and construction departments, and many others, more than 100 projects have been completed, with more on the way.
“I am so absolutely awestruck by the work that so many did to bring this to this happy conclusion,” Brooks said.
Lesser known but just as highly regarded are the projects that aren’t infrastructure-related, but are geared toward serving those in need: youth ministry, vocations, the homeless, the hungry, those in prison.
In the funding requests that began to arrive, reaching young people was a high priority for many parishes — “the young people we have lost these past years from the Church,” Costello said. Some projects were simple in their requests: Bible study materials, retreats, scholarships to send young people to the National Catholic Youth Conference.
Other parishes got creative in recognizing and responding to particular needs.
St. Mary Magdalen Church in Mid-City LA proposed installing a hearing loop at its parish that would help those with hearing aids connect directly into the sound system, making speech and music clearer.
St. Matthew Korean Catholic Center in Tujunga saw a need to help couples receive faith formation, and proposed building a new playground for their young children to play in during those formation sessions.
More than 20 parishes got together for the “Anointed for Mission” program in applying for funding used to arrange a three-year confirmation program focused not just on the youth being confirmed, but also their families.
Feeding the hungry has gotten a boost with both Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills’ Feed My Poor nonprofit, and St. John of God Church in Norwalk seeking funds to use food trucks to deliver meals.
Although the campaign is done seeking donations, funding pledges will continue to roll in for the next few years, Brooks said.
In the meantime, everyone involved in the campaign continues to look forward to the amazing ways in which God has provided.
“The money is going way beyond just the present,” Costello said. “It’s really all for the future generations.”
