Introducing the New Annual Catholic Appeal

It is with great excitement that the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings shares with you the new Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA).

For many years now, the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings has been doing an appeal called “Care & Share.” We have been hearing the feedback and concerns about the method of that appeal and decided to create a plan to move to a more straight appeal process. And while many of you as parishioners may not notice a difference outside o the name change – we wanted to take a moment and introduce our new Appeal process to you.

We have changed the appeal process and decided that should also include a name change. The new appeal will now be called the “Annual Catholic Appeal.” The main changes in the appeal are:

(1) There is a diocesan goal for the appeal but there will not be individual parish goals set by the diocese.
(2) There will not be an assessment for individual parishes at the end of the appeal.
(3) Donations for the 2022 ACA will be accepted through December 31, 2022.

These differences emphasize the importance of each Catholic family/individual to prayerfully consider a financial donation to the diocese. In the past, each parish had a goal set for them and if their parishioners didn’t raise that amount the church would cover the remaining balance. This ensures that the ministries of the diocese and support to the individual parishes, schools and other organizations could be paid for through the next year. Now? We will be relying on you, as a member of our Catholic family, to help support the diocese and services provided by the diocese.

The biggest question that we have heard over and over is: “What does the money support? Where is my money going?” We want to give you the answer more thoroughly. In the most basic form – the answer is that it supports the ministerial work of the diocese and supports Catholic Churches, Catholic schools and other Catholic entities in the diocese. But – we will be sharing a more detailed look at what ministries are supported and how we support the local churches, schools and businesses through the appeal. Watch for more info in the Harvest, on the diocese website (www.diocesegfb.org), on our Facebook page, and in the appeal materials you will receive this year.

Commitment Weekend for the 2022 ACA will be March 26-27, 2022. The appeal will run through July 27, 2022. Donations can continue to be made after July, but you won’t continue to receive appeal mailings.

Our goal continues to be $1.7 million. We know that this number initially sounds like a huge goal – and it is. But we have also been meeting or been close to meeting this goal consistently over the past three years. Additionally? We’ve been meeting that goal with only a percentage of our total Catholic family of eastern Montana. Every donation, no matter the size, contributes to helping ensure the ministries of the diocese continues.

Your individual parish and/or pastor may give your church a smaller, individual goal – however, please remember that will be set by them to help keep your church focused and contributing to the larger goal. If you want to know how your parish did for 2021, please reach out to Becky Pugh, Special Projects Coordinator, at the Chancery and she