• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Some parishes use rebate funds to support education and evangelization efforts, such as this vacation Bible school at St. Isaac Jogues Parish, Carney. (Courtesy Lost Note Productions)

New name, same ‘healthy process’

January 2, 2019
By Emily Rosenthal Alster
Filed Under: Appeal, Feature, Giving, Local News, News

The Annual Appeal for Catholic Ministries, formerly known as the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal, changed its name to better reflect its mission.

“This actually gave us the opportunity to better represent what the annual appeal had always been about: our parishes, programs and ministries of the archdiocese,” said Terry Brashears, senior director of stewardship and administration, and interim director of annual appeals, for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Following the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, some are skeptical of donating money to an appeal organized by the archdiocese,  and question whether any of the funds are used for insurance or anything related to clergy sexual abuse.

The answer is, “No, absolutely not,” according to Brashears.

Parish donations and beneficiaries of the 2018 appeal were outlined in the December issue of the Catholic Review.

Beneficiaries

Parishes, collectively, are the largest beneficiaries of the appeal. Even if a parish does not meet its goal, it receives a rebate of 25 percent of its donations. Parishes that don’t meet their goal are not responsible for covering the difference.

The second largest portion, just over $1.2 million in 2018, goes directly to Catholic Charities of Baltimore.

Ministries that benefit range from local Catholic schools to the Holy Father,  considered an obligation of a diocese. Those funds could be used to support the poor or financially struggling dioceses.

Requests for the use of discretionary funding are among the duties handled by the Annual Appeal Allocations Oversight Committee, a group of clergy and laypeople dedicated to overseeing stewardship.

The committee is chaired by Jim Hamilton, a CPA and founder and managing director of David-James, LLC, as well as a parishioner of St. Joseph in Fullerton, where he chaired the appeal before being asked to join the archdiocesan team in 2011.

Lay Involvement

“It’s important now more than ever to have laypeople involved,” Hamilton said. “We see things from a different viewpoint.

“It’s a healthy process to have more eyes, more views, more thoughts being put into how the funds are being distributed. It’s also … a way that we’re acting as good stewards of the funds.”

The committee gathers twice a year to review the appeal’s progress and to determine how money is allocated. It is comprised of lay volunteers (many being financial experts), pastors and representation from the archdiocesan fiscal department.

That process, Hamilton said, has been around as long as he can remember.

“We’re not changing anything (in 2019) other than the name of the appeal,” Hamilton said. “We’re just shining a light on the fact this year that this is what it’s always been.”

“It never really was about the archbishop. … The appeal has never been about one person, it’s always been about the mission and the ministries that need support.”

It is not just laity making those decisions, but a system of checks and balances that includes the archbishop. The Allocations Committee can approve, challenge, modify or deny recommendations.

“We do not rubber-stamp the requests that come in,” Hamilton said. “We have very lively discussions; we’ve oftentimes reallocated funds to various ministries based on the recommendations that come out of our committee.”

Hamilton and his wife, Elisa, served as the annual appeal lay chairpersons in 2017. This year’s chairpersons are Glenn and Beth Falcao, parishioners of St. Louis in Clarksville, and John and Roslyn Balch, parishioners of Our Lady of the Mountains in Cumberland.

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Emily Rosenthal Alster

Emily Rosenthal Alster, a former staff writer for the Catholic Review, is a contributing writer. She is a lifelong resident of Maryland and a parishioner of St. John in Westminster.

Emily is a graduate of Delone Catholic High School in McSherrystown, Pa. She holds a bachelor's degree in business communication from Stevenson University.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • All are welcome: Finding a home at Mount St. Joseph
  • Priest who offered up cancer for clerical abuse victims says he was healed at Lourdes
  • Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck acquitted of federal charges
  • Pope clarifies remarks about homosexuality and sin
  • New translation tweaks to sacrament of penance take effect this Lent

| Latest Local News |

Clarksville school shapes educators in faith formation

From robotics to hip-hop: Elementary schools offer wide range of clubs

Tuition at Catholic high schools in Baltimore archdiocese significantly lower than other area private schools

| Latest World News |

Affordable child care key component of post-Roe response, advocates say

Ukraine’s embattled religious orders keep faith and hope alive amid war

Speakers address how local churches can protect lives of mothers, unborn children from domestic violence

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • What does it taste like?
  • 4 tips for building a media-smart family
  • Affordable child care key component of post-Roe response, advocates say
  • Movie Review: ’80 for Brady’
  • Ukraine’s embattled religious orders keep faith and hope alive amid war
  • Here is the simplest way to share faith with kids
  • Speakers address how local churches can protect lives of mothers, unborn children from domestic violence
  • Clarksville school shapes educators in faith formation
  • Papal farm, gardens will be home to new center promoting sustainability

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED