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June 1, 2022One goal of Archbishop Coakley’s “Vision 2030” plan is to ensure the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is as strong and vibrant as possible for years to come. The Catholic Foundation of Oklahoma’s creation of endowments benefiting parishes and schools dovetails with the archbishop’s goal.
Endowments provide parishes and schools with annual distributions, in perpetuity. As endowments grow, so do the amounts distributed annually. These distributions provide a welcome supplement for pastors and principals during the budgeting process.
The Catholic Foundation is working to establish endowments benefiting every parish and school in the archdiocese. It’s an ambitious effort that is gaining traction with generous donors.
The parishes of Saint Philip Neri in Midwest City, Saint Teresa of Avila in Harrah and Saint Mary in Guthrie all will see endowments created from the estate of one man with personal ties to the three parishes. At Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond, a retired couple is using a gift from their estate to create the Saint John the Baptist Endowment.
A couple at Saint Eugene Catholic Church in Oklahoma City recently created a parish endowment. At Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church, a husband and wife who are longtime parishioners, did the same thing. These donors agreed to make gifts of $50,000 to establish endowments. The gifts can be paid out over five years.
Each of these endowments will be used for the general religious, charitable and educational purposes of the parishes. Similarly, newly created school endowments will be for general purposes.
Endowments help place churches and schools on solid financial footing for generations, and support the Church’s mission to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
To learn more about ensuring a Catholic legacy by creating an endowment for a parish or school, contact (405) 709-2897, [email protected].
Owen Canfield is associate director for gift planning at the Catholic Foundation of Oklahoma.