From The Pastor: 10-27-2019

​Some clarifications/comments on what I spoke about at Masses last weekend regarding purchasing the property on Sandhill Road:

• The purchase of the Lancaster Mennonite School is simply a change in direction for our Centennial Project. The Centennial Project continues as does the Capital Campaign but all pledges will now go to buying the property. There was some confusion from some parishioners that they were being asked to pledge twice. Not true! One pledge, one campaign, one project!
• The property on Sandhill Road is parish property on which we have our parochial school and REP classes. Many parishes have this arrangement. To be honest, the reasons this happens is because parishes are growing and thriving! The parishes that are in decline (for a whole lot of reasons) rarely ever have the opportunity to move to bigger spaces.
• I really do encourage creative thinking from all of our parishioners regarding use of this property as well as our Areba Avenue campus. The more ideas, the better.
• The sooner everyone makes a pledge (I made mine!), the sooner we can start bringing down our debt. The diocese is being very cooperative but if all goes well with our capital campaign, I really believe we could get a ten-year mortgage, which lowers the interest rate and allows us to pay off the debt in a short period of time. After that, rental income will be used solely by the parish.
• Again, any questions or desire for tours, just give me a call and I (or one of the parish or school staff) will be glad to show you around!