Christmas Blessings & The Year Ahead

 
adoration-of-the-magi-rubens-1609-29-wikimedia.jpg

This year has been one of great progress for this project on many fronts.  Most notably, we finally transitioned from behind-the-scenes, backstage machinations and whispered rumors to the public presentation of the Immaculata Church Building Project.  After many starts and stops over the years, this year we were blessed to have the permissions, the plans, and the pledges align so we could move the Immaculata Project ahead in earnest.  The June 15th public "unveiling" was the first public presentation of the plans that have been under development for several years.  The Saint Mary's community was finally able to see and appreciate the many thoughtful and hard-fought decisions that had been made to get the project to the stage where plans and drawings would be available to share.

That June 15 "unveiling" was also the kickoff of a tremendously successful fundraising campaign.  Our funding gap, which stood at $15 million when the campaign began, is now less than $4 million!  To close this gap, we will be reaching out to those in the Saint Mary's community who have not yet pledged, as well as to folks around the US District and around the world who might wish to help build this home worthy of the Immaculata.  Thank you to all who have donated and pledged; this work isn't possible without your support.

We will all enjoy a bit of a respite during this Christmas season, then begin the new year with renewed vigor.  While the design teams continue their efforts behind closed doors, 2020 will host a number of public events and milestones:

  • The onset of Spring will herald a visit from the Paccard family, the folks behind the foundry that will be casting the bells used in the Immaculata bell towers.  Seven generations of experience will go into the casting of the Immaculata bells; family members will share with us their inspirations and experiences.  We look forward to their visit.

  • As announced at the June 15 unveiling, May 31,2020 will bring the ceremonial groundbreaking for the New Immaculata.  All are invited for the ceremony, the details of which will be announced at the event approaches.

  • This groundbreaking will lead directly into earthwork preparations to ready the site for construction, which should be in full-swing by late Summer.

Please accept our wishes for a holy Christmas Season and blessed New Year, a year full of expectations for this most important project.  We thank you again for your support, both spiritual and financial.  May God bless you.

 
Fr-Rutledge-signature-01 (1).png
 

-------------

Fundraising Update

During November, the Immaculata Project received 139 new pledges and one time donations totaling $240,000 including 61 new guild members.  We are closing in on our $30,000,000 goal, with $26,160,000 raised and $3,840,000 to go.  We actually deposited $610,000 during November, which includes payments on existing pledges as well as new one-time donations.  Thank you to all that are making their pledge payments and to those making new donations…both are critical for the project's success.

 

Highlights of our fundraising are now available on our website at www.anewimmaculata.org/funds.

 
Financial, From the RectorRafael Rodriguez