Dear Parishioners
For 120 years, Saint Dominic Catholic Church has reflected the Gospel: we are that city on a hill whose light cannot be hidden. Saint Dominic Church was originally built to serve the European immigrant railroad workers on the city’s “Far East Side” until the closing of Saint Cyprian parish and its merger with Saint Dominic Church. Today, we are a deeply spiritual, diverse, primarily African-American parish in the “Center-City” who seek to live by the commandment of our Lord: to love God, with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
We recall the wonderful testimony of faith that our ancestors have left us here at Saint Dominic Church, the hard work of the Belgian priests, and of course we could never forget the dedicated Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament who ministered at Saint Cyprian and the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth who taught the Catholic faith in our former school. For all of this we give thanks and praise to God. Now we have to look also to future generations; who will follow us, what will be the legacy we leave behind? How can we begin to thank God for giving us the gift of faith, hope and love? The psalmist says, “The Cup of Salvation I will raise and call upon the name of the Lord.” (Psalm 116:13)
Soon you will notice commencement of some projects that address critical needs of our church building thanks to the support of the Catholic Foundation grant we have received. I also want you to be assured of Bishop Campbell’s support of our campaign in his matching grant of up to $100,000.
After nearly a year of professional study and research, and several meetings and discussions with our Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council, our Capital Campaign is about to be implemented. Our campaign theme is: By God’s Grace, All Will Be Well. This is not the time to do nothing. On the contrary, to do nothing is not an option. We have been blessed with outstanding talented people from our parish who are meticulously guiding us in this program and I am grateful to the Diocesan Office of Development and Planning for their professional services.
Every member of our community will be given an opportunity to hear the details of the campaign and prayerfully reflect upon a special gift to the Lord’s work. The challenge before us is to reach, even exceed our goal of $300,000, trusting that the Lord of all is able to repay you many times over for your generosity and sacrifices which will make our dream a reality.
I ask each of you to carefully look over this brochure and to prayerfully consider what you will be able to offer in the form of a pledge over the next three years.
I want to thank all of you for all that you do and have done to make Saint Dominic Catholic Church that city on the hill whose light cannot be hidden and always remember, by God’s grace all will be well.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Jim Colopy
