Saint Peter Parish-West Brandywine, PA

A Momentous Opportunity…

OVER 600 NEW FAMILIES have joined our parish since June 2006. This dramatic growth is a blessing to our parish. We want to make every effort to incorporate these new families into our parish community.

In light of our commitment to developing a vibrant Catholic community that provides programs and services that draw people to it, our diverse and various ministries need more expansive and flexible meeting space.

The parish hall has the potential to reinforce St. Peter’s transformation in practical ways:

• Develop the vision of stewardship through the commitment to complete the work begun more than a decade ago

• Increase involvement in the activities of the parish by making much needed space available

Parish Hall • Encourage unity and fellowship by making social gatherings possible in a way not currently available

• Host special gatherings and events that will benefit individuals and families now and for the foreseeable future

• Generate additional revenue for the parish through prudent management of facility rentals and various public and private uses

Planning for the Future

GUIDED BY OUR MISSION and in light of the dramatic growth and success of our parish, now is the time to move forward to the second phase of the construction, the parish hall. This parish hall has the potential to reinforce the transformation of Saint Peter Parish in practical ways. The Heritage of Faith ~ Vision of Hope initiative would enable Saint Peter Parish to complete important parish goals as well as support the archdiocesan campaign

In response to the current and foreseeable needs of the Church of Philadelphia, and after careful and diligent study and prayerful consideration, His Eminence Cardinal Justin Rigali has initiated Heritage of Faith ~ Vision of Hope, a $200,000,000 capital and endowment campaign to provide financial resources to meet the challenges facing our parishes and archdiocesan ministries. All 270 parishes are taking part in this remarkable initiative. The funding allocations for this extraordinary undertaking will go toward:
Faith&Hope

• Providing access to Catholic Education
• Caring for priests after retirement
• Assisting those most in need through Catholic Human Services
• Funding scholarships at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary
• Restoring the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

Working together with the Church of Philadelphia, we will be able to support the overall effort, while also completing our own historic endeavor, the Saint Peter Stewardship Hall. Education Center The large majority of parishes are running campaigns in which sixty-five percent (65%) of the funds raised will go to the archdiocesan campaign with only thirty-five percent (35%) remaining in the parish for its needs. However, the impact of this combined campaign envisions a total initiative goal of $3,000,000. As a result, the funding allocations tip highly in our favor: Eighty percent (80%) of the goal will go directly to the parish to help us finish our remarkable construction project, while the remaining twenty percent (20%) is our commitment to the archdiocesan campaign.

Heritage of Faith ~ Vision of Hope

Standard Campaign	St. Peter’s Campaign

Funding Allocations
Specific Capital Projects	St. Peter Amount	Archdiocese Total
New High Schools	$145,000	$30,000,000
Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul	$94,500	$20,000,000
Campus Infrastructure at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary	$69,500	$14,000,000
Catholic Human Services	$14,000	$3,000,000
Villa St. Joseph	$14,000	$3,000,000
Sub-total	$337,000	$70,000,000
Endowments and Funds
Elementary School Tuition Assistance Endowment	$89,200	$18,000,000
Priests’ Pension Plan	$57,700	$12,000,000
Inter-Parochial Cooperation Commission (IPCC) Endowment	$50,400	$10,000,000
Catholic Human Services	$31,500	$7,000,000
Philadelphia Seminarians Endowment	$28,500	$6,000,000
Basilica Preservation Fund	$25,700	$5,000,000
Special Education Tuition Assistance Endowment	$10,000	$2,000,000
Sub-total	$293,000	$60,000,000
Total	$630,000	$130,000,000*

“I hope and trust that you will share my conviction that in meeting this challenge we will make an historic contribution to the future of the Church of Philadelphia. Our combined efforts will provide us with the opportunity to move beyond our Bicentennial with confidence, knowing that we have done all that we can to launch the Church’s third century of service to the community.”

-Cardinal Justin Rigali
Archbishop of Philadelphia

Reaching for the Future

UPON REACHING THE TARGET GOAL of $3,500,000, all funds raised will be allocated toward the building of the Early Childhood Education Center. The goal of the center is to unify all aspects of children’s lives by fostering the development of the total person spiritually, physically, socially, emotionally and intellectually.

• Serve as the spiritual foundation for the future of the parish: Research and experience suggest that an earlier education in faith leads individuals as well as their families to a stronger, life-long commitment to faith.

• Prepare young children for academic success: The Center will have two-three classrooms for three levels of instruction: Preschool (3 year-olds), Pre-Kindergarten (4 year-olds), and Kindergarten Transition (based on need). Successful developmental experiences in early childhood education will prepare children for formal academic programs in grade school.

• Assess specific learning needs of children: Early education teachers have the unique opportunity to observe the individual learning styles of each child as he/she enters the school experience. Children that require special interventions will be identified early in their educational journey.

• Offer childcare so younger parents can volunteer their time and effort while their children remain close by in a well-supervised setting: Since the space is optimal for little children, it can be used for supervised childcare, while parents attend ministry activities during afterschool and weekend hours. This will enable us to reach out to this growing demographic in our parish.

• Support long-term enrollment of Pope John Paul II Regional School: Families that have children that attend the Early Childhood Education Center will consider PJPII a practical choice for grade school education as a result of its proximity and the spiritual continuity that it will offer their children.

• Generate additional revenue for the parish: A comprehensive early childhood education center has the potential to create income for the parish. With so many young families moving into the area and so few options for early education, Saint Peter could charge a modest tuition, which would support the overall financial stability of the parish.