MISSIO 20 20 C ontinuing
the
M ission
Our Mission is to unite God’s people in the Sacraments, Steward His generosity, and evangelize the community.
A WO R D F R OM O UR PR I E STS Dear St. Louis Family, For over sixty-five years, we have been building and sustaining the legacy of St. Louis King of France Catholic Church and School. With a commitment to worthy worship, faithful catechesis, and generous service to those in need, St. Louis remains a place of profound encounter with Christ in North Austin. Our story goes back to the 1950s when Bishop Reicher sent Msgr. Matocha to the far reaches of North Austin to found a parish and school. We built that first church on St. Joseph Street with the basement serving as the parish hall and the school and convent adjacent to the church. By the 1980s, St. Louis had become one of the most energetic parishes in the Diocese of Austin. Today we remain one of the five largest parishes and the largest parish with a Catholic school. 3,500 families from 39 zip codes call St. Louis their spiritual home, celebrating seven Masses in both English and Spanish each weekend. We see this rich diversity as a strength and one of the key ingredients to the mission of this great parish. We operate one of the most important social ministries centers in the city along with over seventy ministries ranging from service to the liturgy, Catholic education, fraternal organizations, bible studies and prayer groups, youth ministries, and dozens of catechetical ministries forming God’s people in wisdom and holiness. With such vibrant ministry happening on our campus, the time has come to build again so that we might continue our baptismal promise of going out to make disciples. As we focus on our work here at St. Louis, we are also called to support the wider mission of the Diocese of Austin through Bishop Vásquez’ Encountering Christ campaign. With our rich history and our evergrowing community, we’ve named our campaign, Missio 2020. Please take some time to read through this prospectus and join us in celebrating all that we’ve done and all that we will do together at St. Louis. This is a wonderful opportunity for our community to do something truly great! With the support of our entire parish family, we will continue building the legacy handed on by past generations and prepare the next generation for the work to which God will call them. Gratefully in Christ, Very Reverend James A. Misko, Pastor
Rev. Doug Jeffers, Parochial Vicar
Rev. Jesse Martinez, Parochial Vicar
OUR NEED It is a blessing that so many parishioners and families choose to celebrate their faith and educate their children here at St. Louis. We are vibrant and committed, but without more space, we cannot effectively embrace God’s call to ministry.
§§ It’s time for a new parish hall. When St. Louis built the
PAC in 1982, its large meeting room, smaller meeting spaces, youth ministry room and kitchen were a great benefit to the parish. For 36 years, it has been in constant use to the point that there is not a day that ministry is not happening. At only 13,000 square feet, it can no longer sustain the volume of ministries it nurtured over the decades.
§§ Parking is a challenge. With current parking at
maximum capacity, parishioners often must find street parking during highly attended Masses. Also, our ministries are unable to offer themselves to the parish on Sundays all together. More parking will not only alleviate the stress of general Sunday parking, but also, empower more ministry to take place on Sundays.
§§ Catholic education is a key component of our mission
of forming disciples, and continued growth of the school, our largest parish ministry, is a sacred priority. With school enrollment approaching 300 students, and a goal to continue growing the school, additional space for expansion is needed.
§§ We are called to serve. We operate one of the most
important social ministries centers in North Austin serving over 100 households per week. Our urban farm produces hundreds of pounds of fresh produce, helping our food pantry to offer not only nonperishable food but also fresh and healthy produce. St. Louis also serves over 50 families in the community each month through our St. Vincent de Paul Society. Our robust social services programming is in need of a more efficiently designed facility and additional space.
TIMELINE OF PARISH HISTORY: JANUARY 6, 1952
First parochial Mass in leased building at 5249 Burnet Road. Official birthday of the parish.
1956 1953
First Church built with its basement serving as a Parish Hall.
1970
Parish dedicates new Church and Rectory/Office buildings. Former Church used as a Parish Hall.
School Primary Building and Convent for nuns constructed and open for the first day of school.
1967
New Secondary Building, Kindergarten Building and Administration Offices for School constructed.
OUR FUTURE §§ New Parish Activity Center. A new 20,000
square foot facility. This new PAC will have a grand room seating 400 with a stage for both parish and school events, guest speakers, receptions and other community events. It will also include eight ancillary meeting rooms for individual parish ministries along with a state of the art music ministry rehearsal space. A full commercial kitchen, with a full complement of commercial appliances, allowing for more dynamic parish events.
§§ Additional Parking. With this new PAC, we
look to expand our parking to include 80100 new parking spaces, allowing us to do ministry on Sunday during the Masses, something nearly impossible in our current situation.
§§ A Complete Renovation. Once the new PAC
is completed we will begin re-designing the existing PAC for both school expansion and Parish Youth Ministries. This new flex space will not only serve as our school cafeteria, but it will also become our new performing arts center. We are also exploring additions to the building for future classrooms as the school approaches 300 in enrollment, with 500 students as the goal.
§§ Improved Social Ministries Center. Finally,
we hope to re-establish our Parish Social Ministries Center as an addition to our parish offices so that the people we serve will have better access to our help with access from Burnet Road. This move would free up space for expansion of our ever-growing Early Childhood Development Center program.
1996
A dedicated Social Ministry Building is opened at St. Louis, converted from a parish storage building.
1982
Louis IX Hall and School Gymnasium constructed. Original Church becomes a Religious Education Building, with addition of second floor.
1991
Addition to School’s Secondary Building includes new classroom, science lab and music room, shared by school and parish choirs. Church Offices separated from Rectory and moved to the original Convent building.
2007
New Chapel and Narthex addition to the Church are dedicated after 14 years of planning, fundraising and construction.
2016
Priests move to newly constructed Rectory. Early Childhood Development Center moves from Louis IX Hall to three buildings on St. Joseph Street, oriented with St. Louis School.
2017
Church/RE Offices move to renovated spaces (former 1970 Rectory). School Offices move to spaces vacated by Church Offices. School Administrative Building now houses School Library, computer center and Montessori program.
BENEFITS TO ST. LOUIS PARISH Key Benefits of the New Parish Activity Center
Key Benefits of the Renovation of Existing PAC
§§ 20,000 square foot facility to further the mission
§§ Dedicated space for St. Louis Catholic School’s
§§ 400 seat grand hall for parish and community
§§ Parish youth ministries facilities to allow for more
§§ State of the art stage and A/V for presentations,
§§ Additional space for future school expansion §§ Increased opportunity for religious education
of St. Louis events
guest speakers, and other events that support and further digital and social media evangelization
§§ Eight new meeting rooms specifically dedicated as meeting spaces for our ministries
§§ Dedicated rehearsal space for our outstanding sacred music program
performing arts center and cafeteria youth activity at the parish
Key Benefits of the New Social Ministries Center
§§ 4,000 square foot facility to improve services and make them more efficient
§§ Frontage on Burnet Road to improve access for Key Benefits of Additional Parking
§§ Additional parking as a current critical need and in consideration of future growth projections
those we serve
§§ Expansion of our Early Childhood Development Center
OUR GOAL God has given us this amazing parish and now is our time to prepare it for the next fifty years. We look to a future where new families will come to call St. Louis home and new initiatives will need new spaces in which to bring Christ to North Austin. We are also fulfilling our parish’s commitment to the Diocese of Austin’s Encountering Christ campaign. St. Louis has been granted special permission by Bishop Vásquez to combine our campaign with the Diocesan campaign. Thus, our campaign will include the following:
New Parish Activity Center (including architect and engineering fees) $5,310,000
Commitment to Encountering Christ Campaign $1,890,000
Necessary site planning and drainage management $500,000
Additional parking $300,000
*New Social Ministries Center $800,000
CCS Fundraising $200,000
*Renovation of Louis IX Hall for St. Louis School expansion and youth ministries $1,000,000
All pillars of the project are contingent on the success of the campaign. Specific project elements will be reevaluated by the Pastor and Campaign Executive Committee as momentum for the campaign builds. * Based on achieving a $10M goal
DIOCESE OF AUSTIN
ENCOUNTERING CHRIST CAMPAIGN WWW.ENCOUNTERINGCHRISTCAMPAIGN.ORG The Encountering Christ campaign works to fulfill the mission of our diocese as outlined in the Pastoral Plan. Along with every parish in the Diocese, the Diocese has given St. Louis a campaign goal which will be used to invest in our clergy at all stages of their vocation, strengthen our parishes, large and small, and expand our services to our brothers and sisters most in need. St. Louis’ fair-share goal of $1,890,000 is a fraction of the overall $85 million fundraising goal for the Diocese. The funds from Encountering Christ will be used in three major ways: 1. Investing in our clergy at all stages of their vocation from seminary to retirement through a Seminary Education Endowment and fortifying the Diocesan Priest Pension Fund, which is currently underfunded by 50%. 2. Strengthening the Diocese through supporting parishes - both large and small, in rural areas - in their missions, by creating an endowment to provide additional operational and emergency support. 3. Cultivating emerging disciples through spiritual development and by providing educational and formational opportunities, fortifying parishes to begin or expand leadership development, young adult ministries, and increasing outreach through Catholic Charities. Strengthened by prayer, this effort will allow us — in a spirit of stewardship and unity — to build a vibrant and secure future for the Diocese of Austin and St. Louis.
OUR LEGACY The Lord has truly blessed our parish. In response, we are called to serve our faith community by offering our prayers, our time, our hard work, and our financial support. The goals we have established will require remarkable generosity and sacrifice from our parishioners. Success depends on the commitment and support of the entire community. Recognizing that all our treasures are gifts from the Lord, we are called to give back part of these gifts in thanksgiving for God’s generosity and goodness to us. Moreover, this campaign is an opportunity to share the wonder and love of our faith with our children, grandchildren, spouses, friends, neighbors and future generations we do not yet know. We appreciate that each member of the St. Louis family has his or her own unique financial situation, and people’s ability to give can change over time. Though we may not all be able to offer equal gifts, we can offer the Lord and each other equal sacrifice. This undertaking presents an opportunity for each member of our community to become involved in a way that is personally significant and appropriate.
O u r C a m pa ign P ray e r O God, who inspired Saint Louis with the courage to build up your kingdom here on earth; grant us, we pray, a share of that same courage, so that we may build up our parish for future generations. May we build a place where You are worshiped with fitting praise, where the faith is shared with love, and where all may grow in wisdom and holiness. Pour out the grace of your blessing upon our campaign, guide our labors, and give success to the work of our hands. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. St. Louis, King of France, pray for us.