Posted on January 19, 2022 View all Pastor's Letter
Dear parishioners:
Now that the Christmas and New Year celebrations have ended, it is necessary to start working on the new challenges that this year brings us and the goals that we have set for ourselves. One of these goals is the improvement of the platforms that make all the branches of the parish work. Therefore, it is the duty of the pastor and all the staff to provide the best resources and avenues for evangelization in all areas of pastoral work.
As many of you know, in order for a parish to function and carry out not only pastoral but also administrative work, it always needs to count on the generosity of its parishioners through the offertory or collection in the Sunday liturgy. The Sunday offertory is an integral part of financial support. As your pastor, I will never be tired of thanking you for your displays of generosity and thanking God for the blessings He gives us each day and for allowing us to have generous parishioners who care and support our parish, our home, the place where we feed spiritually and seek to be closer to the kingdom of God.
For this reason, as I explained in last week’s letter, I have made the decision to look for programs that are not only more effective for you, and easier to use, but also to modernize a little more in terms of programs for the parish. We must bear in mind that times change, technology changes, and we must walk together with modernism in order to offer you a better service from an administrative point of view. Many of you are familiar with Faith Direct, the program the parish is currently using for online giving. Although it has been a program that has served us for a long time, I have decided to switch to another program that will offer you an easier way to donate online.
Pushpay is part of a software that goes by the name of ParishStaq. ParishStaq is a dynamic software solution that syncs online giving, church management software, and a mobile app to make Catholic stewardship and evangelism much easier. As Queen of Apostles parishioners you will be able to make your donations quickly and safely on any device through PushPay. PushPay is a bilingual program that secures online donations (which can be made in 3 seconds). It has a simple payment process through the website or the new mobile application of the parish and at the same time, offers a high security certification for online payments. Through the application or website, donors will be able to keep track of their offertory made in any form: checks, cash, online and /or gifts in kind. For examples, when making recurring gifts or a one-time future offering, you will quickly be emailed the transaction and also will be able to print your annual statements from home.
I know that when we are used to something, it is much more difficult to welcome something new, but as I have mentioned before, as you pastor, I always seek to be able to offer you the best. You always have to have faith and continue to grow in generosity and community participation. During the transition process from Faith Direct to PushPay, our parish staff will always be available to help you with whatever you need. Also, we will have workshops after the masses for the parish staff to assist you in downloading the application, registering for PushPay or answering any questions you have.
I trust in the Lord that this new program will bring many blessings to our parish and I thank you in advance for your unconditional support of your parish.
May God bless you and keep you always.
F. Alex