The Valley Catholic November 7, 2017 | Page 3

tvc.dsj.org | November 7, 2017 IN THE DIOCESE 3 Diocese of San Jose Hosts Fundraising Boot Camp By Liz Sullivan On Oct. 27, at Our Lady of Refuge Church, the Office of Stewardship & Development for the Diocese of San Jose (DSJ) hosted a Fundraising Boot Camp for parishes. The four-hour session welcomed more than 130 attendees representing nearly all parishes of DSJ. These attend- ees included clergy, business manag- ers, chairs of finance and stewardship committees, along with Chancery staff and several ministries throughout the Diocese. It served as “training that will pre- pare your mind, body and spirit for the challenges, opportunities and joys of fundraising.” Bishop Patrick J. McGrath welcomed those assembled. “This is an opportunity to look to the future,” said the Bishop. “You will learn about proven practices that will help us reach our objective. We in the Diocese are obviously blessed with tremendous talented people, who are able to do great things as my (Episco- pal) motto says ‘Together in Christ.’ ” “Today we will share great ideas and provide an even greater vision for our parishes and diocese. You will be given tools to meet your needs. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.” Stewardship and Development Team: Joe Naylor, Evan Linick, Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, Sue Pershon, Melanie Lara and James Lara. New Chief Development Officer, Joe Naylor, led the boot camp. Naylor joined the Diocese in July, replacing director Bill Matthews, who retired in October. In his career Naylor has raised in excess of $100 million. Father Mike Moynahan, S.J., Pastor, and Father David Ayotte, S.J., Associate Pastor, Saint Ignatius Loyola Parish in Sacramento, delivered the keynote address. In addition, attendees heard success stories from the Pastors of Saint Clare, Saint Julie, Saint John the Baptist and the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph and Our Lady of La Vang parishes in the Diocese of San Jose. “Today we will share great ideas,” said Naylor. “And provide an even greater vision for our parishes and diocese. You will be given tools to meet your needs. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.” Attendees participated in drills ex- ploring: identifying the needs of their parishes, crafting these needs into case statements and how to ask parishioners for support, why and how. Inspiring participants throughout the day was a quote from Pope Francis. “Set your stake s on great ideals, the ideals that enlarge the heart, the ideals of service that make your talents fruit- ful. Life is not given to us to be jealously guarded for ourselves, but is given to us so that we may give it in turn.” The event was sponsored by CCS Fundraising. Sue Pershon Named ADA Manager for Diocese of San Jose By Liz Sullivan After two years as the Administra- tive Assistant for the Department of Stewardship & Development for the Diocese of San Jose, Sue Pershon was recently appointed as the new manager for the Diocese’s Annual Diocesan Ap- peal (ADA). “Sue brings a great deal of knowl- edge, enthusiasm and experience to the position,” said Joe Naylor, DSJ Chief Development Officer for Stewardship and Development. Naylor joined the Diocese in July, replacing Bill Mat- thews, who recently retired after nine years as the Director of Stewardship & Development. Prior to working for the Diocese, Pershon spent many years working in parishes. Married, with two children, Pershon worked at Holy Family School in the 1990’s as school bookkeeper and tuition manager. Then she moved to Saint Christopher Parish, where she worked for 14 years coordinating all aspects of ADA for the parish. While working at the Diocese, Per- shon has supported the ADA team with Sue Pershon reports to the parishes, helped with the annual ADA training sessions and coordinated the major donor receptions and volunteer appreciation luncheons. In addition, Pershon has served as Development Coordinator for the Drexel School System in the Diocese. In this position, which she will con- tinue, Pershon has assisted in building a donor database, organized donor events and tracked donor pledges to the Drexel program. “I am very excited about this new opportunity,” said Pershon, “and take what I have learned at the parish level and share it with the rest of the Diocese.” To learn more about the ADA, visit www.dsj.org/ways-to-give/annual- diocesan-appeal. ADA 2018 kicks off in mid-January. Nov 15-16, each evening at 7:00 PM St. Catherine’s Catholic Church 17400 Peak Ave, Morgan Hill, CA Get a free introductory audio talk! Text the word: FREETALK to 44222 CatholicSpeaker.com Let’s Live the Catholic Life. Let