A LETTER FROM OUR DIRECTOR                                                                 

July 22, 2007

Dear Friends,

If we are just a little patient, hopefully vigilant and open to surprises, God has a knack for speaking with remarkable clarity in our lives.  I continue to find that out.  That’s why, for the last five years, the Gospel passage I find myself consistently turning to is the story in Luke about Jesus calling Peter (Lk 5:1-7).  Remember that episode?  Peter had been fishing all night long and had caught absolutely nothing.  Facing an apparent failure that would discourage the best of us, I can only imagine how badly he wanted to just pack it up, go home, go to bed and find the muster to get up and try it again the next night.  Then just at that very point, Jesus comes along with a different idea.   Getting in Peter’s boat Jesus tells Peter to go out to a part of the lake that would have been the least likely place to catch a fish and to throw his net out anyway.  Well for whatever reason, a skeptical Peter does and, during the very moment when Peter is most tired and most wants to give up, he pulls in the catch of his life.

What an adventure God has led this community and myself on these past five years that we’ve been raising funds and dreaming out the best possibilities for our future ministry.  There is no question that unexpected challenges, most notably rising construction costs at unpredictable levels, have often been frustrating and at times seemed like they might overwhelm this whole project.  But, as God is known to do, every moment in this process when things have looked most discouraging, God has shown up with a different idea, a much more exciting idea, and yes, an idea more frightening in magnitude.  But God has called us to be part of the Divine plan and that is never a small endeavor. 

And so, in February, I asked for your trust, patience and prayers as our All Saints Catholic Newman Center leadership team and community task force evaluated some tremendous opportunities.  Please know that the staff and I have worked very hard to include committed members from our worshiping community and well as to find and engage the absolute best professional advisors from the larger community, diocese and university.  And as I announced at the Masses this weekend, given their advice, the support of our campaign cabinet and in consultation with the City of Tempe, we have decided to move forward with the plan to build the new Chapel as intended and ADDITIONALLY erect a Catholic Dormitory and Catholic learning space. 

Please know how truly and humbly grateful we are to you and every other individual community member and benefactor who so consistently and lovingly supports us.  What outsider, looking in at our small community of just 740 families and 1500 registered students, would have believed that we could raise $6 million in 4 years - let alone be considering a prospect of this magnitude.   As God is known to do, God seems to have shown up with a different idea and I believe has created just the community with enough love and passion to pull it off:  an unparalleled home for young Catholics.

More than 100 years ago, a small Catholic community fired bricks by hand and quarried rock from what is now “A Mountain” to build our beloved “Old Church.”   A century later, your support, participation and prayers are creating another transformation of unimaginable proportions that will profoundly impact Catholics at ASU for generations to come.

Together, we have the ultimate opportunity to live our mission – to provide a home where students and members of the university community can strengthen their faith, develop their gifts and grow into passionate faithful catholic leaders.

While the decision has been made and the additional funding is secured through an outside partner, we are still only entering what we are calling the Entitlement Phase of the project.  This means we are submitting our plans to the City of Tempe for its review and hopefully its approval.  We expect this to take between four to six months to complete.  We will then move into design development. 

This is a critical step for the project with many considerations to be addressed from our perspective and the City’s.  We are certainly hoping that we’ll all agree to the same terms and the project can proceed.  However, if for whatever reason issues arise that are irresolvable, we will return to our original plan focused solely on the enhanced and expanded worship and community space. 

No matter the final direction, please be assured that the heart, the soul and the centerpiece of the project remains the beautiful Chapel and Adoration Chapel that we have all envisioned and worked toward.  Hopefully, after receiving entitlement approval, that space will be enhanced with an additional 25,000 square feet of space including a social hall, campus ministry lounge, kitchen, staff offices and modern classrooms.  Living space for approximately 500 Catholic students will be built above this new Campus Ministry Center.

In the upcoming months, we will continue to provide updates on the project and will also have opportunities for you to share your insights through this website.

Regardless of the physical direction we take, the transformation of Tempe and ASU requires us to continually evolve to serve these dynamic communities.  Accordingly, over the course of the next months, we plan to share with you news of expanded programs that are to certain to help us to further our mission and create an even deeper community of God’s uncontainable love. 

This is a tremendous opportunity, literally history in the making, and you are at the heart of it.  The spirit that lives here in our Newman community has made this possible and continues to be essential as we move forward. 

Blessings,