Each year Burlington Bishop Christopher Coyne appeals to members of the Catholic

community to share their love and their gifts to help support the ministries and programs that serve our statewide Diocese. That includes services for 73 parishes, 14 schools, 87 cemeteries and four residential care facilities plus financial aid and counseling to thousands of the most vulnerable Vermonters through Vermont Catholic Charities Inc.

We are one community, one Church, with 118,000 Catholics, more than 1,000 employees and 4,000 volunteers. We are also a generous community. One hundred percent of our parishes participate in ministries that feed the hungry, and 90 percent support people in financial crisis. Our religious education programs and youth ministry events engage more than 3,000 young people annually.

For these successful endeavors we are thankful, because with your help, we are building up the Kingdom of God here in Vermont. And we, as Church, must create new ways to reach out to struggling families, to engage our young people and revitalize our liturgy in order to pass down the beauty and hope of our faith to the next generation.

That is why the Bishop’s Annual Appeal is so important.

On the weekend of May 19-20, we will launch the in-pew collection segment of the appeal, and we respectfully ask that you consider making a gift at that time.

If you would like to give online or learn more about what the Bishop’s Annual Appeal supports, please visit bishopsappealvt.org.

Your generosity is a gift from God, and we are grateful.

—Ellen Kane, director of development