Our Parish Roots
Founded in 1882, St. Alphonsus Parish was built by German immigrants, many of whom had arrived to help rebuild the city following the great Chicago fire eleven years earlier. Both city and parish grew rapidly, with construction of the church beginning in 1889, soon followed by the opening of the school in 1906, and the Athenaeum Theater in 1911. The parish quickly became a cultural and religious hub for immigrant families and north side Catholics.
For 135 years, the church’s steeple and iconic veranda serve not only as a hallmark of the Lakeview neighborhood, but stand as a pillar of faith, hope and love, having welcomed successive generations into the community. Enriched with this legacy of faith, filled with history, and inspired by beauty, countless families and parishioners down through the ages claim St. Alphonsus as their spiritual home.
About the Campaign
St. Alphonsus is participating in the Generation to Generation: Answer the Call campaign, along with every parish within the Archdiocese of Chicago. This campaign is an opportunity to strengthen our local parish and support the broader Chicago Catholic community by spiritually renewing our parishes, supporting our priests, and assisting parish communities in need.
The Gen-to-Gen Campaign is a five-year campaign, and is being rolled out across the Archdiocese with parishes grouped in a series of waves. Because of some of the particular needs we have, we elected to participate in the first wave to take full advantage of the campaign support offered by the Archdiocese*, which will enable us to address our greatest needs, as well as undertake some exciting new campus upgrades and beautification projects. (Much more on that below).
As with any diocesan wide campaign, each parish is given a goal amount based primarily on annual offertory. The campaign will collect pledges from parishioners over a five year period, and can be divided up into monthly, quarterly, or annual installments, according to each person's preferences. The funds raised are shared between parishes and the diocese following a specific formula.** Our assigned goal is $1,120,000, but due to the scope of our projects, we are pursuing a stretch goal of 200%, or $2,240,000. If we achieve that, the ratio of parish share to diocesan share averages out to 65% for us, and 35% for the Archdiocese. Additionally, any funds collected in excess of that stretch goal remain entirely with the parish.
* Of special note: all costs related to administration, support from campaign consulting firm CCS, and printing are being covered by a separate archdiocese account so that all of the funds raised can be applied entirely to their intended projects and programs.
** As pledges are received, 50% of contributions up to the goal are retained by the parish, 80% of anything from the goal amount to 200% (i.e., a stretch goal), and above 200%, parishes retain all funds raised.
OUR PARISH PROJECTS FOR THIS CAMPAIGN:
SAVE OUR ICONIC VERANDA ~ $1,200,000
The deck of the veranda is very solid, having been well reinforced in 2000. However, decades of classic Chicago snow-rain-ice and freeze- thaw cycles and winter weather has taken a toll, creating many small cracks, which allow water to seep in and accelerate decay and erosion. In August 2022, a section of the veranda's facade collapsed onto the sidewalk due to vibrations caused by the city's heavy machinery during sidewalk and curb reconstruction on Southport Avenue.
The seams between some steps have developed multiple large cracks easily visible from inside the veranda underneath the stairs, which are hollow and need to be rebuilt on solid ground. The limestone facade is in serious need of tuckpointing, mortar repair, and seal coating to strengthen and preserve our beautiful veranda for generations to come.
Interesting fact about the veranda: The church’s original blueprints had basic stairs descending from the doors to a plain street-level plaza. As the steeple was nearing completion, the plans were modified to incorporate a sweeping veranda across the entire front of the church in 1894, instantly becoming as iconic as it was aesthetically integral to the church – a perfect addition to a church in the city of big shoulders.
ORGAN REPAIR & RESTORATION ~ $75,000
The original pipe organ was destroyed by the church fire of 1950. But 37 years later, in 1987, the parish was fortunate to acquire and install a Casavant pipe organ from a closed church in Michigan. This top-tier instrument, which contains nearly 6,000 pipes, is a centerpiece of our worship and liturgical
worship. While it looks beautiful on the outside, but 37 years after its installation the inside is starting to decay. Significant maintenance and
repair to its pumps, bellows, pipes, and interior leatherwork is needed to keep the organ singing for successive generations. Inside the organ, holes and air leaks are present in the bellows rendering a significant number of pipes and stops mute without adequate airflow to make them sing.
Interesting fact about the organ: the bright, soaring pipes of the organ facade are actually mute! They were installed in 2008 at the same time as the beautiful woodwork organ casing, and are ready to sing but were not connected at that time. If connected, that rank of pipes would increase the richness and depth to the lower tones, and would make an immediate impact.
A FACELIFT FOR OUR SHARED SPACES ~ $96,000
The parish rectory has several rooms and spaces that are utilized by different groups from the church, school, archdiocese, and neighbors in the community almost every day or evening of a normal week. In the most popular of these spaces, the Common Room on the second floor, the aging carpets have many stains and threadbare furniture is tearing apart at the seams. Some of the windows won't open, and others will open, but then cannot be closed again. Many of the windows, especially in the Sun Room adjacent to the Common Room, appear from a distance to be cracked and broken, but it is a result of window-tinting film that was affixed to the inside of the double paned glass. Years ago the film and its adhesive dried up, which caused the film to split, tear, and curl in on itself, turning the windows into an eyesore. Other popular meeting spaces, such as the conference room and dining room, also feature old and mismatched furniture with torn upholstery.
The rectory meeting spaces on the second floor are very popular for groups – as is the rooftop deck with its amazing view of the skyline. Some individuals or even groups are deterred from using these spaces because the only public washrooms are downstairs on the first floor (a long way down from the rooftop deck!). If this campaign is successful, we have the possibility of adding restroom facilities on the second floor as well as one adjacent to the rooftop deck.
REIMAGINING THE RECTORY'S SIDE COURTYARD ~ $75,000*
Our dynamic parish has a remarkable talent for creatively using any available space to accommodate our diverse array of classroom activities, young adult events, and parish groups that utilize our campus facilities. With this campaign, we have the opportunity to transform the most underused space on campus into a beautiful garden and outdoor classroom for use by students and parishioners to gather, learn, pray and grow.
* this amount is an estimate as we only have conceptual renderings at this time. As the campaign progresses, we will develop more specific plans knowing what our price target is. There are a lot of possibilities and options to create a very beautiful new space for the school and church!
DRINKING FOUNTAINS IN THE CHURCH ~ $10,000
Our pastor is fond of quipping that our historic church was built in 1889… the stained glass windows are original, the hanging pendant lights are original… and the air conditioning is also original. (The hotter the temperature, the less funny his joke is!). Sadly, the installation of air conditioning will have to wait for a future capital campaign. Nevertheless, THIS campaign will bring some relief and refreshment to us all by installing drinking fountains in the lower level outside the restrooms.
Interesting fact about the drinking fountains: It's kind of surprising that no one thought to install drinking fountains in our church before, especially since it doesn't have air conditioning. Nevertheless, like organ pipes, these water pipes will have an immediate impact. The pipes won't sing, but those who drink from them on a hot summer day will be singing for joy!
Support Our Campaign
Successful completion of the above projects is dependent upon this campaign achieving the stretch goal of $2.24 million. Two things are required for even the stretch goal to become easily achievable: first, the backing and support of everyone in our parish family; and secondly, prayer. St. Alphonsus Parish has been the spiritual home for many thousands of families for six generations, and the vibrancy and life of our parish flows from our sense of faith, love of Christ, prayer, and our beautiful celebration of the sacraments. We humbly ask everyone for ongoing prayers for the success of this campaign so that we can accomplish the projects we have set out to achieve. This will posture St. Alphonsus to be a beautiful spiritual home for many more generations to come. We are a parish that strives to see, know and love the goodness, truth and beauty of Christ, His Church, and our neighbor.
With the help of God's grace and the generosity of our parishioners, if we exceed our stretch goal, 100% of the funds remains in the parish. On a parish campus that is 143 years old, there will always be a list of necessary repairs to our facilities, but often it is the opportunity to do upgrades and beautification projects that excite us.
LEARN MORE ABOUT IT
Supporting and standing behind our pastor, Fr. Bauer, we have a energetic committee of parish volunteers, any of whom would be delighted to meet with you to answer any questions or share more information about our projects and timeline. CLICK HERE to request an appointment, and one of our campaign committee members will be happy to contact you.
MAKE A PLEDGE
We are inviting and encouraging everyone in our church and school community to support our campaign by making a pledge. Rather than thinking about a one-time gift, the more effective pledge is one that is made in installments over a period of five years. Pledges made in increments but given consistently over time is what postures this campaign for success. CLICK HERE to see a chart that indicates how your monthly gift adds up to success for our campaign goals and projects.
Pledges can be made in person with our pastor, any of our campaign committee members, or online CLICK HERE
Online pledges can be made using credit or debit cards, or electronic fund transfer from your bank – just be sure to designate St. Alphonsus-Wellington in the drop down menu so your gift comes to the correct parish.
For those who prefer to pledge to the campaign through a gift of stocks or securities, a donor advised fund, a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA, or make a memorial bequest, please contact the parish office, and we will be happy to assist you.
PRAY FOR THE SUCCESS OF OUR CAMPAIGN
St. Alphonsus Parish has been the spiritual home for many thousands of families for six generations, and the vibrancy and life of our parish flows from our sense of faith, love of Christ, prayer, and our beautiful celebration of the sacraments. We humbly ask everyone for ongoing prayers for the success of this campaign so that we can accomplish the projects we have set out to achieve. This will posture St. Alphonsus to be a beautiful spiritual home for many more generations to come. We are a parish that strives to see, know and love the goodness, truth and beauty of Christ, His Church, and our neighbor. The official prayer for the Generation to Generation: Answer the Call campaign is provided below.
THE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE
Rev. Steven Bauer, pastor,
Libby Kerr, consultant from CCS Fundraising
Gene Leone, chair
Chris Villanueva
Mike Lane
Ed Frohnauer
THE ARCHDIOCESAN PART OF THIS CAMPAIGN
Generation to Generation is a comprehensive campaign that over five years aims to strengthen and spiritually renew parishes, support our priests and assist vulnerable communities. Catholics in every parish across the Archdiocese of Chicago are invited to answer the call and share our faith with the next generation of disciples. There are four case components for this campaign: first, to strengthen local parishes, with each parish determining how their share of the funds will be used (The case for St. Alphonsus is described above). The other case components include spiritually renewing our parishes, supporting our priests, and assisting vulnerable communities.
SPIRITUALLY RENEWING PARISHES
A relationship with Jesus Christ is the most relevant relationship we have in finding meaning in life. The light of Christ also changed history, imbuing society with conviction about the dignity of all human beings. These days, however, a majority of our younger generations did not grow up with active faith practice. Their restless hearts are searching for meaning. We can no longer wait for them to come to us. We must seek them out.
To be an outward-facing parish for today’s times requires new approaches to help ignite the spark of renewal in our parishes, guided by the Holy Spirit. Key areas of parish focus include building up parish leaders, offering Christ-centered entry points, building capacity for individual faith accompaniment, establishing small faith communities within the parish, fostering many opportunities for spiritual encounter, and enabling faith witness.
SUPPORTING OUR PRIESTS
Priests will always play a central role in leading our parishes and renewal efforts. The archdiocese is committed to providing excellent educational offerings and to supporting priests from the beginning of their formation through their retirement. The comprehensive support for priests includes seminarian education, priest pastoral and professional development, and priest retirement and health care.
ASSISTING VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES
The Archdiocese of Chicago oversees over 200 diverse parish communities in Cook and Lake counties. Many of these communities, while active and engaged, face financial strain. The Generation to Generation Campaign launches the Parish Vitality Fund, which supports essential needs in low-income parishes. The campaign will also fund scholarships for Catholic school families, ensuring accessibility and continuity in education. With these initiatives, the Archdiocese aims to sustain vibrant parish life and educational opportunities fostering faith and community engagement across our archdiocese.
CAMPAIGN PRAYER
God of abundant and generous mercy,
we gratefully acknowledge the many gifts
you have given us across the years
from the sacrifice of generations before us.
And so, we confidently trust that you will walk
with us into the future.
We echo the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
truly, your mercy is from generation to generation.
Help us now to respond generously to your gifts,
as we support our Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago
and work to bring faith forward
for the generations that follow us.
By your grace and help, let our gifts be a blessing
for our children, our grandchildren,
and those who follow them.
Through Christ our Lord.