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.