HUMBOLDT 鈥� A local church has turned to crowdfunding to raise the money needed to keep a full-time priest position past May 2022.
The St. Andrew鈥檚 Anglican Church鈥檚 aims to raise $300,000, which would allow the congregation to financially support a priest for five years.
鈥淲e鈥檙e asking our community for help so we can continue to serve our community,鈥� said Rev. Matteo Carboni.
鈥淲e were looking at our financial situation, and we're realizing that in 2022 we're going to be hitting a difficult financial year.鈥�
There鈥檚 two reasons why that is the case.
鈥淐urrently, we are receiving help to support a clergy person from the [Anglican Diocese of Saskatoon], and that program that we're on comes to an end in May 2022,鈥� Carboni said.
The other reason is the pandemic. In normal times, the church could rent its rooms to exercise groups, a piano teacher, and the local chapters of Toastmasters and AlAnon; as well as hosting teas and bake sales, fall suppers, garage sales and turkey pie sales to raise money.
While the pandemic has allowed the church to better connect with more people online using services like Zoom and include them in worship services, it hasn鈥檛 helped their finances.
鈥淲e realized that we need to start doing something and being proactive about saving up to pay for that position,鈥� Carboni said.
Carboni said the St. Andrew鈥檚 congregation has been working on developing creative ideas from fundraising.
鈥淲e thought we'll try crowdfunding because that's not something that we've ever done before. It's not something we've heard of other churches doing for this exact same project, but it seemed really interesting, so we thought we'd give it a shot and see what happens.鈥�
A priest plays an important role for St. Andrew鈥檚 and its community. They lead Wednesday and Sunday services, funerals, and weddings; teach bible and faith studies; visit parishioners who are in the hospital and the care-home, provide pastoral care for anyone who asks for help; and handle the day-to-day operations of the church.
鈥淭he congregation wants a priest here because they feel that that priest is important to them as a community, helps them, gives them direction, and offers them support,鈥� Carboni said, adding that his parishioners have told him they鈥檝e been in a situation where a priest comes from Saskatoon every once in a while to lead Sunday services and communion, and what they鈥檝e found was missing was the spiritual support that is needed for a religious community for a Christian community to thrive.
The local Anglican priests have also contributed to the community at large, with Carboni being involved with the Soup Kitchen, hospital chaplaincy, the ministerial association and the regional refugee sponsorship group.
Carboni said he contributed to the campaign because he wanted to give back to the community
鈥淭his is a very welcoming church, a very loving group of people that are very supportive of one another and of others in this community,鈥� he said, adding he wants them to continue to get the support they need to grow as Christians and thrive as a community.
The crowdfunding campaign can be found at .
