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December 30, 2007

Year-end giving opportunity - the Vanderbilt Catholic Chaplaincy!

Looking for somewhere to send a check and get a tax deduction? Father Baker doesn't have online giving set up (hint hint!), but get it postmarked and I'm sure he'll send you all the receipt you'll need:

Vanderbilt Catholic Community
2417 West End Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee 37240
There's this, but it still involves a mailed check.

I'm not going to use superlatives here - it would be ridiculous. Just know that Fr. Baker is doing fine work.

Here an excerpt from the Giving to VanderbiltCatholic page:

Bishop Choby last summer gave me the privilege of becoming the first diocesean chaplain at Vanderbilt University in 35 years. As a native Nashvillian and a graduate of Vanderbilt Law School (1989), I have great affinity for Vanderbilt. As a priest I have a great desire to offer Jesus Christ in the sacraments to this generation and to present to them the fullness of the truth of Jesus Christ embodied in our ancient faith so that these young adults may in their own right choose whom they will follow.

I am writing you because of your love of the Church and your relationship to Vanderbilt. I know that you are aware that a university campus is a cacophony of voices recruiting for all kinds of causes and commitments. It is clear that the Church and serious Catholics have a duty to enter the fray in order to encourage these young people in their faith and to counteract the enormous pressures being brought upon them by the world, the flesh, and the devil, especially in their first years of independent decision making.

The harvest is plentiful at Vanderbilt, even though at present the workers are few. It is estimated that 25-30% of Vanderbilt students are Catholic. I had an active first year on the campus, with six RCIA candidates and five other students confirmed, daily Mass and confessions, and a more active student organization. In order to see how we should grow at Vanderbilt, I had the opportunity to visit some of the most dynamic Catholic campus ministries in the country. Two of the “best practices” that we have the opportunity to bring to Vanderbilt are the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) and the Awakening retreat program. FOCUS will place four well-trained recent college graduates at Vanderbilt to be missionaries to the campus. The Awakening retreat comes from Texas A&M, which has more graduates enter seminary and religious life than any school in the nation, and is now in place on many campuses.

He does have an online Mass Intention form! Cool, but not fundraising. Send money. I did.

Posted by CrankyProfessor at December 30, 2007 6:52 PM