Impacting The Faith Forever

Fr. Jonathan Wilson, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle in Westerville, stood at the pulpit and asked his parishioners to reflect on the parish they call home. The beautiful church, the well-kept campus, a thriving school of 750+ students along with a robust religious education and youth ministry. Not to mention all the parish activities that keep the community connected in faith and neighborly love.

"This is a defining moment for our parish," said Fr. Wilson. "What is St. Paul's going to look like in ten years? Today is an opportunity to acknowledge our blessings and a call to think about the future of this magnificent faith community." He presented a list of parish goals which included his vision for the Dream Big endowment campaign.

The Dream Big endowment campaign is about safeguarding the future of St. Paul the Apostle, which was established in 1931 in a pocket-sized space in uptown Westerville. Fr. Wilson set an ambitious goal of $20 million in planned giving over the next 10 years. "I believe in a God who invites all of us to participate in His work, and this includes growing our partnership with The Catholic Foundation and giving the future of this parish a fully-funded mission."

Little did Fr. Wilson know that a week earlier, long-time parishioners Michael and Fernanda Heyeck met with their attorney to update their estate. "When we considered the charitable options, we decided to name St. Paul as the beneficiary because we believe our Catholic faith will endure long past our earthly lifetime," says Mr. Heyeck. He recalls mentioning to Fr. Wilson the coincidence of their planned gift with the recently announced Dream Big campaign to which the pastor replied, "There are no coincidences."

"Community is the one word we would use to describe St. Paul," said Mr. Heyeck. "This is our church, our faith family. We feel a sense of responsibility to preserve these blessings for future generations." Michael and Fernanda are extremely pleased with their gift to St. Paul and acknowledge that our Catholic faith needs support for all ages and that Dream Bigis ideally suited for the long-term sustainability of the church community they dearly love.