GIFT Campaign 2023 Jul Update

GIFT Campaign Report (1 April 2023 – 31 June 2023)

The GIFT (Giving in Faith and Thankfulness) campaign was launched in Advent 2016 to support the Archdiocese of Singapore’s vision of a more vibrant, evangelising and missionary Church. This report provides updates on its progress for the second quarter of 2023.

GIFT contributions in the second quarter of 2023 (Apr – Jun) amounted to $2.54 million, a drop from the first quarter (Jan – Mar).

This was after the strong response received in the previous quarter, when Catholic Foundation had announced that contributions in January 2023 were dedicated to the Catholic Hub building project, the much-anticipated spiritual oasis for the Archdiocese. For the first half of 2023, total GIFT contributions amounted to $6.34 million.

Catholic Foundation hopes to similarly continue receiving the support of the community as we work as one to build the Church today for tomorrow.

The Catholic Hub remains the key focus of fundraising efforts of the Foundation. As regular giving is the most sustainable way of giving to the Church, we appeal to you to give in faith and thankfulness by signing up for a monthly GIFT pledge.

We are humbled by our contributors who have answered the call to support the Church. We ask for your continued support and prayers as we work as one to build the Church today for tomorrow. 

Activities Update

The Catholic Leadership Centre (CLC) organised “At the Feet of the Good Shepherd Retreat” from May 6 – 7, 2023, a personalised, in-person, directed retreat for leaders to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His voice, allowing our Good Shepherd to tend to them and restore their soul (Psalm 23:1-2). Among other training courses, CLC also organised a “Difficult Leadership Conversations” workshop on May 20, 2023 to help groups collaborate better even as they maintain accountability to each other.

The Office for Catechesis (OFC) organised new programmes such as “Ecclesiology: The Church” that ran over four weekly sessions from April 4 – 25, 2023, as well as “Communi-TEA: Directory for Catechesis Updates” on May 17, 2023. OFC continues to run programmes such as “Catholic Social Teachings”, “Introduction to Supporting Children & Youth in Special Needs Catechesis” and “Introduction to RCIA”. These courses aim to provide spiritual formation and support to all involved in catechesis.

The Digital Church Office (DCO), which develops and drives the digitisation master plan of the Archdiocese, launched the revamped myCatholicSG mobile application on June 7, 2023 to include daily Scripture reflections by His Eminence, Cardinal William Goh, parish bulletins, and an offertory platform that has the UEN numbers of each parish and organisations such as Catholic Foundation. Visit https://app.catholic.sg/ to download the app.