CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte Foundation is celebrating an important milestone – its 400th endowment. This endowment was established by a gift of $10,000 from a donor and will support Wake Forest University’s Catholic Campus Ministry, which serves as Christ’s presence on campus.
“We are there to serve all the Catholic students on campus,” said Father David McCanless, Catholic chaplain at the university. The campus ministry offers Mass, retreats, Bible study and other programs.
“It is a critical time in (students’) lives, and for a lot of them it is the first time they are away from home and the parish where they grew up. It is important that the Church has a presence on campus and reaches out to students,” Father McCanless said. Some of these students are discerning the priesthood and figuring out what role Christ and the Church will ultimately play in their lives, he adds.
The endowment will go toward the operating costs of the ministry, including events, retreats, programs and supplies.
Father McCanless is grateful for the gift, noting, “If there isn’t a priest on campus, there will be no visible sign of Christ and the Church.”
The diocese’s 400 endowments have assets of more than $112 million, thanks to generous donors contributing amounts large and small to the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation. The diocese reached 350 endowments just two years ago.
Established in 1994, the foundation offers a means for people and organizations to provide long-term financial stability for the diocese and its more than 150 organizations and ministries.
An endowment is a permanent fund, the principal of which is invested – not spent – that generates income to help pay for projects and programs specified by the donor. Endowments help sustain the strength and viability of the diocese and its entities.
The foundation makes available annually 5% of an endowment’s market value (averaged over three years). It reports to endowment holders every quarter, outlining the latest value and how much is available for distribution for its prescribed purpose.
“The benefit of an endowment is that its principal continues to grow while at the same time generating an increasing amount of income for a school or ministry or parish,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan development director. “Now that Wake Forest has an endowment, they can encourage supporters to give to the endowment both during life and in their estate plans.”
Over the past 32 years, the foundation has distributed more than $20.5 million through its endowments to help support the diocese and its parishes, schools and ministries.
Fund an endowment
Interested in setting up – or adding to – an endowment to benefit your parish? Establish an endowment in the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation by leaving a bequest in a will, a beneficiary designation from a retirement plan, a trust or annuity, or a gift of real estate, life insurance, cash or securities.
Join more than 1,800 people who have informed the diocese they plan to remember the Church in their estate plans. For details, contact Gina Rhodes at 704-370-3364 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
CHARLOTTE — The three choirs of St. Patrick Cathedral will collaborate for their 10th annual Sacred Music Advent and Christmas Concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13. Director of Sacred Music and organist Dr. Gianfranco DeLuca will feature the adult Cathedral Choir, the high school choir, and the children’s choir at the event.
“The choirs are neat because they are open to the entire diocese, so we have kids that come from a lot of other parishes and schools,” DeLuca said. “It is a great mix from different places.”
The night brings with it a chamber orchestra of local freelance musicians. The choirs have practiced for this event since early October and will sing choral pieces mostly in Latin from the likes of Parsons, Rathgeber, Bach and Mendelssohn.
— Lisa Geraci