Dear St. Paul Parishioners & Mission Partners,
Your spiritual and financial support of St. Paul Catholic Center are fueling a revolution of grace, evangelization, and institutional health.
On campus, our impact has never been stronger and, more importantly, more necessary. Two of our primary barometers for mission impact are participation in our FOCUS Bible studies and the number of students in FOCUS discipleship formation. Bible study participation measures current impact, whereas discipleship formation indicates current impact and potential future impact.
Last school year, we reached an all-time high of 444 students in Bible studies and 179 students in discipleship formation.
As wonderful as it is to have so many students in our Bible studies, we have, with so many students in formation, an even greater opportunity for future impact. For instance, if each student in formation has a Bible study with four students, we can dream of doubling both numbers in a year or two.
All of this is possible because of your support.
Concurrent to our success on mission, your support has also brought us to a new level of institutional health and financial stability.
For many years, St. Paul’s struggled to balance the financial challenges of making a mission impact and maintaining our facilities. Simple repairs and improvements often put a significant strain on parish finances. Consequently, the parish was burdened with significant deferred maintenance liabilities.
Your financial support and the prudent stewardship of our staff and Finance Council have made it possible for us to invest deeply into our mission while providing the resources to address simultaneously major deferred maintenance and ordinary maintenance of the property and facilities.
I share this annual Donor Impact Report with you in a spirit of profound gratitude. The impact we are making and the foundation we are laying for future success are only possible because of your generosity and your faith.
On behalf of our St. Paul’s staff, our Hoosier Catholic students, and our resident parishioners, who all benefit immensely, thank you and please know of our continued prayers for you and your needs and intentions.
Sincerely yours in Christ, Fr. Patrick Hyde, O.P., VF |
Pastor
St. Paul’s Alumni Respond to God’s Call to Serve Answering God’s Call
To fully articulate the impact St. Paul’s has had on me would require a novel, but I will be brief. By the time you read this, I will be at St. Francis de Sales Seminary, pursuing the priesthood for the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana. Here’s the remarkable part: I began college as a Protestant.
During my freshman year, I attended a Baptist church with high school friends, while my roommate was becoming Catholic through St. Paul’s. One day, he invited me to a Catholic Bible study. Reluctantly, I went— and there I first encountered the beauty of the Catholic faith, lived out so authentically by the Dominican priests and students of St. Paul’s.
Soon after, I attended Adoration for the first time and was struck to see college students kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. I had never witnessed such deep reverence, especially from people my own age. That spark of curiosity grew into a deep love, and I converted.
Now, I feel called to serve as a priest, loving others with the same generosity and faithfulness that the Dominican priests at St. Paul’s showed me. Thank you for helping create a home where many will not only encounter Christ, but also discover His call for their lives.
Ben Harris, IU alumnus
FOCUS Missionary at Ball State University
Evan
Christ in the City Missionary in Philadelphia, PA
Ben Harris Diocese of Lafayette
Emma Schuler Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist
Sam Messier Daughters of St. Paul
Olivia Wright FOCUS Missionary at Missouri University of Science & Technology
Tim Wheeler
Jobe
Seeing through God’s Eyes
Discovering My True Identity as a Daughter of God
Lauren Eichholz IU Senior
Though I was born and raised Catholic, my walk with God has not always been smooth. I fell away from the faith in high school and tumbled into sin but by the grace of God, came running back to the Church in August of 2024, about two years later. However, I still had a long way to go in healing my relationship with God and myself.
Ever since elementary school, I have struggled with my sense of self-worth. Loving oneself always seemed like a luxury that was just out of reach for me. This was weighing on my mind quite a bit when my first Hoosier Awakening rolled around. During Adoration on the first night, I longingly prayed to see myself through God’s eyes and love myself as I am. Throughout the retreat, each experience seemed to gradually answer this prayer in exactly the ways I needed them to. By the end of the weekend, God had led me to the feeling that I had been pining for – I could recognize myself in my steadfast identity as a beloved daughter of God. Nothing I could do would change that identity, and that in itself was the perfect foundation for self-love.
I may have encountered Jesus in some ways before arriving at St. Paul’s, but it wasn’t until attending Hoosier Awakening that I actually saw myself through His loving eyes. Because of my experiences at HA19, I am continuing to understand God’s love in new ways each day, and I will forever be grateful for that.
The Holy Spirit Rushes Greek Life
100 Students Gather for Mass at Delta Tau Delta
Having Mass in a fraternity house was a dream from the start of the year, but we never imagined it would happen so soon.
I first met Matt from Delta Tau Delta in September 2024, and we quickly connected through our shared leadership experience in Delts. A month later, I invited him to join our spring break mission trip to the Cayman Islands. After some thought, he said, “Yes!”
Will Basta FOCUS Missionary
On mission, Matt encountered Jesus in a profound way, later sharing, “I’m very glad I came; this experience was far better than I could have imagined.” Matt is naturally a galvanizing leader, so when that was combined with his newfound fire for his faith, his influence in the fraternity house was truly inspiring. Matt soon introduced me to his fraternity brother, Matt S., and together they asked if it was possible to host a Mass at their house. My answer? An immediate and enthusiastic “Yes!”
With the end of the year approaching, several students helped plan and spread the word across
Greek life. That Monday night, Fr. Patrick celebrated mass while over 100 students filled the chairs in the backyard of Delts. Students left asking, “When’s the next Greek Mass?” The curiosity and hunger for Christ were truly evident.
The Holy Spirit is moving powerfully at Indiana University. Please keep Greek and all of IU students in your prayers.
Your continued support allows St. Paul’s to serve growing numbers of students each year! Thank you for advancing the mission of St. Paul’s!
$1,367,571
DID
YOU KNOW? You are what makes it possible for St. Paul’s to thrive!
916 individual donors
206 of our supporters make a recurring gift
600 of our supporters gave more than one gift over the course of the year
Have you
considered
making a planned gift to St. Paul’s?
Cash gifts certainly help St. Paul’s meet funding needs, but there are other opportunities to increase your giving and impact the spiritual lives of our students and resident parishioners through Planned Giving. These gift vehicles can have tax advantages for donors.
A Gift in Your Will
A will is a road map for distributing your assets in a thoughtful and charitable way. You can:
• Make a gift of a specific asset or amount of money (cash, stock, property, etc.),
• Leave a percentage of your estate,
• Provide a residual gift from your estate.
Appreciated Stock
A gift of stock held more than one year is a taxwise way to help our ministry. With a stock gift you pay no capital gains tax on the stock’s appreciated value. If you itemize your tax return, the gift qualifies for a deduction equal to the stock’s current value.
Qualified Charitable Distribution
If aged 73 or older, a gift of your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your retirement account through a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) allows you to direct your RMD tax free to St. Paul’s, whether you itemize or not. Your retirement plan custodian directly sends all or a portion of your RMD to St. Paul’s. You can’t transfer the RMD to you, and then forward it to the parish; it must be sent directly to us from the plan custodian. Discuss with your tax advisory if a QCD could lower your Social Security benefits tax and/or Medicare premium rate.
To discuss these in detail, contact Tom Recker, Director of Mission Advancement at 812.668.2249 or trecker@hoosiercatholic.org.
WHY I GIVE Dylan Stagge
When I arrived at IU in the fall of 2018, I had no plans to pursue my faith outside of attending Sunday Mass, and had a weak relationship with the Lord. By the time I graduated in 2022, God had transformed my life through growth in prayer, the sacraments, and the community at St. Paul’s. Through friendship and good formation, I learned the Catholic faith and saw God work through me and others in ways I never thought were possible.
I give to St. Paul’s to make the experience I had become possible for current and future IU students. In a world of increasing loneliness, especially among young people, God makes Himself known and changes hearts through the gift of Catholic community.
I also give to St. Paul’s because I am grateful for those who gave of their time and money while I was on campus. Their efforts and funds allowed me to experience things like Hoosier Awakening, Sunday supper, and other campus ministry events. I have many wonderful memories, made lifelong friends, and experienced God in all of these. It is out of gratitude for all these things that I feel the call to give back and support the fruitful ministries at St. Paul’s.
Continue your support of St. Paul’s by making a one-time or recurring gift online! hoosiercatholic.org/donate
