OUR GOAL: $10,000,000
Will strengthen our ability to attract, train and care for those at every age who are exploring their faith and vocation to God.

We are molded into a community of faith by those men who are called to ordained service to the Church. As each member of our clergy embraces his vocation to ministry, we are motivated and empowered to love and serve as Jesus Christ within our communities. From the youngest among us who are just beginning their journey of faith to our retired clergy who require extended care, we must support and foster every person’s exploration at every age.

Funds raised for this purpose will provide our Diocese with greater opportunities to be present in the places where those who are considering a vocation live, study and pray, as well as ensure long-term care for retired clergy.

Specifically, these funds significantly grow support for:

• Campus Ministry
• Camp Tekakwitha
• Men in Discernment and Priests
• Care for Senior Priests

Expanding Campus Ministry: $3,500,000

Campus ministry encourages young adults to stay connected to their faith during the formative college years when they are discovering who they are and discerning who they want to be. Our Diocese has campus ministries at the University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh and in Green Bay, which provide students with opportunities to deepen their relationship with Christ and engage in fellowship with their peers as well as priests and religious. Time and again, campus ministry has proven to be essential to forming intentional disciples and raising up vocations to the priesthood, religious life and marriage.

The one by One campaign will direct $3,500,000 to campus ministry, which will provide support to build out the infrastructure, ministries and worship spaces at UW Green Bay and UW Oshkosh. Fully developing these strong ministries at both UW campuses in our Diocese will help college students find their purpose and see where God is calling them.

Supporting Camp Tekakwitha: $1,000,000

For nearly 100 years, young people have encountered Christ amidst the beauty of God’s creation at Camp Tekakwitha. Although summer camp is about fun and fellowship, the experience is invaluable for providing experiences of growth in faith that plant the seeds of a vocation within campers.

With camp enrollment rising steadily each summer, and more parish ministries and Catholic schools using camp facilities for retreats and other activities during the remainder of the year, funds are needed to ensure Camp Tekakwitha remains vital and effective. It is important to complete crucial repairs to the physical plant of Camp Tekakwitha, so this facility remains one that is welcoming and promotes spiritual growth and reflection at a young age. The one by One campaign will provide $1,000,000 to maintain, update and enhance this important ministry to our youth.

Priestly Vocation and Education Endowment: $4,500,000

A shortage of priests has left many parishes in our Diocese without a pastor. Bishop Ricken has set a goal of having a minimum of 30 men in seminary formation by 2025, and $4,500,000 from the one by One campaign will be invested in a Priestly Vocation and Education Endowment to help achieve this milestone and support seminarians as well as our priests, whose ministerial skills are increasingly challenged in an ever-changing world.

Our Diocese was one of the first in the U.S. to embrace Pope Francis’ call to establish a pre-seminary — or “propaedeutic” — year for men discerning a call to the priesthood prior to applying to the seminary. All five men who completed the Diocese’s inaugural Kairos Year determined that seminary formation was indeed where God is calling them, and seven men have taken their place for the program’s second year.

Kairos men live in community at the Holy Name of Jesus House of Formation, unplugged from the distractions of technology and the busyness of life, studying the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church while reflecting on whether they are called to further pursue their vocation through seminary formation. Campaign funds will allow the Diocese to support new candidates every year in this program in perpetuity, allowing them to discern their vocation without life’s distractions or stressors.

Contributions to the annual Seminarian Collection and other generous gifts and bequests support the current number of men discerning vocations while preparing to serve as priests for the Diocese of Green Bay at seminaries in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Rome. Most men spend six to eight years in the seminary before ordination, at a cost of $40,000 a year per seminarian for tuition, room and board, and insurance. Other experiences, such as Spanish immersion programs, pilgrimages and retreats, are vital to seminarians’ formation and further prepare them to serve in our parishes. The Priestly Vocation and Education Endowment will support the increasing number of seminarians we will soon be blessed to have in formation as well as additional vocations outreach and initiatives needed to reach Bishop Ricken’s goal.

As the needs of our parish communities grow and change, so, too, must the resources available to our pastors and associate pastors. The one by One campaign will support their ongoing education and formation, allowing priests to strengthen those gifts that make them passionate and effective leaders and homilists and to enrich and expand their skill sets so they can more effectively lead more people to discover Christ.

Strengthening Our Ability to Care for Retired Clergy: $1,000,000

Although priests never retire from their vocation, at age 70, our senior priests qualify to begin receiving a monthly pension from the Diocesan Priests Retirement Fund as well as an additional stipend for health insurance. But like other Americans, senior priests are living longer and drawing pensions longer than their predecessors. The one by One campaign will contribute $1,000,000 to bolster this fund, ensuring financial security for the men who have dedicated their lives to serving us — and continue to support us through ministry and with prayers during their senior years.