Cathedral Parish of St. Augustine

THE CHALLENGE

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine holds the distinction as America’s First Parish. The first Catholic Mass held on American soil was held nearby in 1565. For the next 200 years, Catholics celebrated their faith in St. Augustine, enduring the destruction of three different churches. In 1777, Father Camps led Menorcan refugees to St. Augustine and founded the country’s first parish. In 1793, the parish laid the cornerstone of the cathedral church. In the 230 years since, the parish and cathedral have served as a beacon of the faith for the people of Florida, St. Augustine and the entire country. Now, this active parish family includes more than 1,000 households and nearly a quarter of a million visitors each year. In 2015, the cathedral was restored for $4 million. But the church had long put off maintenance on the rectory, and pastoral leaders acknowledged that the decaying building’s issues needed to be addressed.

THE VISION

The campaign aimed to raise the funds necessary to renovate the parish rectory, ensuring a safe and efficient workspace for the people serving America’s oldest parish and a comfortable private living space for the priests and bishop. Goals included:

• Upgrading the electrical system.
• Replacing the plumbing system.
• Improving efficiency by upgrading the uninsulated, single-pane windows and the HVAC system.
• Replacing the sole bathroom with two ADA accessible restrooms.
• Expanding the Verot Room and installing French doors to the courtyard to create an indoor-outdoor event space.
• Adding shade structures to the courtyard and a warming kitchen for ministry and event use.

THE SOLUTION

America’s First Parish faced unique challenges for fundraising, which the Steier Group addressed through a customized campaign plan. The parish’s faith family consists of a mixture of full-time resident parishioners, seasonal parishioners, regional visitors and tourists from all over the world. Engaging each of these groups required different communication materials focused on the benefits of the campaign for the entire community. Additionally, the draw of the parish is the historic cathedral building. But this campaign focused entirely on the rectory, a building that parishioners and visitors rarely visit. The campaign team offered tours of the facility and events held in the rectory so that parishioners could see the issues in person. These customized methods, along with important matching gift challenges, built momentum and inspired the community to support this important effort at a historic American parish.