A parish, much like our relationship with the Lord, must always be growing. Growth is a sign of health, a sign of life, and should therefore never be something that we fear!

Whenever a new pastor comes in, the previous pastor always leaves him things to do. Sometimes that's cleaning out drawers or organizing cabinets… but sometimes those projects are a little bigger! In September of 2020, our church basement was damaged by flood waters. I’m grateful for the leadership of Fr. Walling in the face of that disaster. He worked hard to carefully assess the damage, file the insurance claims, and recruit a team to begin formulating plans for a restoration and renewal of our church basement. Now all that is left is the execution of that plan!

This is why I'm writing to you. Our parish is alive and healthy and with those two great gifts from the Lord, it has a project that we need to finish. I am inviting you to be a part of this project and the continued growth of our parish.

The basement project is more than just a simple restoration. If you have been in the basement recently, I am confident you would agree it is in dire need of our urgent attention. Although the flood of September 2020 resulted in even more damage to this area, it does provide us the opportunity to use insurance claim funds to help restore it. Our top priority is to fix the floors and foundation issues. In addition to this, we want to restore and expand the restrooms and kitchen areas. This will allow us to address odor and congested space issues and to also update and maximize the efficiency of the serving and banquet areas. Lastly, we want to upgrade the appliances, tables and chairs, and general furnishings. All of these will combine to make our church basement more up-to-date, user-friendly, and will serve our needs as a parish better than ever before. Detailed project scope and status updates can be found at the “Strengthen Our Foundation” tab on our Holy Trinity Cluster website at www.coldwatercluster.org

To accomplish this goal, we are estimating that we will need approximately $375,000. A portion of this money will come from our insurance claim, but most will come from our parish Permanent Improvement Fund and our Archdiocesan savings account. In addition to these, we have set up a Gift Registry and have made provisions for direct monetary contributions through specially designated envelopes. We know that people want to support their church, so we hope the Gift Registry will allow parishioners like you an opportunity to select and donate specific, preselected items of need or to make a financial contribution to help us make this project a success. All of these enable us to avoid a large appeals campaign like we did back in 1998 with the “It Takes Three: God, You, and Me” Campaign.

Please know that your financial or Gift Registry donation is completely your own decision. We hope this creates the opportunity for individuals, families, friends, and organizations to join together to combine their financial strength toward purchasing tangible furnishings they feel are most important to them and our basement project. We want parishioners to be able to feel proud that they provided for their church in their own specific way.

This is an investment, but not just in our church basement. This is an investment in the students in our CCD program. This is an investment in our funeral luncheon ministry and the families they provide for in their time of grief and need. This is an investment in our families that come from all over the place to celebrate the holidays. This is an investment for our community that knows their church is here for them. I believe that this is an investment worth making. I hope and pray you do too because together, we can make it happen!

In Christ,

Fr. Alexander Witt

Pastor, Coldwater/Ft. Recovery Family of Parishes

Archdiocese of Cincinnati