Here is some more noteworthy work carried out by the Pastoral Center in 2020.

Office of Design and Construction

The Office of Design and Construction supports our parishes, schools and cemeteries with their repairs, remodels and new construction. The office assisted various parishes and ecclesiastical organizations in completing $73 million of major construction projects. At the close of 2020, approximately 100 projects were in progress with a total estimated project value of $197 million. The office continues to assist the parishes, schools and cemeteries in being good stewards of their resources by providing tools and practical expertise in best-value project management practices.

Human Resources

The Human Resources department for the Archdiocese of Denver saw a number of changes during 2020 amidst the challenges of a pandemic, remote working, and extensive needs for employee care. They emerged stronger, more process-oriented, and better aligned to expand resource stewardship, including the enhancement of payroll operations. Existing roles were revised for efficiency and efficacy and new roles were defined, leading to the hire of a Payroll and Benefits Specialist. 2021 will be focused on supporting the mission of the archdiocese by continuing to do the basics well and support employees in training, growth and personal development.

Parish Support and Services

The Archdiocese of Denver is continuing to improve the support and services provided to parishes. The updated Denver Parish Connect website provides parishes with easy access to documents, forms and resources to help them more efficiently perform their day-to-day operations, freeing them up to dedicate more time to the mission of the Church, leading people to Jesus Christ.

During the first week of the stay-at-home order of 2020, pastors and parish staff received daily communications from the Pastoral Center with recommendations for liturgical changes, website and livestream advice, HR and finance support, as well as up-to-date coverage on how local communities were being affected by COVID-19. Hundreds of individual communication touchpoints were made in that week alone in an effort to best support the parish communities during an unprecedented time.

Throughout 2020, parish support and services continued to adapt to the ever-changing needs within parish communities. This included the 2020 Pass the Basket tithing campaign, providing direct technical support to parishes in order to set up online giving, and personalized recommendations for how to communicate digitally with their parishioners through Flocknote.

As parishes adjusted to a new normal, they received continued guidance and support in maintaining communication with parishioners as restrictions changed. While there continues to be much uncertainty about the future, Parish Services remains flexible in their efforts to continue to adapt to the changing needs of the parishes and communities of the Archdiocese of Denver.

In 2020, Frassati Catholic Academy grew to 318 students in prekindergarten through 8th grade and joyfully returned to in-person learning in August. Teachers and staff are proud to be advancing the school’s mission of leading students to the heights of the intellect and the depths of the soul to form authentic disciples who bear joyful witness to Christ. Newly implemented safety protocols also brought many blessings to Frassati: Mass is now celebrated at school four times a week and set times for reconciliation and adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament are scheduled for each cohort every Friday.   

After being forced into remote learning to finish the 2019-20 school year, Holy Family High School resolved to welcome their students back in-person for the 2020-21 school year. After lengthy planning with local health officials, Holy Family was one of only a handful of schools in the state to be entirely in-person for the Fall 2020 semester, completing 75 days of classes without interruption.

Enrollment reached an all-time high in 2020 with just over 700 students – including a record number of transfer students. Applications for the incoming freshman class, the Class of 2025, also reached an all-time high of just over 275.

Academically, 233 Holy Family students took an AP class – participating in a total of 444 AP tests. 76% of AP tests taken by students had scores of 3 or higher, while the national average is 59.5%. Holy Family graduated 149 students in the Class of 2020 at a July commencement ceremony. They were awarded over $15 million in scholarships and awards.
Holy Family also hired nearly a dozen educators to the teaching faculty. 80% of the Holy Family faculty holds an advanced degree (masters or higher).

Students thrived both in the classroom and in athletics. Highlighted by a 4A state championship in softball, Holy Family athletes had many notable accomplishments: girls basketball reached the 4A championship game (game eventually canceled due to COVID-19); football won the Colorado League title and reached the 3A state semifinals; girls cross country finished in 2nd place as a team at the 3A state meet while the boys’ cross-country team placed a runner 10th overall individually; and the boys’ golf team sent two golfers to the 3A state tournament.

In a year that brought many challenges and significantly altered fundraising campaigns and events, Holy Family adjusted. The Holy Family Advancement Department held annual events like the Tiger Gala, Tiger Golf Classic, Tiger Fun Run, and the Christmas Tree & Wreath Fundraiser. Holy Family also executed a fundraising campaign for Colorado Gives Day and an Annual Appeal. In total, over $650,000 was raised across all initiatives.

Additional fundraising was also initiated for a new tennis complex on the Holy Family Campus. The first-ever tennis facility of its size in the Archdiocese of Denver will feature seven new championship quality courts. The complex will provide Holy Family with a valuable athletic resource for generations to come.

Holy Family refinanced both a capital bond and a construction loan in 2020, resulting in a significant savings for the school. Holy Family also applied for, and received forgiveness for, a PPP loan.

During the 2019-2020 school year at Bishop Machebeuf High School, the Machebeuf Community, in collaboration with the Office of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Denver, discerned an important evolution in the academic curriculum at Bishop Machebeuf. Taking the best of the college preparation track and the classical track, Bishop Machebeuf High School moved in the direction of launching a new integrated curriculum. Launched in the Fall 2020 academic year, this new integrated curriculum takes elements of classical education and fuses them with the traditional college-preparation curriculum for a more robust and intentional Catholic educational experience.

Under the leadership of Ms. Kellie Carroll and her team, faith, campus ministry, academics and school spirit were celebrated. With the arrival of COVID-19, the fourth quarter of the academic year witnessed a smooth transition to remote learning. While students were off campus for the remainder of the year, the Class of 2020 were given opportunities to celebrate some of the senior year traditions. During the summer, a Mass of the Holy Spirit with Commencement and Commissioning were celebrated at Queen of Peace Church for the Class of 2020.

Finally, the end of the school year 2019-2020 witnessed the move to the President-Principal Leadership model to promote the launch of the new curriculum and outreach to the Machebeuf community.

For Seeds of Hope, a ministry of the Archdiocese of Denver that strives to make a transformative Catholic education financially accessible to any family, 2020 will be remembered as the year the community exhibited new heights of generosity to help the organization fulfill its mission.

When the pandemic took hold and it was apparent schools were going to have to pivot to a new style of teaching, Seeds of Hope teamed up with the Archdiocese of Denver to launch the Catholic Schools Emergency Relief Fund (CSERF). The initial hope was to raise enough funds to help buy some computers for students to use for distance learning and maybe have some leftover to help families, teachers and schools who would be suffering because of the harsh realities created by the pandemic.

What started with some modest goals soon exploded to levels neither Seeds of Hope nor the Archdiocese of Denver could have predicted. Realizing Catholic schools were in distress and leaping at the chance to help, generous donors across the Archdiocese created a true phenomenon and in the span of less than 90 days, donated more than $670,000 to the CSERF! This funding helped provide more than 600 Google Chromebooks for schools and emergency tuition assistance for hundreds of K-12 Catholic school families who had fallen behind on tuition payments, supported schools with needed supplies to re-open safely and helped launch the St. Isidore Online Curriculum program for the Office of Catholic Schools.

The generosity showered on Seeds of Hope by the community with was not limited just to the CSERF. Through Hope Scholarships, Seeds of Hope provided tuition assistance to 861 K-8 students at 29 schools across the Archdiocese. Outside of Hope Scholarships, additional contributions also flowed through Seeds of Hope to directly support the needs of K-8 Catholic schools.

In all, through grants, events, contributions and the CSERF, Seeds of Hope buoyed each one of the 37 Archdiocese of Denver K-12 schools in the 2019-20 school year, providing more than $2.1 million in total support.

Any K-8 student at any Archdiocese of Denver Catholic school who meets Seeds of Hope household income guidelines is eligible to apply for Seeds of Hope tuition assistance. Seeds of Hope does not fully scholarship any family, offering awards in the range of $500-$3,000, and all families contribute to their students’ tuition. This creates a partnership between Seeds of Hope and its families and this contribution from the family helps create a sense of pride and accountability.

For the third consecutive year, Seeds of Hope also partnered with the Office of Catholic Schools on the Variable Tuition Program, an online tool that provides participating schools with a standardized framework to calculate fair and equitable tuition for families based on a family’s and school’s financial position.

In 2020, CFCS Colorado met an extreme challenge given their Corporal Work of Mercy of “Burying the Dead” as they responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. In one of their locations, the Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary, they saw an increase of 187 cases compared to calendar year 2019, an approximately 25% increase in funeral cases. Likewise, they experienced similar increases at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery and Saint Simeon Catholic Cemetery.

A crucial facet of CFCS Colorado’s ministry is providing burial services for those who cannot afford to pay for one. The cemeteries provided 134 of these indigent burials, an increase of 43 from the previous calendar year. Likewise, the cemeteries also buried 303 babies through their Precious Life Program (free burial to families who lose a loved one before birth). They also placed, at no charge, the cremated remains of 36 persons into reserved crypt space through the Crypt of All Souls program.

As the only ministry within the Archdiocese of Denver which provides support to other ministries through revenue generation, CFCS Colorado was still able to meet their budget despite the tremendous challenges they experienced as a result of COVID-19. In so doing, they were able to provide significant financial support to the Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary.
In 2020, CFCS Colorado met an extreme challenge given their Corporal Work of Mercy of “Burying the Dead” as they responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. In one of their locations, the Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary, they saw an increase of 187 cases compared to calendar year 2019, an approximately 25% increase in funeral cases. Likewise, they experienced similar increases at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery and Saint Simeon Catholic Cemetery.

A crucial facet of CFCS Colorado’s ministry is providing burial services for those who cannot afford to pay for one. The cemeteries provided 134 of these indigent burials, an increase of 43 from the previous calendar year. Likewise, the cemeteries also buried 303 babies through their Precious Life Program (free burial to families who lose a loved one before birth). They also placed, at no charge, the cremated remains of 36 persons into reserved crypt space through the Crypt of All Souls program.

As the only ministry within the Archdiocese of Denver which provides support to other ministries through revenue generation, CFCS Colorado was still able to meet their budget despite the tremendous challenges they experienced as a result of COVID-19. In so doing, they were able to provide significant financial support to the Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary.