My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

In September of 2007, after 20 years at St. Charles Borromeo Church, we moved into our new church on Par Street. From a facility with tremendous space, we transitioned to a more limited space of our own. Although this "not so spacious" facility presents challenges, we now have a new home that we can proudly call "our own"—the home of the faith community of St. Philip Phan Van Minh.

For the past 17 years, due to the restricted space, our young people must conduct their activities outside, exposed to the sun and rain. The classrooms for faith formation and the Vietnamese Language program are becoming increasingly inadequate as the number of our students continues to grow. For celebrations such as the Mid-Autumn Full Moon Festival, feast days, and other large parish gatherings, we have learned to negotiate and share spaces for the many activities of the church, often under the extreme weather conditions of Florida. As we endure these challenges, we have fundraised through various avenues such as the Lunar New Year Festival; and, thanks be to God, we have increased our property from 2 acres to 6.5 acres, allowing us to begin the construction of our Parish Life Center.

We are excited to announce a new and ambitious capital campaign, and we invite you to join us in our efforts! This large-scale fundraiser has a lofty goal of $10,000,000. With the tremendous need for space to accommodate all activities, especially the education of our young people—the future generation—I earnestly ask you, in faith, to step up and embark on our future together. Together, in mind and heart, we can make our dream a reality through the capital campaign: FOR OUR FAITH, OUR CULTURE, AND OUR FUTURE.

Our parish is committed to living and growing in faith through the beauty of our Vietnamese culture and passing it on to our younger generation. The Book of Proverbs says: “Train the young in the way they should go; even when old, they will not swerve from it” (22:6). We have made great strides in these areas, but we know that there is still much work to be done. That is why we are launching this campaign to raise the funds needed to build our Parish Life Center, which will have a transformative impact on our ability to fulfill our mission. Together, we can ensure that our children and future generations have the spaces they need for education, worship, and to pass on our culture and customs in the vision of our forefathers.

This campaign will span the next five years, and we are committed to transparency throughout this period. We will provide regular updates on our progress and milestones achieved. We appreciate your consideration and hope that you can join us in this important endeavor. Thank you for your support.

Entrusting our endeavor under the protection of St. Joseph, may God continue to bless our church parish. May He keep us always in His love and peace.

“Entrust your works to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)

In the love of Christ

Fr. Chau J. Nguyen
Pastor