Commitment Weekend: November 7-8, 2026
Making Your Commitment
Begin by prayerfully considering how your regular giving might be expanded over and above your usual offering.
This giving table can help you plan your expanded giving if you prefer to think in weekly, monthly, or annual amounts.
Multiply that expanded amount by three years and write the total on the first line of the card.
Use the second line to indicate any additional gifts you intend to make from stored resources such as savings, an IRA, stock, or property.
Add both lines together to show your total three-year commitment.
*For Online Giving: a processing fee will be added to your payment: 3.45% for credit card or 0.4% for electronic check.
St. Anthony Catholic Church is launching a capital campaign to strengthen our parish home - addressing our most immediate needs for hospitality, accessibility, and gathering so parish life can flourish beyond the walls of the sanctuary.
Over the next three years, our parish will move forward together in a $2.9 million campaign, and we invite you to prayerfully walk with us in this season.
A Letter from Fr. José Luis
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
For more than 85 years, St. Anthony Catholic Church has been a spiritual home where generations have encountered Christ, celebrated the sacraments, grown in faith, and found a family in the Church. We have inherited a beautiful and sacred place, entrusted to us by those who came before.
Today, our parish continues to grow. We worship in different languages and come from different backgrounds and generations, yet we are one parish family, united by one faith and one mission.
However, growth has also revealed the limits of a church built for a different time. Limited seating, inadequate restrooms, difficult access for some of our elderly and those with limited mobility, no dedicated cry room for young families, and insufficient space for confession, ministry, and fellowship.
Growing Together - Creciendo Juntos is our opportunity to respond. Through this $2.9 million campaign, we will improve our parish home while preserving the beauty, reverence, and sacred character of our church. More than adding space, we are building a more welcoming, accessible parish where everyone can encounter Christ and participate fully in the life of our community.
I ask each family to prayerfully consider how God is calling you to participate. We are not asked to make equal gifts, but each of us can make a prayerful and sacrificial response according to how we have been blessed. Those who came before us sacrificed so that St. Anthony could become the parish we cherish today. Now it is our turn to care for what we have received and prepare it for our children, our grandchildren, and the generations still to come.
May St. Anthony intercede for us, and may God bless our parish as we continue growing together.
With gratitude and prayers,
Fr. José Luis Vidarte.
WE ARE St. Anthony Catholic Church
For more than 85 years, St. Anthony Catholic Church has been a sacred refuge in Longview. As the oldest parish in Gregg County, we have helped establish three other churches and formed countless families in the Catholic faith. As a church community, we are more than a collection of individuals,
we are a family united by shared faith and experience.
From longtime parishioners to young families with little ones, St. Anthony’s has always been home to families of all ages.
Stepping into St. Anthony’s feels like stepping back in time - ornate, reverent, and peaceful. In today’s fast-paced world, it offers the quiet and stillness for which so many hearts are searching. It is the parish that “feels like church” - holy and timeless in its devotion to Christ and His Church.
St. Anthony’s has also been entrusted with one of the Church’s most sacred responsibilities: forming future priests. The Diocese sends seminarians here to learn, grow, and experience what their ministry vocation will look like. We are proud to play an active role in forming the next generation of Catholic leaders.
The real beauty of St. Anthony’s has always been that everyone belongs here. Our parish is active and alive, with new families continuing to find a spiritual home among us. While we worship in different languages, we share one parish, one faith, and one mission. We come together through parish traditions, formation, and life beyond the walls of the sanctuary. It is a quiet, beautiful picture of God’s Kingdom at work.
And yet, as our parish family has grown, we’ve begun to feel the limits of this beloved space - not in faith, but in the practical ways families worship and gather together.
The Problem:
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The building that has served St. Anthony’s faithfully for decades was designed for a different time. While the sanctuary itself remains a sacred and beautiful place of worship, the surrounding spaces were never intended to support the needs of today’s multigenerational parish family.
For many parishioners, those limitations show up in very real ways. It is now common for three generations of one family to worship in three different places on a given weekend: grandparents attending where accessibility is easier, parents worshipping at St. Anthony’s, and young families going to other churches where cry rooms, changing tables, and privacy are available.
This scattering is not a reflection of divided faith. It is the result of practical constraints—restrooms located beside the altar, limited accessibility, lack of private spaces for families, and no covered outdoor space where parishioners can comfortably gather before and after Mass. These are simple, practical issues, but they carry deep spiritual weight.
This project is not about expanding the sanctuary for increased seating. It is about addressing the practical limitations that prevent our parish from fully living its mission of hospitality, dignity, and care for all ages.
Lack of adequate seating during Sunday Mass often leads to crowded aisles and standing room only, especially during special events, feast days and during the Advent and Lenten seasons when our parish gathers in greater numbers.
Steep steps and distant parking make it difficult for older members or those with limited mobility to attend.
Limited access means sacred moments like funerals have become difficult, as caskets must be carried up and down many steps - a harsh reality forcing families to say goodbye in another parish under unfamiliar priests.
Only one small restroom, located beside the altar, regularly prompts a quiet (or not so quiet!) line to form during Mass, breaking the reverent spirit of worship. Those needing accessible facilities currently must choose another church.
The lack of a cry room and changing tables leaves young parents anxious. They opt to stay home altogether or attend mass at one of our sister churches.
A single confessional, located beside the restroom, does not offer the privacy this sacred sacrament deserves.
No covered outdoor area means that during Longview’s intense summer heat, or inclement weather, fellowship ends quickly, and families rush to their cars instead of visiting before and after Masses.
Our unity already exists in faith, but what is missing is the space to fully live it out.
Right now, our building limits our church family. But it does not have to stay this way.
What Are We Doing?
We are raising $2.9 million to improve St. Anthony Catholic Church, making our sacred home fully accessible and welcoming for all.
Why Are We Doing It?
These improvements will add new facilities around the existing sanctuary - the beautiful, ornate worship space you love will remain reverent and historic. As Father José Luis has made clear, this expansion is not just about adding space, it is about restoring what St. Anthony’s has always been: a place where every person, from the smallest child to the eldest grandparent, can encounter Christ without barriers. Every part of this plan protects the sacred and strengthens our community.
Why Now?
The need is immediate and unavoidable. When this expansion is complete, St. Anthony’s will look and feel like the parish our hearts have always known - a place where every generation belongs, where the sacred rhythm of the Mass flows undisturbed, and where faith and fellowship is equally accessible to all.
How Do We Know If We Succeed?
Success will be measured by:
A stronger sense of parish unity as more families are worshipping together with adequate seating and space to care for young children.
Greater accessibility for older parishioners, people with limited mobility, and families with strollers.
Greater reverence during Mass through appropriately located restrooms, private confessionals, and dedicated support spaces.
More fellowship before and after Mass in welcoming gathering spaces.
More space for parish life and ministry, including small groups, quinceañeras, funeral gatherings, and other parish activities.
The Plan
The Solution
100% Participation
We are inviting everyone, parishioners, friends, even those who have moved away, to be part of this exciting project.
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Raise $2.9 Million to Improve St. Anthony's
These improvements will add new facilities around the existing sanctuary and restore what St. Anthony’s has always been: a place where every person, from the smallest child to the eldest grandparent, can encounter Christ without barriers. Every part of this plan protects the sacred and strengthens our community.
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Expanded Seating: a Phase One additional side aisle to accommodate up to 70 additional seats, along with a glass-enclosed cry room connected directly to the sanctuary so families with young children can remain part of the Mass.
Accessible Covered Entry Plaza: Accessible pathways will welcome families with strollers and those with mobility challenges, and allow caskets to pass through with dignity so funerals can take place in the home families cherish. This space will also allow for year-round comfort and safety, protecting elders and young families from Longview’s summer heat and inviting fellowship between Masses and across languages.
Updated Restrooms: New, conveniently located restrooms no longer beside the altar will restore the sanctity of the Mass. Each will include changing tables for parents of young children.
New Cry Room: A flexible space for parents caring for infants, families preparing for sacraments, and small groups meeting, all without disrupting worship.
Private Confessionals: A sacred space for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where parishioners can encounter God’s mercy in peace and dignity.
Multipurpose Space: for bridal parties, quinceañeras, family gatherings, funerals, parish ministries, and small group meetings. A flexible, welcoming space where families can prepare for sacraments, ministries can meet, and parish life can flourish without disrupting worship in the sanctuary.
Vesting Area: a dedicated vesting area located near the rear of the church, giving the priest a quiet and appropriate space to prepare for Mass.
FAQs
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The campaign kicks off the weekend of October 10-11, 2026, with Commitment Mass Weekend on November 7-8, 2026. Pledges will then be paid out over the next 3 years.
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You can pay the entire pledge at one time, you can pay it annually for 3 years, or you can choose to pay quarterly, monthly or even weekly.
If you want to pay by check, you can use the new green envelopes designed for this campaign.
You can also pay online by clicking here, or any of the buttons on this page.
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The general offertory (first collection) is used to “pay the bills” of the church, like utilities, insurance, supplies, maintenance, salaries, etc.
Donations made to the Growing Together - Creciendo Juntos campaign will pay for the improvements to our church.
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We are trusting in God and our St. Anthony parishioners to ensure that we do reach our goal!! If we fall short of the $2.9 million, we will move forward in a responsible and prudent way, based on the resources available. We will prioritize the most important needs, possibly phasing the project or adjusting the scope so we remain always good stewards of your money.
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St. Anthony leadership will use announcements at Mass, the campaign section of our church bulletin, social media, and WhatsApp, each week to keep parishioners informed of both capital campaign and construction progress.
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The Diocese of Tyler requires us to have 50% of the construction cost in the bank prior to starting the construction documents from which to bid the project.
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Our current parking will be itilized to satisfy the City of Longview requirements.
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Yes, the plan is to keep this brick wall and repair the arch that has fallen off.
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Yes, there will be allowances for wheelchair bound parishioners to sit directly beside the pews. All of the new pews are angled for a direct view of the altar. The cry room is enclosed in glass to allow direct visibility to the altar as well. There are two doors exiting the room. One gives direct access to the new restrooms, and the other door opens directly into the sanctuary for communion.
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The building project will be competitively bid by qualified general contractors. Final architectural design will begin once the Parish has 50% of the required funding in the bank.
Generosity Journey
An Initial Giver is someone who decides to give for the first time, out of a response to God’s Word about giving. This is someone who decides to give something and trust God and the leaders of the Church with this gift.
Proverbs 3:9 "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce."
Deuteronomy 16:17 "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you."
A Consistent Giver is someone who decides to give something and to give it on a consistent basis to exercise the discipline of giving on a regular basis. Often, someone who decides to make their gift an online recurring gift will be someone who is learning the behavior of consistency.
1 Corinthians 16:2 "On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper."
Galatians 6:9 "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
An Intentional Giver is someone beginning to think about their giving in relation to their other spending. This giver starts to make generosity an intentional choice as they consider their overall spending.
2 Corinthians 9:7 "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Proverbs 21:5 "The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty."
A Sacrificial Giver is someone surrendered to honoring God with 100% of their resources as a result of Christ’s great sacrifice for us. A Sacrificial Giver is one whose generosity is governing their spending, saving, and overall management of money and resources as an act of worship to God.
Mark 12:44 "For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."
2 Samuel 24:24 "I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing."
A Lifetime Giver is someone thinking about the longer impact of generosity rather than just the shorter term of month-to-month giving. A Lifetime Giver makes decisions in the short term that have lifetime effects as it relates to their generosity capacity. Much like a Sacrificial Giver makes a commitment that will govern their monthly and annual decisions, a Lifetime Giver makes a long-term lifetime giving commitment that governs their large purchases like homes, cars, and investments.
Acts 20:35 "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Philippians 1:6 "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
Every man should give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. —Deuteronomy 16:17
The Significance of Making a Commitment
The goal for this initiative is 100% participation from every family in the parish. We encourage you to prayerfully consider completing a commitment card for this initiative. This portion of the booklet is designed to help explain the significance (practically and spiritually) of turning in a card. Though every part of the Growing Together - Creciendo Juntos journey is important, filling out the card is the actionable step that drives us to the completion of the campaign. Join us in making the Growing Together - Creciendo Juntos campaign a significant moment in the life of our parish!
Making a commitment…
requires a decision over delay, action, or avoidance.
confirms the importance with a document, as with other important life decisions.
enables church leaders to assess and measure parish-wide generosity.
offers an opportunity for a parish-wide step of faith and commitment.
allows a point of conversation and decision for an individual or couple.
provides an opportunity for personal assessment.
creates a timeline for a decision to ensure campaign momentum and building progress.
motivates a specific increase in one’s annual generosity.
provides financial information to enable leaders to make wise decisions.
Making Your Commitment
Begin by prayerfully considering how your regular giving might be expanded over and above your usual offering.
This giving table can help you plan your expanded giving if you prefer to think in weekly, monthly, or annual amounts.
Multiply that expanded amount by three years and write the total on the first line of the card.
Use the second line to indicate any additional gifts you intend to make from stored resources such as savings, an IRA, stock, or property.
Add both lines together to show your total three-year commitment.
*For Online Giving: a processing fee will be added to your payment: 3.45% for credit card or 0.4% for electronic check.
Heavenly Father,
we thank You for the gift of our
parish family at Saint Anthony.
Bless our efforts to build and grow a place where Your love is made visible.
Open our hearts to generosity,
our minds to wisdom,
and our hands to work for the good of all. May all that we give -time, effort, and treasure- be an offering of gratitude and faith in You. And through the intercession of Saint Anthony, may this parish bear lasting fruit for generations to come.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen