Paterfamilias Account
Charitable gifts contributed to the general needs of the Abbey are deposited into the Paterfamilias Account, named for Our Lord’s Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
Jesus said, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house [in Latin, paterfamilias] who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.”
Matthew 20: 1-5
The Abbot is the “paterfamilias” of the monastic community, and the monks, staff, and volunteers of the Abbey are the laborers in his vineyard. In supporting these bursary funds of the Paterfamilias Account, our benefactors help bring to fruition all the works of the Abbey in building up the kingdom of God.
This account ensures the success and longevity of the monks’ work, and it is further divided into two named funds.
paterfamilias account funds
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The One Mission, One Future Fund
Contributions made with a direct charitable intent—such as gifts made to the Abbot’s Table benefit dinner, on the donation page of the Kansas Monks website, or in response to a general appeal for support—are posted to the One Mission, One Future Fund. These contributions are used where most needed to help advance the monks’ work and prayer, today and always. We aim to raise deploy contributions in this fund towards the full value of our projected annual expenses, in order to help address all of the Abbey’s general operations.
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The Spiritual Fatherhood fund
Gifts submitted alongside Mass offerings, prayer requests, spiritual retreats, and many other ways in which the faithful engage with our ministry are reserved to the Spiritual Fatherhood Fund. While these gifts are also available for the Abbey’s general needs, we keep a separate ledger to properly honor their religious intent and account for their use in our monastic labors. No goal is established for these free-will gifts of support for the Abbey’s evangelizing activity. By setting these gifts aside and directing our ministry-related income to the Spiritual Fatherhood Fund, we hope that the value of these gifts can be deployed for uses above and beyond our budgeted needs for extraordinary purposes.
Direct contributions to the Spiritual Fatherhood Fund are not solicited. However, if you would like to support the sanctifying work of the Abbey, we encourage you to request a Mass and offer a gift.