← Called (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Called (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Called to Sustain the Church for Generations
00:47:40
When thousands of parishes are closing and fewer people identify with any faith, how can the Church not only survive—but thrive? In this episode of Called, Fr. Mike Schmitz talks with Kevin Doyle, president of the Catholic Initiative, about a bold new approach to sustaining vibrant parishes and schools for generations to come. From restoring Detroit’s historic St. Anne’s Basilica to supporting under-resourced communities, the Catholic Initiative is reimagining what it means to invest in the future of the Church. Discover how one man’s generosity sparked a movement of faith, service, and renewal—and how we’re all called to build something that lasts. You can learn more about the Called podcast at: https://ascensionpress.com/pages/called. To learn more The Catholic Initiative, please visit https://thecatholicinitiative.org/. To receive updates on the podcast text CALLED to 33777. If you have a question or a story of someone living out their calling to serve others, email info@t...
Loading summary
Transcript137 lines
- [00:00]
A
Coming up, in today's episode of Called. In the United States alone, I think 2,600 parishes have closed. 20% of Americans are saying that they're no longer affiliated with any kind of religion. If we keep on doing what we've been doing, we'll keep on getting what we've gotten. There's bright spots in the midst of a lot of darkness, and it seems to me that that's what the Catholic Initiative exists for.
- [00:23]
B
The Catholic Initiative exists to shine a light on those bright spots that do exist and to invest to ensure that they stay bright spots forever. Too often, the churches that are serving the people with the least do get closed down. It's hard for people to get off the edge and say, well, I'm going to invest in the next one because I don't want to waste it.
- [00:42]
A
Yeah, right.
- [00:42]
B
How do we use the skills that we have, the gifts that we have to make a transformative impact on the world? Because we don't want to just do this for five years, 10 years. It's how do we ensure that places that don't have the resources right now can continue to serve that role and then continue to serve those communities forever?
- [01:01]
A
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and welcome to the called podcast, brought to you by the Catholic Initiative and produced in partnership with Ascension. In this podcast, we dive into the different ways that God has called us to be his presence in the world, hearing stories of mercy, courage, and compassion. Today, actually, we're talking about what it means to sustain the Catholic life and for generations, not only through stone and glass and wood, but through faith and mission and service. Evangelization is core to us. In Acts, chapter 2, verses 42 through 47 describes four marks of the early church after Pentecost, it says this. It says, they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and to prayer. And then the believers were together and had everything in common. They broke bread in their homes, they ate together with gladness and sincerity. They praised God and the Lord, added to their number daily those who are being saved. At its heart, this is the mission of the Catholic Initiative, to invest in flourishing, vibrant, but often under resourced parishes and schools, ensuring that the Catholic faith and Catholic education remain alive and available for generations to come. One of the most inspiring examples of this mission is St. Anne's Basilica in Detroit. And to help us reflect on this call and on this mission, I'm joined today by Kevin Doyle, who's the president of the Catholic Initiative. Kevin, welcome to the Called podcast.
- [02:31]
B
Thank you, Father Mike. It is a pleasure, and it's an honor to be here with you today and to share this story.
- [02:37]
A
So can you tell us a little bit something about yourself and how you got involved with the Catholic Initiative?
- [02:42]
B
Absolutely. So I am originally from Lynchburg, Virginia. I'm the son of two amazing parents, Peter and Julie. I'm husband to Caitlin and father of five little kids. So life's a little chaotic. But I spent my career before I got involved with the Pulte Family foundation, the Catholic Initiative. I spent my career advising and consulting large companies all around the world. So that's my professional expertise until I joined the Pulte Family foundation about four years ago, where it was just an amazing opportunity for me to blend mission and business together. So I got involved on the investment sides of what the foundation was doing, and we've been looking at ways that we can steward and shepherd the gifts that this foundation was left with to make the world a better place. And the Catholic Initiative was really. Was born out of that. And I know we'll get into that, but how can we really, really invest in the future of the Catholic faith and ensuring that it's available and accessible to millions for many, many, many years to come?
- [03:39]
A
Yeah. So. So I thank you for that. You mentioned the Pulte Family Foundation. I. I sometimes I. When I think of a foundation, I don't. I don't know what that is. Could you just share a little bit about, like. So, yeah. What is that? What is a foundation and what is specifically the Pulte Family Foundation?
- [03:56]
B
So I think different foundations do different things, but ours. Ours was endowed by the fortune of a man named Bill Pulte. He was a. He's from the Michigan area. Started a company called Pulte Homes when he was 18, built his first house, over the next, the rest of his life. He built it into, at one point, a Fortune 500 company and the number one home builder in the country. But he's a classic example of the American dream. He built something up, and he knew that he just had these blessings, these gifts from God. They weren't his. And so when he died, he left a little money for his wife, but he didn't leave it for his kids or his grandkids. He left it all to endow this charitable foundation so that we could give it all away, um, and give it to people who. Who need it. Give it to people from disadvantaged, marginalized communities locally and all around the world.
- [04:45]
A
Wow.
- [04:46]
B
And so that's what our foundation does. And our Our whole mission is how can we use those gifts to make the world a better place. And, and Bill himself was a devout, devout Catholic daily communicant. And, and so that's also at the heart of what our foundation does. It's. It's serving the. The corporal works of mercy.
- [05:03]
A
Wow. So here is essentially one man or a family now in this place. A man, Bill Pti, who was like, okay, I. He worked hard, very successful, and then said, I want to be able to give back materially, and did that during his lifetime. But at the end of his life or sometime somewhere towards that, he started this foundation that would be able to, like you said, just. That would be able to outlive him and be able to continue to help people who were in need.
- [05:29]
B
That's right, yeah. I mean, I mean, you talk about perpetual generosity sometimes as a version of that. Right. He. He silently gave a whole lot of money away during his, like, hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. But he wanted that legacy and that in that giving to continue forever in perpetuity after he was gone. And so that's, that's why he put it into this foundation. That's why the foundation's mission is to. To invest in. In organizations and lead charitable initiatives that are serving people in need.
- [05:56]
A
Wow. So that's. So it's not even just about kind of giving stuff away. You mentioned investing in organizations that are doing that work.
- [06:03]
B
That's right.
- [06:04]
A
So. So the Pulte Family foundation would say, hey, here's. Here's an organization that's already doing the works of charity. Like this podcast is in so many ways about the corporal works of mercy that I was hungry and you fed me, I was naked and you clothed me. So the family foundation isn't necessarily something that does it themselves, but it's like, oh, no, we're going to invest in those people, those Christians who are doing the work of Christ in the world. And that's where you come in with all this.
- [06:28]
B
Yeah. And. And we do both. Right. So often in the charity world, you've got funders and you have service providers.
- [06:35]
A
Right.
- [06:35]
B
And so our foundation would be a funder of. We have. We have these gifts. Let's give them to those organizations that are doing amazing things. And that's at the core and the heart of everything that we do. But we've also found that if we are generous with our. Our gifts of talent. Our talent, um, we believe we can lead some, we can play the service provider role to some extent, and we can get others to join with us and have an even bigger impact. So we. We do both. And the Catholic Initiative is. Is an example of doing both of those things. So we are. We are giving money to these vibrant parishes, but we're also standing with them and bringing other people in to stand alongside of us and alongside them to have an even bigger impact.
- [07:15]
A
Wow. Because. So I. I'd heard that during his lifetime, Bill Pty had, like you said, give hundreds of millions of dollars to charitable organizations, to the Catholic Church. And in a way that was. I mean, was really sacrificial giving. And sometimes I. We might not think of sacrificial giving when someone can give away a lot, but, like, no, you're depleting virtually all of his resources in order to help people around him. What the foundation is doing now and the Catholic Initiative is not just giving, but investing. Would that be accurate way to say it?
- [07:49]
B
I think that's accurate. And I. You say sometimes people don't think of sacrificial giving. When you're giving a lot of money, is there really a sacrifice? I think one of my favorite stories of Bill's sacrificial giving was during the housing recession in 2008. The stock of Pulte homes at the very bottom, Imagine. Right. Yeah. But he had made commitments, number one, that he wanted to honor to other people. He also had, you know, the local hardware store, all these companies that were now those. They were going to have to close their doors. He took out loans because he knew his stock would come back one day. He hoped I should. But he took out loans to honor those commitments and to help the smaller guys that otherwise were going to have to close their doors. Wow. That is sacrifice. And so he. Yes, sometimes it may have been out of the excess, other times, no. He put a lot of pressure on himself to do that. And again, we try to carry that forward through what we're doing.
- [08:46]
A
I'm glad you said that, because I didn't know that. And we were talking before this about there's a lot of wounds in our culture right now. A lot of the wounds in the church right now. I mean, everything from the fact that I don't. You don't need to highlight too much that in the last 30 years, in the United States alone, I think 2,600 parishes have closed. 20% of Americans are saying that they're no longer affiliated with any kind of religion. 33% of those young adults say they're no longer affiliated with any religion. I came across a statistic that said that deaths to liver disease that was alcohol related in ages 24 to 35 has tripled in the last few years, which is just, again, this sign of despair. I had to conversation with Father John Ricardo about this, where he just talked about. He called it deaths of despair.
- [09:39]
B
Yeah.
- [09:39]
A
That we're in. We're in, objectively speaking, the best time to be alive as humans because we have so, so many incredible opportunities. Also, subjectively speaking, one of the hardest times to be alive because this lack of meaning, lack of faith, crisis in connectedness, all these things, Deaths to despair. You know, big thing. There's bright spots in the midst of a lot of darkness. And it seems to me that that's what the Catholic Initiative exists for. It exists not to say just, oh, gosh, look at this. We have a lot of darkness, we have a lot of brokenness. There's places closing down and people don't have faith. But to say, but to those organizations and parishes that have a life, we can help, is that, is that kind of accurate?
- [10:19]
B
I think that's a beautiful way to put it. I mean, we, I think the Catholic Initiative exists to shine a light on those bright spots that do exist and to invest to ensure that they stay bright spots forever. Right. If I take a little bit of a step back just on, on what the Catholic Initiative is and why.
- [10:37]
A
Yeah. We were saying the term, not necessarily saying what it is.
- [10:39]
B
Yeah.
- [10:40]
A
Here's a family. The Fully Family foundation that was doing a lot of good work.
- [10:43]
B
Yep.
- [10:44]
A
And then at one point, there's. Out of that came the Catholic initiative.
- [10:47]
B
Yeah. So, so, and, and all this ties to, to Bill, who we were just talking about. But Bill gave hundreds of millions to the church into Catholic schools over the course of his life. Right. I mean, that was so important to him, and he wanted to ensure that that was available. But he. The way we've said it is he fixed a lot of cracks that got them through the next year or the next year. And we wanted to carry that, that legacy on, but we wanted to, to do it in a way where when we invest, we know it's going to be there forever. And we also know that there's other, there's other donors, there's other people like that who, who feel the same way.
- [11:20]
A
Right.
- [11:20]
B
You mentioned 2,600 parishes closing. It's hard for people to get off the edge and say, well, I'm going to invest in the next one because I don't want to waste it. Right. And so, but the result of that, and I know this whole podcast is centered around Matthew 25. Like we're supposed to help those with the least, but it's too often the churches that are serving the people with the least that do get closed out. And how heartbreaking is that? I mean sometimes they close because, you know, it just, it's the result of, of reality. And maybe it, maybe the ones that have 50 people coming shouldn't. But a church like St. Anne's which has grown from 500 families to 750 in the last few years, that one shouldn't, shouldn't close. Those are the ones where we need to be to shining a light on that bright spot and investing in the, the future of that. So you know, we, we when when asked of could would you guys support St. Anne's looked at it through the lens of how do we ensure that if we support and invest that will carry on forever and how do we best use our gifts. And Mark Polti, who's the chair of our board, is a high end spec home luxury home builder by trade. That's a gift he can bring to really bring beauty to a place like that.
- [12:41]
A
Oh yeah.
- [12:42]
B
I have a long history in the corporate world and strategy and leadership and management of complex organizations. How can I use that? Because the church is kind of complex communities around complex. And so how can we bring our gifts to bear both the financial gifts and the talents that we have to attack this problem? And that's when I said earlier about funders and service providers in this case, we're trying to do both with the Catholic initiative to ensure that the faith is alive and well for generations to come.
- [13:10]
A
Yeah, no, I, I love that you said that. That the. So I, I've been under three bishops in since I've been ordained. So the bishop ordained me Archbishop Dennis Schnur of Cincinnati. Now but at the time he was of Duth and then Bishop Al Serba and then now Bishop Daniel Felt Felton. He all three of them have had this mindset that says this, that says okay, there are some places that we just where we need to shrink because they're just, they're not like you mentioned, here's a parish that the 50 people are struggling to keep it alive. You know, sometimes you fight for that and sometimes you like it's okay, you know, it's run its course. Other places that are like, oh my gosh, this is growing, there's fruit but there's not funds. Right. And in that sense of like what the Catholic initiative is doing sounds seems like is looking for those places that no, we're not trying to sustain A dying school or sustain a dying parish organization. It's. What are they, what are the parishes, organizations, whatever, that are making that impact? They would make an even greater impact, but they just don't have the resources.
- [14:15]
B
Yeah.
- [14:16]
A
Is it?
- [14:16]
B
Yeah. I mean, I use, I use your, your picture of a fruit tree from time to time because, you know, there are, there are parishes and schools where the fruit trees, it's withering and, and that's sad. But, but those aren't necessarily the ones that we're choosing that we're gonna to focus on. It's the ones where there is fruit, but there's vines all around it or there's brush all around it that are, that are, that are causing issues. And that's, that's the life of many pastors and pastors and school principals and school presidents too. Right. So how can we come in and provide some, some fertilizer and also just whack out all the stuff that's, that's holding them back? Right. Then it's, then it's your job to be the, the pastor. But that's what you wanted to do anyway, right? Fundraising. You want to be being the building maintenance guy or I have to go figure out how to raise an endowment and invest it like that. The objective is how do you whack out all that stuff for a parish or a school that's clearly got a lot of vibrancy in it, so they can just focus on fertilizing their own thing, and, and then it's really going to grow in ways that, that that leader may have known, but just is being held back from at this point in time.
- [15:26]
A
Well, that, that I think that was. Was that something that you and Mark got from Father John Ricardo here? I think that he was. Because one of the things Father John does is when he talks to bishops and priests, the. He said, I think he said this. He said 60% of your bishop's priests are thriving and 40% are surviving, barely surviving. And a lot of reason is because I'm not doing the thing I think I was ordained to do or even called by the Lord to do. I'm doing administration or worse, I'm having to leave my parish or leave this school or leave whatever to go fundraise and be able to say, but if we were able to get the lady involved, if people get not the priests involved and say because of their resources, their gifts, their talents, we can cover or take care of this big thorn, this big burden of funding the ministry. And you can, you can serve the ministry Is that kind of accurate?
- [16:17]
B
Yeah, it is accurate. And it's. I mean, Father John has inspired us in so many ways, all of us, and helping us see that is one of them. Helping us think about the fact that the lady can be such a close partner with the church as an institution, and those two things can work really, really well. I mean, that's opened our eyes too, around again, using our talents. Right. And so one of the ways that this really got started, St. Ann's in Detroit is sort of the origin story for the Catholic initiative. I explained why we wanted to get involved, but one of the ways that it got started is because they had this beautiful parish, they had this beautiful community, and they actually had a pretty prolific fundraiser pastor. Like, he know, he knew what he was doing, but he spent five years trying to raise money outside of his community because his community could, couldn't support it. And he kept hitting a brick wall with a lot of answers that, that he couldn't address. Things like, are you going to be able to finish this project, or am I giving money to something that that isn't going to finish? Or are you sure? Can you guarantee that the diocese would. Won't close the doors on this thing? Do you have the right people involved, you know, to help with this? Is my money going to end up being redirected to something else? And so part of the idea behind the Catholic initiative was we can bring other talents that are, that are not just like donors that write a check and kind of step back, but we're going to put our name and our reputation on the line with this and our talents to support it. We're also going to take a parish or the school, whichever it may be, or both, the whole property, and we're going to put it in its own nonprofit, its own entity, so that legally and structurally, all those things, it is completely separate and isolated from, from anything else that could happen. Right. So if I go to a donor and say, if you contribute to this, they don't have to worry about it closing its, its doors. Because the way that we've set this up legally, I, as the Catholic initiative and you know, in our board, we can't close those because we can't do anything else with it. We've made it, put it into an entity that's sole purpose is just to give it back to the parish. And on the flip side, the parish, the diocese can't do anything else with it because they don't own it anymore. Right. And so we just, we lease it right back. It's the. It's a terrible real estate lease for the landlord because you can't do anything other than just for $1 a year, give it back to the parish. But it provides some certainty of the future.
- [18:43]
A
Just right.
- [18:44]
B
Again, legally provide some certainty of the future that we've had. You know, partners say we'll come alongside now that there's a little more comfort in the certainty of the future. And. And it also puts us right at the, you know, as the quarterbacks of things like the restoration, which is a role that we can do perhaps better than a pastor can do in terms of a building project manager.
- [19:04]
A
Well, could you. So you said some things in there that I'm like, wait, wait, what. What happened? No, it's great. Like, in that sense of. So St. Ann's is. Could you back up and tell us, like, what's the story of St. Anne? So even originally, I've been there a couple times now, so I kind of know a bit of it. I had a great tour of, like, this old basilica, one of the oldest parishes in the country. Like, you just back up a little.
- [19:27]
B
Bit and say, back up and tell the story of St. Anne's and how that sort of led into the Catholic initiative. So St. Anne's is the second oldest continually operating parish in the country. 1701. It's been serving the community since 1701.
- [19:40]
A
Wow.
- [19:40]
B
The building burned down. It's gone through a few iterations, but the current building that's been there is. Is late 1800s, I think 1886 is the number in my mind, but could be wrong about that. But it's at a point where the archbishop of Detroit said it will come to ruin in the next 10 years if we don't restore it. At the same time, 750 mostly Hispanic families that are. It's the center of that community. And so. So it's a.
- [20:08]
A
It's a crumbling building, but a thriving parish.
- [20:10]
B
Absolutely. And it's a beautiful ancient, too.
- [20:13]
A
I mean, you know, as old as it gets virtually in this country in.
- [20:15]
B
An area in downtown Detroit that is being revitalized. And, and so this could and should be at the center of that revitalization of downtown Detroit. But someone has to stand up and. And support that.
- [20:26]
A
Yeah.
- [20:28]
B
So we have a long history with the Archdiocese of Detroit, but including buying an old seminary and then Catholic Conference center from them and. And. And transforming it into what we think a pretty special. Pretty special resort at this point called St. John's Resort. And the archbishop came to Mark Pulte and said, after after what's happened there, would you, would you support this restoration and would you lead it? Because we've seen what, what's happened elsewhere. And Mark says it's one of the two times in his life that he can think where the Holy Spirit just sort of came, came from him, or came through him. And he said, I think I can help. I think we can, we can do this, but we can't continue. We can't just do it the way that it's. We can't support this the way that we've always supported these sort of projects. Right.
- [21:17]
A
Just kind of write a check. Write a check here, here's, here's the help you need. Here's put a roof on.
- [21:21]
B
That's right, yeah. And, and we don't think others want to support it that way. You have to be willing to try a different model with us where the ownership changes. We take this sort of responsibility that we've talked about. You have to try that model with us and then, then we'll take the, the risk. We'll fire the fundraisers, we'll go do the building, we'll take, we'll do that hard work as partners, but you have to, to try that. They say, well, that you can't have the ownership of the basilica.
- [21:46]
A
You can't buy the basil from us.
- [21:47]
B
Yeah.
- [21:48]
A
That doesn't transfer ownership.
- [21:49]
B
Right. And I'll fast forward, long story, a lot of conversations about canon law and this and that, and, and we ended up getting to an, an agreement on something that would be sent to the Vatican. And the Archbishop said, basically, so this isn't going to happen, but let's try it out, because I don't, I think we're out of options. And however many months later they got a letter back that said, this has been approved. You know, go forth. And we were all like, wow, well, we have a tremendous responsibility now.
- [22:17]
A
Right. Yeah. So the stewardship slash ownership of St. Anne's Basilica is now, is now under.
- [22:22]
B
The Catholic initiative and in the Catholic initiative.
- [22:25]
A
And then it's leased back to the.
- [22:28]
B
Lease back to the, to the parish for, for 200 years for a grand total of $1. With a commitment to raise the endowment that's going to, will support it and sustain it and with the commitment to complete this restoration that they've need. And we've taken on now three other projects or two other projects, and we're talking with a fourth one to sort of replicate that. And each one of those is a little bit different. Right. Like, I mean, yours is one of those so we're not have land as part of yours. It's about raising that endowment because you have such a vibrant ministry and that ministry needs to go on forever.
- [23:05]
A
Right.
- [23:06]
B
And and the Joseph Finum Academy of the Sacred Heart in downtown or in Wicker park in Chicago that would have closed in in July this this this past July last year and all girls Catholic school all girls oldest all girls Catholic high school in in Chicago serves almost every student there is on either no tuition or or little tuition. Almost every student there is is either Hispanic or black. It almost 40 different zip codes around Chicago come and convene here. Great outcomes for those young women. But but no money to support it and, and no money for that future investment. I actually had a fairly healthy fel. Healthy list of partners and and donors who have stood by them for a while. But but you come to the same point of like how do they had a real estate question of how do we know we can't continue to support this if we don't know if the doors are going to be open for the, for the school forever. We said well we'll take the ownership from the people that owned it at the time and we'll just give it back to you in the same the same way and we will be that partner forever. And all of a sudden the other partners started raising their hands to be part of that.
- [24:12]
A
Yeah, well there's that vote of confidence but also it seems like. Seems like you guys have a kind of a very strong risk muscle.
- [24:18]
B
We do have a strong you know, that's how I think that's in the worst case scenario for, for any one of these projects that I just mentioned. Let's take St. Anne's worst case scenario where we don't find other philanthropic partners to to join us in this then St. Anne still gets to continue doing its mission forever. We just as a Catholic we can't do a hundred more of those where we're the, we're the only funders. Right. But so we have a, we have a high tolerance risk. But also because we believe it we just. We believe that this is going to make a transformational impact on the partners that we're. That we're choosing and we believe that other people want to be part of of big bold transformational things.
- [25:06]
A
That's that see that that captures the imagination. Right. Kind of puts a little fire in the heart. Like even like you're mentioning the. It's not just investing, it's also serving. So right. You mentioning here's Mark and the pul Family with their background in building and, and your background in leadership and organization and management, all these kind of things, and people just inviting people who have whatever gifts they. They have been given and developed. Right. As well as a love for the Lord and a desire to see his kingdom established on this earth and say, okay, how can I do that? And so you partner with, I mean, imagine so many people.
- [25:42]
B
Well, I mean, you know, one of the things I think that holds non profits back when I take off purely the Catholic Initiative had and move put back on my Pulte Family Foundation. One of the problems I think that holds back non profits is, is they, you. You don't. We're always, they're sometimes nervous to hire people that do have these great skills, great talents that they've developed in the business world because they may be too expensive. Right. We have said we are going to invest in people for the Catholic Mission. We are going to invest in people who have that love for the Lord. They're on fire for wanting for this mission. And they also have these amazing talents that they have displayed elsewhere.
- [26:21]
A
Right.
- [26:22]
B
So we've hired a team of fundraisers who are phenomenal at fundraising. And we weren't scared of the fact that they might cost a little bit more to do that because in turn, we're going to hold them highly accountable for doing that thing. But they also, they're on fire for the mission. They have the, they have the capability to do that. They can go out and do the fundraising just like Mark can, can. Can spearhead a beautiful, beautiful restoration project. They can do fundraising. We've hired an executive director of the Catholic Initiative who has a long history of, of, you know, being the arch. The superintendent of, of schools for the Archdiocese of New York, running a Catholic school. As, as the president, he's been involved in like, he, he understands one, how to lead, two, how to operate in these, in these systems. And even though, like, we didn't wait five years, 10 years to, to kind of prove things out, we said, no, we're just going to take the risk. We're going to hire someone like that. He's going to come in and that's how this is going to flourish. And so, yes, we have a high tolerance for risk. And I think that's how you make, I think that's how you make a difference.
- [27:23]
A
Well, I think that makes sense. Exactly. There's that sense of we can put another band aid, right? We can fix this other crack, or we can try something that maybe hasn't ever been tried.
- [27:38]
B
I, you're investing to build that foundation. Right. It's not just fixing the crack. It's like we are going to build that foundation and then we know it's going to go well.
- [27:44]
A
And the church is in a new era. So our, our. My current bishop, Bishop Daniel Felton, he talks about this. He says we're in an epochal change right now in the church. There's always. Church is always changing. Church is always, you know, renewing, called the conversion. But we're in an epoch change. EPOC H. Right.
- [28:00]
B
I'm impressed that you tried to do that.
- [28:03]
A
And that sense of if we keep on doing what we've been doing, we'll keep on getting what we've gotten, which is this decline, as opposed to saying, okay, is there another way to bring the same gospel? Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, forever the same gospel to this world. And so this is just a. I mean, you have a track record, too, in the sense of. I mean, I don't know if you could say a one little thing about St. John's Resort.
- [28:29]
B
Sure.
- [28:30]
A
And Stonecliffe and Wyoming. Well, because. Because this is. You mentioned the old seminary that the Pulte Family foundation took and did something new with.
- [28:40]
B
Yeah. So St. John. It was St. John's Seminary then it was St. John's Conference Center. It's now now St. John's Resort. We took it over from the archdiocese four years ago. Around four years ago. And have spent the last few years transforming it from a wonderful Catholic conference and event center to what was. I. Forgive me for the pride in this, but it was just named the number one hotel in the state of Michigan. Number one resort, really. State of Michigan.
- [29:06]
A
I've been there. I believe it.
- [29:08]
B
Massive global golf tournament. Like, it's become a place, it's become a destination. And, and we, we did that all well, honoring the heritage and the history that was there and the mission and the spirit of. Of what was a beautiful seminary. You walk in there, you still feel like you're at this historic seminary. It's still beautiful. The chapel's still. Apple is still there.
- [29:30]
A
Our Lord is still.
- [29:31]
B
Our Lord is still present in the Eucharist there every dollar. But in, in addition to it being a luxury place that you would. Anybody would want to go and have their meeting or event or play golf at. And I mean, regardless of the mission, it's a place that you want to be. But 100% of profits go to charity. And, and that goes to the corporate works of mercy. And we try to do those same charitable things on the property itself, whether it's hiring people with intellectual development displays, housing refugees, hiring them on, on property. We give food away to soup kitchens. We give away 30,000 meals to soup kitchens just out of that, that place. So we're trying to do a whole bunch of things at once here and I think we're doing that, that fairly well. And we, we took that same lens to how do we use the way that we used our talents there to, to really invest in, in a business, right. A business that's going to give all of its money away to a, a Catholic minded mission, but, but a business. How do we do that with the Catholic mission directly in the Catholic faith and parishes and schools directly. And that's, that was the genesis of why we really wanted to, to invest, you know, the coming years in the Catholic initiative and in building the foundation of this to be something that's very special.
- [30:35]
A
I just think that you mentioned the risk, you mentioned doing something new and saying, okay, we're going to invest in people who are excellent in their, in their craft, in their work, whatever, and applying it to the Catholic initiative in these areas with parishes and organizations. But I just wanted to highlight that St. John's as one example of. Here's a track record where, okay, here is something that was in decline, right. The St. John's Seminary, like had to, had to sell, had to go out of business essentially. Taking that though, and by employing people who are excellent at hotel management and resort management and all. And I mean the golf course, you know, groundskeeping, all incredible people. And saying, as you said in one sentence, 100% of profits go back to serve you. Don't you donate is once everyone gets paid, it goes back to helping people.
- [31:32]
B
Yeah.
- [31:33]
A
And so that's, that's just remarkable.
- [31:34]
B
I've never had a fun mission to be.
- [31:35]
A
I've never heard of that until I had heard of St. John's yeah. And, and not only St. John's but.
- [31:40]
B
Also there's two other two others at the moment in the Innisfilm cliff on Mackina Island. And currently it's a Hilton Garden Inn out in Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming. It's going to be a graduate by Hilton in about a year and a half. So all three of those and the people that work there feel that mission and the people hopefully in the community are supposed to feel that mission.
- [31:56]
A
She said even not just like, hey, someday after all the bills are paid, the profits go away. But no, even how we run this resort in these hotels, we want to run them in a Catholic way, right? With the mission of Christ at our heart, which is just, I don't know, I think that that's the kind of thing that I hope someone's hearing that and thinking, oh my gosh, that's possible because you're doing that. And that's.
- [32:20]
B
Yeah, yeah. And that's the same mindset we bring to the Catholic initiative. Not only on the investment, but how do people see the church and see people that are filled with the faith and filled with the Lord, how do they see them doing good in society?
- [32:36]
A
Right.
- [32:36]
B
And, and you can do that at the hotels when you see how the, how they're run, how the associates there treat people, where the money goes. And when we're investing in projects for the Catholic initiative, it's how do we invest in places where, where that is vibrant and people are seeing that that parish or that school is doing good through the community. And so all of that is at the core of what we're doing.
- [33:00]
A
Well, so this, this particular episode of called is about. I just really want to make it clear what is the Catholic initiative, why it exists, what it does, but called this podcast is really in so many ways about individuals who like, oh, here's. Here's why I do what I do. Here's how. Here's the way I see what I do right now as being the hands and feet, like the heart and the face of Jesus in this world. So, Kevin, for you, how did that happen? Where it's just like, is there a particular way in which you were like, okay, I'm convicted by this, or I'm invited into this, or this is how I'm going to serve. Here's how I'm going to be. Take all the my gifts and skills, talents that I've developed, and I'm going to use them for this mission.
- [33:49]
B
I wish I had like a 10 word answer for you. I think that would make for a better podcast episode. But the, for me personally, I don't want to say it started, but it sort of supercharged. This will shock you in adoration. So. And I was not, I'm not, not someone who ever used to really go to Adoration, but my, my wife's stepmother came home out of nowhere one day, came to, and I was at their house and she was like, I was at Adoration. And for the entire time, the only thing that kept coming to my mind was, you need to get Kevin Doyle to go to Adoration. I'm like, oh gosh, I don't put a lot of pressure on me, but I listened and I did that and many things later. But that particular, my first time ever going adoration led me to go meet with a few people because that's what I heard when I was there. Let me go meet people. Fast forward a long time. That's how I started. Decided to leave the corporate job I was doing to come do. It was a mix of. A mix of that corporate experience and a mission that I believed deeply in, which is how do we just. How do we help people who are less fortunate? And how do I use my skills at the time as a hospitality consultant to help those people that are less fortunate? And in everything that we do from the foundation now, the Catholic mission, we carry through that same mindset of how do we use the skills that we have, the gifts that we have to make a transformative impact on the world?
- [35:17]
A
That's. I even that I didn't know that. I didn't know that that's where it started. But it highlights the, I guess what something that as. As Catholics or as Christians, disciples of Jesus that we don't. We're not just do gooders. Yeah, but it comes from, you know, I was, I was at the beginning of this last semester on campus, we're. We just, we invite all of our student leaders and we have a bunch of student leaders, some who, who lead initiatives, some who lead Bible studies, some who are just, you know, volunteers and they, they just want to serve. And we have a lot of activity for the, especially for the first month. It's just like it's thing after thing. We try to invite people into the community and start, start grow, growing and moving. And at one point, one of our students spoke up in a, in a leadership team meeting. And she said, because we're like, oh, he's. All the things we have to do. And like, we need more volunteers for X, Y and Z. And she just said, guys, I just want to, I just want to remind us that all of this is about Jesus. Like, just that sense of, like, I know we're working really hard and we're looking for more volunteers and we're trying to reach people to bring them here, but we're doing that so that we can bring them to Jesus Christ. That's the whole reason why we're doing this. And you know, I was so in that moment, I was just so proud because it was my niece who said it actually, and I was like, whoa. She didn't get that from me. She got that from one of the other leaders who had invested in her and reminded her of that earlier that week. And she just said later on, I said, hey Heidi. That was really, that was really profound. And she said, well, I was tired like I was, you know, being stretched because she's trying to reach these young women and bring them into her Bible study and disciple them. And the woman who works with her, Katie, said, well, Heidi, remember this is all about Jesus. Oh, that's right. We're not just a do gooding organization. Doing good organization. And so for you even to be able to say I was in adoration, what the Lord said to me was okay, I'm inviting you to. And that's what called is about. Right. It's not just I have the idea I want to do this thing. It's called because there's a caller.
- [37:22]
B
Yeah.
- [37:23]
A
And the person who's being called to underscore that because it's powerful.
- [37:27]
B
I, we were together recently and somebody asked you, you know, how do you deal with secular problems? And you gave such a great response. You asked them a few questions and got them to it a little bit too. But they said, how, how do you deal with secular problems? And you said, there aren't secular problems. Right. Because like you said, it's all about Jesus.
- [37:45]
A
Yeah.
- [37:45]
B
Right. And so that's how we, that's, that's at the heart of the humanitarian hotels. But it's also, that's at the heart of the, the Catholic initiative is how do we make sure that the, the parishes and schools, particularly for in under resourced communities and that they can be helping the whole community see that it's all about Jesus forever. Right. I mean we can restore it with physical beauty that matters. People are attracted to beauty and they show up. We set up an endowment to ensure that financially they're on a sound footing and they can do that. But then how also do we support them in just caring and doing good for the community, worship wise and also just in their everyday life? Because it permeates everything. And a thriving parish permeates your whole life. And then that shows people it is, it's. It's all about Jesus.
- [38:32]
A
Yeah. So you mentioned these three kind of areas that Catholic initiative focuses on. You said restoration.
- [38:39]
B
Restoration. Yep.
- [38:40]
A
Endowment.
- [38:41]
B
Yep.
- [38:41]
A
And then that final. Of just keeping sustained, sustained Catholic life. Sustained service.
- [38:49]
B
Yeah. Ensuring that, that, that the parish or school is kind of serving its role as a community hub for, for everyone around, whether they're in the, in the parish or not. But restoration, endowment and then, and then supporting that parish or school just enriching the lives of, of its own community. And it's in the community around it.
- [39:09]
A
Would you say that it. Here, here's longevity. Right. So restoration. Because here we're, here's something that's fallen into disrepair. St. Anne's is an example. The Joe as that says. Okay. This school needs to be updated endowment in that sense of. Okay, so this is not just a patch. This isn't the band aid we're mentioning. This is an endowment that for generations to come, this will be funded so that it's, it's, you know, these fruitful ministries are underfunded. And that third that, that component of. We also want to help these missions stay on mission.
- [39:40]
B
Stay on mission.
- [39:41]
A
So here's St. Anne stay on mission. St. Anne's as a basilica here in downtown Detroit. The Josephinum, your Catholic girls school. Stay on mission here. Bulldog Catholic, you know, Stay on. Stay on mission and, and whatever other initiatives there are. Those seems like those three components. Restoration, endowment, and then helping those organizations and parishes stay on mission. Would that be.
- [40:00]
B
Yeah, I mean, it's, it, like it's a little, it's kind of a triangle like that. Right. And the, the, the restoration is one that we lead more on when we're involved. Makes sense a skill set that we can bring to the table. The staying on mission is what they, that we're already doing and what they're already pretty great at. And sometimes they wanted to do more of it, they just lacked resources or some partnerships or things. And so where we can help supercharge that we, we want to. But there's the stay on mission part and then the endowment supports both of those.
- [40:28]
A
Yeah, that makes sense.
- [40:30]
B
But it's all about, as you said, longevity and sustainability. Because we don't want to just do this for, for five years, ten years. It's, it's. How can. The same way I'm, I'm Kevin Patrick Doyle. I'm of Irish descent. Right. When my Irish ancestors showed up in, in America, it was their parish that gave them a place of home and community. And it set us on a, on a great trajectory for a long time. How do we ensure that there, that places that don't have the resources right now can continue to serve that role and then continue to serve those communities forever?
- [41:02]
A
That's so good. I just, I love that. Again, it's, it's, it is a, I would say a new way of looking at a new problem. And the new problem is all the things we highlighted at the very beginning, that here we are in an age where there's darkness, but an age where, you know, how do you say it? Where when things are darkest, those bright spots shine even brighter.
- [41:28]
B
Yeah.
- [41:28]
A
And so I could look at the dark and say, oh, gosh, look at all these horrible things that are happening. It seems like what the Catholic initiative is trying to do is remind us that, okay, look at these bright spots. They can be brighter. Not only these bright spots can be brighter, they can be bright for a long time with that. I like that. That three restoration, endowment, and then community hubs or helping them stay on mission. Mission is just powerful.
- [41:52]
B
Yeah. We keep reminding ourselves we're not trying to.
- [41:54]
A
In.
- [41:54]
B
In what we're doing with the Catholic Initiative. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel. We're just trying to bring a. A new tool for a new age to. To help ensure that that wheel keeps rolling.
- [42:05]
A
Well, this is also helpful to. That people should hear that in. In kind of, you know, owning or stewarding St. Anne's you're not also running the parish. You're like, no, no, no, you parish. You keep keep going. Keep doing what you're doing. We're not in charge of you.
- [42:18]
B
Yeah.
- [42:18]
A
You're still a parish of the archdiocese.
- [42:21]
B
That. I mean, that Detroit one we have. I don't hope this doesn't sound terrible, but we don't have any interest in running a parish or a school.
- [42:27]
A
Sounds pretty good.
- [42:29]
B
And. But that has been the conversation with each diocese. That was the conversation the outset. Like, we don't want to. They don't want the pastor to give up the role of the pastor, and we don't want to take that role, and we don't want to tell the pastor or inhibit him. We. All we want to do is. Is support and enable, and that's part of choosing to invest and partner with ones like Bulldog Catholic that are already thriving versus ones that may be, like, a total turnaround story. Like, we're starting with the ones that are thriving, and we are just helping them to ensure that they will thrive forever.
- [43:02]
A
That's so good. Is there anything that we haven't covered that you'd say, okay, here's an essential part of the Catholic initiative that people who listen to called. They just. They should just know this. We haven't said it yet, or maybe we've said it, but you just want to underscore it?
- [43:14]
B
I think one of the things that I would want to make sure that people know is that as we are stepping in, we're trying to step into the breach with the Catholic Initiative, but we're trying to do that with and for those communities and so. And it's been. It's been wonderful with the first few that we've started this relationship with, that even if we're not from that community, as long as we're approaching it with that mindset, if we are doing this for you and we want you to tell us and how. How. How we can best do that, it's been a beautiful partnership. And so we are. We're. We're not trying to design something for anybody. We're trying to design it with them, and we're trying to do this with them. And that's. I think that's very important. But. But by having having another partner like us that can come in and step into the breach with them, that's how we think we can get others that may be on the fence to join alongside of us.
- [44:14]
A
I think you said that there are times where a pastor feels really alone. Those who work in the church, I work with youth ministers as part of my role as the director of youth ministry. They can feel really alone. Some of these organizations are schools. Like, hey, we're doing this on our own. And to be able to have you guys come in and say, we're not coming in to swoop in and save you. We're coming alongside of you. Because sometimes you're just trying to do all of this alone. We're.
- [44:41]
B
We are coming to help. Like, we're coming to. To support. They're already doing great. We're just coming to ensure that they can keep. That they can keep doing great. It's not about saving.
- [44:49]
A
Yeah. If someone came to you and asked the question and said, I want to live out God's presence in the world but have no idea where to start, what would you tell them?
- [45:00]
B
So that is a potentially very complicated question and answer. And the thing that's sticking in my head right now is my old soccer coach who used to scream kiss at us all the time. Keep it simple. Stupid. I don't know if stupid is a nice thing to be saying on a podcast like this, but keep it simple. And so if someone asked me how to live out God's presence, the world. Keep it simple. Look at the person right, right in front of you, right next to you, And. And what can you do to help them?
- [45:25]
A
Yeah. Right.
- [45:26]
B
And whether. Some days that may be easy, some days you really might need to think about how you can use your gifts or talents or connections or whatever it is to help them. But. But I think that's what we're really called to do. It's to. To love our neighbor and to help our neighbor. And. And so that's what I. What I do, and I try to remind myself from time to time is just look at the person next to me and how. How can I help that make that person's day better or week better or circumstance better? And I think if we're all doing that, then we're probably going to do a pretty good job of living out God's call.
- [45:56]
A
That's awesome. Right in front of you. Take the next step.
- [45:59]
B
Take the next step.
- [45:59]
A
That's awesome. Thank you. Kevin, thank you so much for joining us. I really hope that everyone who has been part of this podcast that you have a better sense now of the Catholic initiative that sponsors this, this podcast, because every single one of us is called. Every single one of us is called, just like Kevin said, to take that step to love the people in front of us, to be the hands and the feet, the heart and the face of Jesus in this world. Let's say just a prayer, glorifying the Lord, name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Father, we thank you for this opportunity to come together. We thank you for Kevin and for his role in the Catholic initiative. We thank you for this foundation that has sponsored the Catholic initiative. And Lord God, thank you for all the people who participate in it. So please bless them, help them to even strengthen even more that risk muscle they have, that hardened that tolerance for risk. But even more, we ask you to please, for all of us, in all of our lives, help us to be more generous. Help us to see where you are in the world and to serve you as we meet you in our daily lives. God, give us that gift of generosity. Give us an opportunity to be generous and help us to act when you're calling us to act, to speak when you're calling us to speak, and to love everywhere you're calling us to love. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen. Once again, thank you for joining us. God bless Sam.