Our Goals
The Brothers Living in Unity Capital campaign will address as many of Conception Abbey and Seminary College’s most urgent facility and endowment needs as possible during the next three years. Initial priorities include:
- A New Residence Hall- $10 million
- Support for the Monastic Retirement Endowment- $4.5 million
TOTAL CAMPAIGN GOAL: $14.5 million
As additional funds are secured, additional long-term needs will be addressed. Further needs include:
- Conception Seminary College Endowment
- Facility Endowment
- Scholarship Endowment
- New Gymnasium
- St. Michael Hall Renovations
- St. Joseph Hall Renovations
With the help of gracious donors, we met our primary campaign goal more quickly than we ever have before. We have chosen to invest in a $2.5 million Signature Phase to finish out what has been a very successful campaign. Learn more here.
A New Residence Hall - $10 Million
The residence halls at Conception Seminary College have served us well but have grown tired. St. Michael Hall, built in 1929, and St. Joseph Hall, built in 1953, have outdated plumbing, electrical and heating systems. With these systems twice the age of its seminarian residents, St. Michael Hall cannot keep pace with the physical, structural, and technical needs of an institution of higher education in the third millennium. Neither building has a modern fire alarm and suppression systems nor are they ADA compliant.
We envision a new space that will promote the spirit of Psalm 133 by truly becoming Brothers Living in Unity. Completing this initiative will significantly strengthen the bonds of fraternity amongst our seminarians, a true hallmark of priestly formation at Conception Seminary College.
All seminarians will live under one roof in a new residence hall to be situated to the south of St. Maur Hall (the main seminary academic building.) The residence hall will include 68 rooms large enough to accommodate two seminarians. The residence hall also will include:
- Modern environmental services, central air, restrooms and showers.
- Common space for recreation, socialization, and community-building.
- Residential space for Seminary chaplains and the President-Rector.
- Laundry facilities, study areas and communal lounges.
The overarching purpose for building this residence hall is to enable us to house all seminarians under one roof to further strengthen our formation program.
Support for the Monastic Retirement Endowment - $4.5 Million
As monks age and can no longer work in the seminary and other ministries, they reside in our Infirmary, where their expenses are covered by the Monastic Retirement Endowment. The fund also provides future support for those entering the monastery now. Conception Abbey’s Infirmary provides health care and benefits to 12 resident monks and other monks who live in the monastery. The average age of all our monks is 66 years and we anticipate that 8 more monks will retire within the next 5 years.
To continue providing the benefits that our beloved monks deserve after a lifetime of service, we must continue to expand our endowment. The Monastic Retirement Endowment which now stands at $3.5 million, provides the funding to care and support these monks, whose primary ministry, in their later lives, is prayer for the Church and the world. Our aim is to increase the endowment by $4.5 million.
