Children lend their talents to planned giving campaign

TORONTO - A new archdiocese of Toronto “Planned Giving” poster campaign is using the Apostle’s Creed to inspire legacy gifts to the Catholic Church.

It has a twist however. Instead of just words, the campaign features a poster of children’s drawings which brings the Creed to life.

The poster encourages parishioners to consider legacy gifts in the form of donations through bequests or donations through an insurance policy or family endowment.

The archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Development invited children participating in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program to submit drawings depicting scenes from the Creed for its poster campaign.

“The goal? To remind parishioners of the history that stands behind them and how a gift in their will creates a lasting legacy for the next generation of Catholics,” according to the archdiocese of Toronto’s blog.

The poster campaign also features the text of the Apostle’s Creed from the new Roman Missal which will be used in Canadian parishes beginning at the start of Advent later this month. 

The campaign also has gone online, with a heartwarming video of a young parishioner from St. Monica’s parish, three-year-old Matthew Schesnuik, heartily reciting his version of the Apostle’s Creed in a YouTube video. There are two versions of the Creed posted, one of Matthew reciting the Creed beside his father, Quentin Schesniuk, manager of Planned Giving and Personal Gifts for the archdiocese, and the other with Matthew’s voice over the pictures from the poster.

The Office of Catholic Youth assisted in putting the project together.

For more on planned giving, call (416) 934-0606 or visit www.archtoronto.org.