A Memorial Day Update from James

Overview

As Memorial Day approaches, James shares a candid update on the current state of the Apostolate for Marital Intimacy, including the real costs of sustaining faithful Catholic marriage ministry. This reflection discusses the challenges of balancing affordable resources, growing content demands, and the need for consistent financial and volunteer support. The post also explains upcoming shifts toward Patreon-supported content and how supporters can help strengthen the future of the apostolate through prayer, donations, coaching, or volunteering. Most of all, it is a message of gratitude for everyone helping build a stronger future for Catholic marriages.

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First of all, I want to say thank you.

Thank you to those of you who pray for us, support us financially, share our work, participate in our courses, or simply encourage us along the way. We are deeply grateful for every person who believes in this mission.

Memorial Day is also a time of remembrance. As someone currently serving in the Army, I would ask you to join me in praying for those who gave their lives in service to our country, for military families, and for peace in our nation and throughout the world.

I also wanted to take a moment to give a candid update about where things currently stand for the Apostolate for Marital Intimacy.

One thing I believe strongly is that nonprofits should be transparent with their supporters. We never want people to feel pressured or manipulated, but we do think it is important to honestly explain what it takes to keep this apostolate operating and growing.

Right now, our software, hosting, and platform costs alone total roughly $1,000 per month.

That includes the systems we use to host courses, provide coaching infrastructure, maintain the website, manage communications, organize content, run Patreon, and support the basic functioning of the apostolate.

Importantly, that $1,000 does not pay for a single hour of labor.

That is simply the cost for the tools and systems themselves to exist and operate.

Beyond that, our largest expense is payroll.

Every member of our team volunteers part of their time, but part of that time is also paid. We all have families, responsibilities, and obligations, and I strongly believe in the principle that the laborer deserves his wages.

At our current operating level, we need approximately $2,200 per month in payroll support in addition to our platform and software costs.

Some months, generous donations allow us to dedicate substantial time to producing articles, building courses, coaching couples, creating videos, and developing new resources. Other months, hours have to be reduced significantly, or team members volunteer labor with the hope of delayed compensation later on.

That inconsistency makes long-term planning difficult.

It directly impacts:

• How much content we can sustainably produce

• How quickly we can expand

• Whether larger projects become realistic

• How much consistent support we can offer couples

Likewise, despite the amount of work that goes into them, we have never actually made a profit from our courses. We intentionally price them very low because we want faithful Catholic marriage resources to remain accessible to ordinary families.

Our Patreon operates under the same philosophy.

The $10/month membership was deliberately chosen to keep the content affordable while still helping support the mission.

Because of this, we are going to begin shifting more of our regular and practical content to Patreon moving forward.

That includes things like:

• Daily marriage encouragements

• Practical relationship reflections

• Intimacy-related articles

• Relationship exercises

• More direct sexual intimacy discussions

• Behind-the-scenes ministry updates

We will absolutely continue offering many free resources publicly. Public articles, theological reflections, and pastoral content remain an important part of our mission.

But Patreon gives us a more sustainable way to continue producing regular content while also reducing the overwhelming number of emails many subscribers told us they were receiving.

If these resources have helped your marriage or your discernment of marriage, we would encourage you to consider joining us there.

And if you are already subscribed to the Patreon or our courses and are in a position to give beyond those amounts, additional donations genuinely do make a direct difference in the stability and growth of the apostolate.

At the same time, we also recognize that not everyone is able to support financially.

If you believe in this mission and would like to contribute your time or talents instead, I would absolutely be open to those conversations as well. We may need to be creative in figuring out where your gifts could best help, but volunteers who want to support faithful Catholic marriage ministry are always worth talking to.

This August 25th will mark four years since the original founding of this work. July 25th marks one year since the founding of the nonprofit itself.

We are incredibly grateful for how far God has brought us already.

But reaching consistent monthly support goals is going to determine how stable this apostolate becomes and how much more we are able to build moving forward.

Please continue praying for us:

• That we serve marriages with wisdom and charity

• That we build something genuinely helpful for Catholic couples

• And that we steward this mission well

Thank you again for your support, your prayers, and your encouragement.

Have a blessed Memorial Day.

In Christo Rege,

James Walther
President
Apostolate for Marital Intimacy