To our Parishioners;
As President of the St. Joseph's Catholic Church Finance Committee I would like to take this opportunity to share with you, a few pertinent points of interest regarding the financial status of our parish. As you may or may not be aware, our parish reports our financial information to the Diocese of Peoria using a fiscal year ending in June of each year. Our bookkeeper has completed the information and forwarded it to the diocese but Fr. Tim has asked that I present this information to you, the parishioners, in summary fashion along with a few explanatory comments.
There are three additional parts to this online Financial Report:
In this week's printed bulletin (Nov 4, 2007), we have included a pie chart graph that reflects our total sources of cash received and cash disbursed within the last fiscal year ended June 30, 2007. As can be seen, as a total entity, our parish was blessed by being able to afford (pay for) all of the wonderful programs we have here at St. Joseph's including the operation of the only Catholic Elementary School in Pekin.
Total expenditures for the year were $1,826,926 and total receipts were $1,936,985. This resulted in an increase in Church assets of $110,059. I realize that may seem very good but when one realizes that during the year, if some former parishioners had not bequeathed over $140,000 to the parish, our net results would have been in the red by almost $30,000, meaning we would have to dip into our reserves to finance operations.
We, on the finance committee are trying to apply all the gifts and talents God has given us to steer and guide the fiscal actions of your parish but we need your help, encouragement and support. In light of that here are a few points to consider that are on the immediate horizon:
- The church and School HVAC systems are in dire need of repair and replacement. This expenditure will cost us in excess of $350,000.
- Maintenance, utilities, and education costs, especially in the diocesan mandated increases in teachers' salaries (which are well deserved) and insurance continues to rise and will have to be dealt with.
- We are in the process of earnestly evaluating the aspect of conducting a capital development campaign that will include demolishing and replacing the existing parish center with a new structure that would include new parish center offices, gathering hall, pre-school facility, classrooms for RCIA, WATCH and other educational uses, a new youth ministry area, an updated St. Vincent DePaul center and much needed storage and parking we now lack here at St. Joseph's.
I realize that some people are interested in knowing what it "really costs" to operate our parish on a weekly basis and after reviewing the financial information it appears that we need to strive for weekly collections of approximately $20,000 in order to break even for the year, not considering any of the above items. This number varies from the $15,000 number in the bulletin because it needs to be adjusted periodically based on our actual situation. I will make every effort to reflect a true picture of what is needed to meet our ongoing needs and Fr. Tim will address the other issues as they come up.
I realize that we all search deeply in our hearts when we address the question of "how much do I give back to the Lord" based on what He has given to me. The bible runs deep with various references to what we should give in terms of time, talent and treasure and I would encourage all of us to pray about this often and with sincerity.
Included with the financial information is a chart depicting the actual statistics of what was given by all of us during the most recent fiscal year. I would encourage everyone to review the information and ask yourself first, where do my total annual contributions fall in this chart and then, is it enough or could it be more?
Worth mentioning is the fact that over 83% of our registered parishioners give an average of $500 per year or less, 15% an average of $1,770 per year and that over 72% of our total receipts are from roughly 16% of our parishioners. This is indeed food for thought as we address our own responses to our parish needs. At the same time we also sincerely want to thank everyone for their continued support!!
I would encourage you to contact any of the finance committee members with any questions or concerns as we are truly here to serve you, the parishioners of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
In Christ,
Tom Tesar, Pres.
Your Finance Committee members are: Father Tim Nolan, Pastor, Steve Mefford, Parish Trustee, Donna Weghorst, Parish Trustee, Tom Tesar, Lou Miller, Terry Finnegan, Mary Ann Ladendorf, Rose Hassler and Kevin Stark