To our Parishioners;
As President of the St. Joseph's Catholic Church finance committee I would again 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 each year using a fiscal year ending in June. 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.
In this week's printed bulletin, we have included a pie chart that reflects our total sources of cash received and cash disbursed within the last fiscal year ended June 30, 2008. The online version of this chart is here. As can be seen, as a total entity, our parish was blessed by being able to afford (pay for) all of the excellent 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 $2,052,504, (up from $1,826,926 in 2007) and total receipts were $2,222,658, (up from $1,936,985). This resulted in an increase in Church assets of $170,150.
Although we are positive "in the black", please realize that during the year some of our former parishioners had bequeathed over $233,000 to St. Joseph's. Without those donations we would have realized a deficit of roughly $64,000 meaning we would have had to dip into our reserves to finance operations. And, we might note, the heating and air conditioning expenditures for work recently completed have not been included in this year's numbers.
We, on the finance committee are earnestly 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:
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 implementing the second round of these diocese mandated additional school expenditures.
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. The land has been acquired for the property and the parish will be informed as progress continues.
Everyone needs to know what it "really costs" to operate our parish on a weekly basis and after reviewing the financial information for this year it appears that we need to continue to strive for weekly collections of approximately $19,000 in order to break even for the year, not considering any of the above items. This number varies with changes in our asset base and needs to be adjusted periodically based on our budgeted annual situation. We will make every effort to reflect a true picture of what is needed to meet our ongoing needs.
We all need to 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 $495 per year or less and 16% an average of $1,779, per year (up from 2007). This is food for thought as we address our own responses to our parish needs and how we return part of our blessings back to God. At the same time we also want to sincerely want to thank everyone for their continued support!
As always, I 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,
St. Joseph Parish Finance Committee
Your Finance Committee members are: Father Tim Nolan, Pastor; Steve Mefford & Donna Weghorst, both Parish Trustees; Tom Tesar, Lou Miller, Terry Finnegan, Mary Ann Ladendorf, Rose Hassler and Kevin Stark; regular members.