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Financial Report
Hello, my name is ____________________ and I am a member of our parish finance committee…. Fr. Todd has asked me to report to you today about our parish’s finances… Let me start with a quick story… It happened that a one dollar bill and a five dollar bill found their way to the bank … while in the casher’s drawer they bumped into a fifty dollar bill and a hundred dollar bill – the one dollar and five dollar bills were shocked as they rarely have seen a fifty and a hundred dollar bill…. The one and the five dollar bills asked the fifty and the one hundred dollar bills where they have been and what they have done… the fifty and hundred dollar bills spoke up and said, “Oh my… we have seen far off places, we have been to Las Vegas to the Casinos, we have been to expensive fine restaurants. We have been to shows on Broadway and we have even been on vacation to beautiful beach resorts.” Being kind of curious, the fifty and hundred asked the one and five dollar bills, “So where have you guys been?” The one and five dollar bills answered, “Oh my!… the only place we have been is Church!” Obviously there is a simple point to the story… I think you get it…. (pause and smile). Like your family, our parish family has been impacted by challenges in the local and national economies. Regardless of these challenges, it is essential that we meet the “weekly collection need” of $11,200 which is more than achievable for a parish our size. The $11,200 of Sunday collection we need weekly in part supports the more than 88 ministries that we have on-going in the parish! Other parish fund raisers like Fest-for-All and the reverse raffle add to the overall financial picture. What are the facts? There are 1,050 …registered households in our parish. Of these, about 33% do not attend Mass, 33% are infrequent attendees and, unfortunately, this leaves about 33% of us who are in the pews every weekend… The good news is that the 33% of us who are here every weekend give the majority of the financial support to our parish. The $11,200 weekly collection we need, when divided by the 33% of us who are here every weekend, (roughly 346 households) equals about $35 contribution for each household per week. Now… we know that many families give more than $35 each week, some much more. We also know that many are not giving anywhere near this amount. We understand that some cannot afford to give this much, but there are some who simply do not make supporting our parish a priority. We know that a Biblical tithe is 10% of our first fruits (which is the very best we can offer). Our collection envelopes only suggest half of this Biblical tithe amount to our parish … How close are you coming to giving back to God the10% Biblical tithe of what He has given you? How close are you to even 5% given back to God from your blessings? Answering these questions is important for our faith journey. God expects all of us to give back something! So….How is your gift or contribution used? Well let’s start with the most important expense we have…. Fr. Todd… without a pastor we would be a very different church… we got a hint of this with Fr. Todd’s absence earlier this year… and we are very grateful to have him back with us… What does it cost to have a priest of our own? Well… Fr. Todd is paid a salary of about $28,000 a year. We also pay for the majority of his health care and dental care which is about $7,100. We make a contribution the priest retirement fund of about $13,000 for Fr. Todd and all the priests of the diocese. We are proud to provide a suitable home for Fr. Todd to live in, the priests’ house at 1949 Edgewood. We are happy to report that this home is paid for and has been improved by installing new fuel efficient windows over the summer. Remember: Fr. Todd also is allocated $1,000 for continuing education, $750 for his annual retreat. All other expenses incurred by Fr. Todd are his responsibility (for example, personal savings, car cost and maintenance, auto insurance, personal property insurance, fuel for automobile, personal items, clothing, recreation, federal, state and local taxes, family obligations and the all important vacations Fr. Todd enjoys taking)… Anyway, the total cost for St. John parish to have Fr. Todd as our pastor is about $49,000… This cost, by the way, is far less than the average cost for his protestant pastor counter-parts…. We know that Fr. Todd cannot run the parish by himself…. I would like to remind us all, again, that we have over 88 active ministries happening here at St. John Catholic Church – we are a vital, active parish… we have a lot going on…and this is great! We know all these ministries take committed volunteers. Think about volunteering for a ministry – you will find that it adds to your overall spiritual satisfaction… it adds to your religious and spiritual life! What do the staff members do? Our staff members help Fr. Todd to run our parish ministries… When I say “staff” – this includes our Liturgist and Music man, Dave Moninger, our Pastoral Associates Connie Moffit & Janice Elliot, our School Principal Sr. Lynda, our school teachers (Mrs. Mack, Mrs. Torrez, Mrs. Rohn, Mrs. Greiwe, Mrs. Good, Mrs. Donaldson, Mrs. Gilford, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Boyd and Mr. Fischer) our school finance officer Mrs. Zadecker and secretary Mrs. Naymick, our school custodians Mr. Perez and Mr. Weidenhammer, our Operations and Finance Officer Bonnie Nally, our Administrative Aid Donna Drown, our Generations of Faith Coordinator Carol Kurvial, our church maintenance man Larry Birkmeier, our custodian Shirley Bradenbaugh, and our priest’s housekeeper – Barb Delany. Our parish Deacons Don and Nick are not paid, but do receive some minimal costs for retreat & continuing education expenses. The total cost for our share of our education ministry at Holy Cross is $200,000 – our total cost for the rest of our ministries is about $358,000. This cost does not include utilities and maintenance. Obviously, our school staff and new school building expenses are shared with St. Mary’s parish. I am happy to report that we have maintained the same level of support to the school for the three years since we have moved – that is, our subsidy has not increased since our move to the Holy Cross Catholic School campus. The parish staff members continue to be good stewards of our parish resources and work to do more with less in their areas of responsibility. And, it goes without saying, that as a parish family we have helped the poor and needy through St. Vincent DePaul, the food bank and direct help. So, what is the cost of utilities and maintenance and the other essentials? You may be surprised…. The cost of operating the church, the office, the old school and the priest’s house includes items such as water and electricity….what we might call the “not so glamorous items”, but still essential items… The total for the year for water and sewer is $3,900. Our Ohio Gas Company bill is $14,800 a year- we all like heat when it’s cold! Our Toledo Edison bill is $16,800 a year! We all expect air conditioning when it is hot! We pay $1,632 a year for supplies – including toilet paper and paper towels for the restrooms! We pay about $2,000 a year for bread and wine, about $2,000 a year for our in pew missals and music issues, we pay about $700 a year for candles. While all these expenses cover the basic costs of operating and maintaining the parish, they do not include the costs for operating the parish’s 88 ministries, which are sometimes offset by registration fees and donations. These ministries are the mission of the church and without the funds to operate these ministries the previous mentioned expenses are fruitless. So, are we in debt? The painful answer is yes… One item of continuing concern is our outstanding debt to the Diocese of Toledo for past due Diocesan Assessments. What is the Diocesan Assessment? Each year, the Diocese of Toledo assesses (or “taxes”) every parish in the diocese a percentage of the total weekend collections. These annual diocesan assessments are used for the ministries of Diocese of Toledo including the education and support of our diocesan seminarians who are studying for priesthood. St. John is currently is behind on these annual assessments by $99,633 dating back from 2005. This year’s assessment is $47,761 and is included in the current budget. Paying down this past due assessment must be a priority as opportunities arise. So… What do we need to do? 1) For those not giving at all, prayerfully consider giving back to our Lord what you have received from Him as blessings and start making a weekly contribution! If you need envelopes, contact the Parish Office. 2) Think about your current offering – does it meet the 10% tithe that the Bible demands? Is it close to the $35 weekly household offering to meet our parish ministry needs? 3) I would like to invite everyone to consider remembering St. John Catholic Church in your Will and Estate. If you have any questions about how to set up a memorial or bequest to St. John Catholic Church, see the information included with the written report or contact the Parish Office or any member of the Finance Committee. The annual written Financial Report for St. John Parish and Holy Cross Catholic School will be sent to all households in the coming weeks. Overall, our generosity shows the love we have for God and the people we serve in His name through the ministries of the Church. Thank you! If you have any questions about our parish finances, please contact any of our Finance Committee members. | |
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