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Winter, 2006
The Journey Continues
by Fr. Paul A. Noble
State of the
Parish 2006
It has been
said that all I ever talk about is the need for more money. Now
I know, given the amount of time I spend talking about diets and
food, this simply can’t be true. At the same time, I am
concerned that some people believe that this is all that is ever
talked about here. So to save you from constant appeals for
more money for St. Matthew Parish coming from this pulpit, I
pledge to address this concern from this pulpit only once per
year in what I call the “State of the Parish” address. And
guess what? This is it! So, if nothing else, after Mass today,
go home and mark your calendar for the fourth weekend of
February next year (the 23rd and 24th,
2007), because that is when I’ll be doing it again. I also
reserve the right to send the occasional update through the
bulletin, quarterly newsletter, or direct mail, but only once
per year from the pulpit. Also, I would like to assure you that
I take no pleasure from making this address. It’s part of my
responsibility as pastor so I won’t shirk it but quite simply,
it ain’t the funnest part of my job.
With any
such address, one is bound to find both good news and bad news.
Let me start by stating that the parishioners of St. Matthew are
very generous, regularly generous, and dependably generous. So
I am confident that once everyone understands our needs are real
and immediate, we will receive the support necessary to cover
those needs and more.
Given our
best projections, we will end this fiscal year (June 30th)
with about a $100,000 operational deficit. This will, for all
practical purposes, exhaust any “rainy day fund” or reserves we
may have had. The bad news is we are operating in the red, the
good news is, given our current rate of participation, it would
only take the average contributor two junior bacon cheeseburgers
(or about $2) per week over a 12 month period to make-up that
difference. That would be great if our only need was to make-up
that difference. I am afraid our need is greater than that.
When we began our new building program three years ago our
parish was blessed, through your generosity and good
stewardship, with almost $500,000 in parish reserves. Had we
not had access to such reserves, I would have been before you
much sooner with much greater needs.
Currently,
as a parish, we need about $2,400,000 per year to cover our
operations and the payment on our building loan. Let me spend a
moment on the building fund. Currently, our loan from the
diocese is about $6,000,000 with monthly payments of about
$62,000 and we have about ten years to pay it off (and I’m happy
to report that through your generous participation we have
already paid about $2,000,000). This covers the cost of the
church (about 6 million) plus the cost of furnishings such as
pews, altar, ambo, and font, PA system, stained glass windows,
kitchen equipment, etc., plus interest on the loan plus the
diocesan assessment on the project. This loan also includes the
balance of the cost of the Parish Activity Center. When we
built the Parish Activity Center we were counting on the refund
from the Challenge in Changing Times campaign to help cover the
project. The refund was that money raised above our parish goal.
When we started the campaign for the church, the Challenge in
Changing Times contributions dried-up (probably transferred to
the church campaign). So in effect we took a double hit, our
costs were more than originally estimated and we had less
revenue available than anticipated.
We had a
similar experience in the area of operating revenue. You may
recall from our Financial Report distributed this past October,
our 2004-2005 operating revenue was $61,000 less than 2002-2003
while our expenses were $261,000 greater for the same time
period. We think two things happened during this time: some
people did not join us for our prayer and worship in the Parish
Activity Center (and neither did their money) and some divided
their total regular contribution between the regular
contribution and the new building fund contribution.
I would
also like to make a few remarks regarding the diocesan loan and
diocesan assessment on the project. We may be tempted to cry
“foul” regarding paying interest on the loan or an assessment on
the project revenue. By paying the interest we are able to
offer to others what was of benefit to us. When we didn’t have
the money for the project, the Bishop was able to loan us the
money at about 4%. By our paying this, we hope others will be
able to benefit as we did. Regarding the diocesan assessment,
this money is used to help parishes in need. One example of
such a need: since Father Lumpe has become pastor of Christ the
King Parish this past July, the parish has received over
$700,000 in grants from the diocese to cover emergency capital
expenses. And Father Lumpe tells me there are still more
emergency repairs needed. Christ the King is clearly not in the
position to afford such projects. The Bishop is able to give
such grants because the assessment on extraordinary projects
such as this new church is used to help those less fortunate.
We are a
big parish that is growing and as the parish grows so does the
scope of its offerings. We have greater needs and greater
expectations and as we strive to meet those needs and
expectations so grows our staff and our expenses. We now offer
more adult faith formation opportunities such as GIFT (small
faith communities) and the book club as well as the adult
inquiry program. We offer more youth opportunities and we are
expanding to include more middle school opportunities. We also
offer a “staffed” Nursery at all of our weekend Masses.
Normally, parishes may offer a nursery service at one or two of
the weekend Masses. We have more outreach programs to the needy
of our community and through our Neighborhood Ministries we are
trying to build a parish on neighborhoods rather than census
lists. We have increased the building capacity of the campus by
almost 30,000 square feet with the connected expenses of
utilities and maintenance. We have built and supported a
web-page and our parishioners expect us to utilize up-to-date
and dependable database and other information technologies.
And, to my knowledge, we are the only parish fortunate enough to
offer professional individual and group counseling right here on
our own parish campus.
A few
months ago, one of the staff asked me if the 2.5% rate of
contribution I talk about was on the net or on the gross of
household income. My response was: God bless that person for
asking… Officially, the 2.5% is on the gross. The 2.5% is
reflective of our efforts to build a community on the
discipleship model of prayer, service, and financial support.
One hour of prayer per week, one hour of service per week, and
one hour of financial support (2.5% of weekly income) each
week. Some might wonder whether or not this 2.5% will provide
enough. Some quick and simple math: the average income per
residence in Gahanna is $60,000 per year. 2.5% of $60,000 is
$1,500 per year. Our current number of families is about
2,300. 2,300 times $1,500 equals $3,450,000 per year.
So maybe
the question isn’t: is that enough? but rather: what would we do
with the extra? Our vision, our future is not a mystery. Our
Generations Plan was borne of the parish survey, of neighborhood
meetings and community listening sessions. It is on our web
page for your review. It has been endorsed by our Parish
Development Board and it is the subject of the Parish Council’s
review and revision. Right now, we are struggling to make ends
meet but it is rather clear that 2.5% would cover what we need
and help us build the kind of parish we wish for in our
Generations Plan.
Another way
to look at the 2.5% of $1,500 per year is $30 per week. We need
that in any combination of the regular operating contribution
and the building fund contribution. Actually, as a parish, we
have exceptional participation in those financially contributing
to works of the parish. Given those we can track (check,
envelope, E.C.O.) and those who have contributed $1 or more to
either the building fund or the regular operations fund or both,
we have about 70% of the parish participating. That number is
fantastic! We also have those who give cash faithfully each
week and while we can’t track them, we don’t want to forget
them. And we have some who give more than 2.5% and maybe even
generously more than 2.5%. I pray you don’t grow discouraged as
you realize there are those who are not as generous as you. I
can only assure you that it is my experience that God is never
out-done in generosity.
I would
like to take this opportunity to highlight three programs. The
first is the Meijer Community Rewards Program. You may recall
my letter of last fall. We have seen some return on the program
but we have really only scratched the surface. This should
generate at least $100,000 per year. I understand brand
loyalty—I’m from Detroit. When dad worked for Ford, we bought
Fords. When dad worked for Buick, we bought Buicks – dad never
worked for Chrysler, we never bought any of those. So I
certainly understand when you want to buy your favorite things
at your favorite store. But when we are talking about the
basics where brand doesn’t make a great deal of difference, the
Meijer program offers money that is just waiting for us to
collect and we shouldn’t ignore the opportunity. For your
convenience, we will help you sign-up after Mass in the Gather
Space if you haven’t already done so. An other program is the
Electronic Contribution Option for our regular parish
offertory. This program provides us with a dependable and
reliable source of income. While we may go on vacation, our
bills never take a vacation. If you are interested in more
information on the electronic option, that is available after
Mass as well. And finally, for those who haven’t had a chance
to make a Building Fund pledge and would like to do so or who
would like to make their building fund pledge payment an
electronic fund transfer, that information is there too.
Through our
Finance Committee and Parish Council, Stewardship Committee and
Development Board and other parish committees we are trying our
best to be accountable and good stewards of your gifts. Should
you have any questions, I know any of those committee members as
well as myself would be happy to do our best to answer them.
Our work is important and our needs are real and we rely on you
to help us meet all of our obligations as a faith community. I
ask for your increased and continued support in this time of
particular need. And I want to say it again: God is never
out-done in generosity. May God bless you for your generosity
and together let us strive to become what we proclaim: One
Parish, One Family, One Journey.
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