From The Pastor:
Continued from last week:
Looking at the three year financial report listed again in this bulletin, the first noteworthy change when comparing year to year is the Sunday Mass collections have increased slightly each year. The second is that the Other Church Income, which here is mainly interest on invested money, has been increasing, thankfully. These have been helpful in offsetting the $83k decrease in Gifts/Donations in the same period. The parish was blessed for many years to receive a substantial gift from a generous individual. That gift has expired as can be seen when comparing the last two columns of the financial report.
Looking at expenses, there is very little change year-to-year except for three categories. The first is Parish Operations, which is slightly less due to many small contributing factors. The second and larger change in expense is in Buildings. The decrease of $35k is primarily due to lowering the cost of landscaping and operations of the HVAC system. The third change is in Capital. It is higher due to the cost of replacing the roof on the parish house (formerly known as the rectory) and various equipment repairs on the heating system.
As I mentioned last week, the ADJUSTED income/loss indicates the normal day-to-day income/loss for each fiscal year. What the report tells us is that the gap between normal expenses and normal income for the parish has decreased each year, and now is within a few thousand dollars of being positive. The ADJUSTED income/loss takes into consideration Covid-19 income received in year one, the special gift received the first two years, Living Christ Campaign income received in the last two years, and the one time expense of replacing the roof on the parish house. I’m happy to see the positive trend of the ADJUSTED income/loss.
The net effect of all the income and expense transactions shows itself in the cash. The parish has two accounts for day-to-day operations. A year-to-year comparison of them provides a relatively easy indicator of the financial health of the parish. Looking at the report, these accounts are relatively stable, which is very good. Then looking at Parish Investment, again we see the parish is financially very healthy.
Overall, the operating cash accounts (2) are holding steady and the investment is currently doing well. Although the parish is aligning its normal day-to-day income and expenses, there is still more progress needed on this. For the current year, income will need to increase by about $25k compared to last year for the ADJUSTED income/loss to be positive. For those who are able to contribute toward parish operations, either as a new regular giver or to add to what you are already giving, your generosity would be most appreciated by me and many others.
Thanks to all who financially contribute to the mission of the Church! Your generosity is what allows us to do the work God asks of us. Please know that we priests greatly appreciate your generosity and we remember you in our daily prayers.
Gratefully,
Fr. Miller