Stewardship Understanding our Parish Finances

We are asking for a significant increase in our Sunday collections and believe that any request for support must be based on a well-documented need.

We rely on three main sources of funds:
 
Sundays, Holidays, UPP—This is our regular revenue and is by far the largest source of funds to pay for our parish operations.  In a sense, this is what “keeps the lights on” by paying for our staff, our routine repairs and maintenance, and the other day to day costs of running our parish.

Long-Term Savings (our Endowments)—We are blessed with savings resulting from the generosity of those who have gone before us, including our parish and school endowments.  The earnings from these accounts is used to supplement our regular revenue to balance our parish and school budgets and, on occasion, to pay for extraordinary repairs.  In the last several years we have drawn upon those savings deeply to pay for the unanticipated basilica ceiling project and the bell tower project, and now must take steps to replenish those savings.

Capital Campaign—Our capital campaign drive was carefully designed to make our older parish buildings more suitable for today’s and tomorrow’s needs, including making better use of space for our school and for our increasing numbers of lay ministries.  Although we received pledges exceeding our original drive goal of $5 million we also encountered hidden and unforeseen construction problems that forced an increase in the project budget, which must initially be funded through savings.

To restore our parish savings, which is an essential safety net for our parish future, we have set a goal of replenishing our endowments by $5 million, by increasing our Sunday collections by a minimum of 25% or through direct contributions to our endowments (see “Blue Envelope” below).  Remember, 100% of your direct contributions to our endowment funds remain here in our parish.