Dear Friends,

Across the page from this column is a report from the Pastoral Council presented by the outgoing president, Tom Piechota. Each year the president of the Council is required to provide an annual report to the parish as a whole. The Council’s work is always about keeping the parish focused on its mission and vision. It represents the collective wisdom of a representative body who discern together how the community of STM remains faithful to the call of Christ and to the creative inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

On the next two pages of this bulletin you will find the Financial Report for the fiscal year which ended on June 30th. This report offers an overview of last year’s financial operations and a comparison with the previous year. You will see that our total parish income was down by $95,641 from the income of 2008-2009. Most of that loss was from Church (offertory) Income which dropped by $56,890. Even though our parish registration remained at around 6000 households, and the budgeted offertory projection remained exactly the same as that of the previous year, the offertory income dropped significantly. Clearly some of that is a reflection of the economic crisis and the diminished income of many people. To some degree it also reflects a drop in attendance at Mass and a drop in offertory participation. Both are readily observable to many of us.

In response to decreased income our operating expenses were lowered by $100,000 from those of the previous year. The biggest cuts came in program expenses. We are grateful to the staff for their conscientious efforts to reduce costs and to find creative alternatives in program offerings. Religious education, More Youth, LIFE TEEN, liturgy, adult faith formation, music and social outreach programs are critical to the life of the parish and all of them are significant factors in the quality of our parish community. Sustaining their vitality in the face of diminishing income is a serious concern. We did withdraw $13,000 from our parish savings to repair leaking roofs on the chapel and the office structures. Other maintenance and improvement costs were reduced where possible. The budget for the new fiscal year continues efforts to hold expenses where we can and to accommodate lower offertory income. That figure is reduced in the current budget by $76,000.

One half (c.533) of the people who use envelopes contribute $10 or less, nearly 300 of those donate between $1-$5. Of the top 500+ envelope users, about 200 people contribute between $10-$20 and another 100 contribute between $25-$50. 25 people contribute $100 or more and the remainder are scattered in between. The chart below offers a standard way of determining an offering for those who might like some criteria. 213 people signed up for Online Donation; about 100 of them use it regularly. Weekly cash contributions average about $6,000 but there is no way of knowing the number of contributors. We are grateful to all who support STM financially and we acknowledge all of the other ways in which so many contribute in service, time, talent and special contributions. May God recognize all good stewards and bless each of you.

Fr. Pat Render and the Administration Commission