Every year the Finance Council of the Parish reviews the Financial Report from the previous fiscal year as well as the budget for the upcoming fiscal year as prepared by the Business Manager and the Pastor. We also share this information with you so in next week’s bulletin we will include the Summary Report which is required by the Diocese to be published to the parishioners. This will be for the fiscal year which began July 1, 2020 and which ended June 30, 2021. I would like to highlight some items for you.
Despite several months when Mass was not celebrated publicly due to the Coronavirus in 2020, and though our attendance has dropped over the last several months during the pandemic as parishioners take advantage of the live-streaming technology we implemented, our yearly contributions have continued to remain very steady. In fact, during the 2020-21 fiscal year, our offertory collection actually increased by 1.13%, or about $5000. In most parishes, there is typically a decline of 3-4% each year. I attribute this to your constant support of this parish, even during a pandemic, which allowed us to keep paying the bills, and I am very grateful to you for that. I still remember how so many of you dropped off your contribution envelopes to the rectory office when Mass was not celebrated here publicly for several months. And I know how many of you signed up for our online giving program called WeShare, in order that we may receive your donations even when you are not able to be here. I am so grateful for your financial support and I thank you for your understanding and generosity during the last couple of years which have been difficult for so many of us due to the pandemic.
As I hope you can see when you are here for Mass or some other parish event, we continue to maintain our buildings and to enhance our property as we are able. The parking lots are in very good shape after several years of slowly working to replace several sections that were in very poor shape. We continue to enhance the landscaping which is quite a challenge given the large size of our parish property. The school building continues to see updates and renovations, such as a new tile floor in the main hallways which will be much easier to clean and maintain, and which really modernizes the look of the building. We also have completely updated the school bathrooms with new toilets, sinks, urinals, stalls and floors. The classrooms in the basement have been cleaned out and refreshed after being used as storage rooms for many years, to make room for our ever-growing enrollment. And most recently, you will notice new awnings on our buildings (they should be installed in November) which will provide some cover from the rain & snow but more importantly will identify the buildings and entrances on our property. Again, your generous contributions to our Capital Improvement Fund of over $20,000 during each of the last 2 fiscal years have helped us to keep our buildings and property in good order and appearance. We also received over $15,000 in donations over the year which have been used for capital improvements inside & out. I’ll share a few more highlights in my column next week when we also include the Summary Report for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year.
I will be taking a few days off starting this weekend as I try to get to the errands that I have neglected recently, like renewing my expired driving license and passport! Gratefully there is a grace period for the driving license as I wouldn’t want to have to do a driver’s test after almost 50 years. But I trust you will welcome the missionary priest who will be praying with you this weekend.