2021 Annual Report: Sustaining Growth
July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021
Friends,
I am pleased to present to you the annual report of our parish for the fiscal year ending in June. Each year, we publish an annual report as a barometer of our vitality as a parish.
This year, I’m entitling our report: Sustaining Growth. While it has been a difficult 18 months or so for everyone, we have continued to minister to our students and permanent community in the best way we can. While we are still understandably lagging behind in terms of in-person Mass attendance and activities for permanent community, we have been blessed to sustain our growth through the support of our generous parishioners.
Even with reduced Mass attendance, no formal symphony, and reduced parish activity income, our operating income still increased about 2% this past year. In particular, our weekend and Holy Day Collections were up 8.4%. We couldn’t have sustained our growth without our parishioners stepping up to support us during the pandemic.
With reduced parish activities during the pandemic and the transition to student receptionists, our operating expenses dropped 3.4% from the previous year. For the third year in a row, our operating income has outpaced operating expenses.
This chart allows you to see operating income and expenses compared to budget projections. Operating income surpassed our budget estimate in addition to exceeding the prior year income. Operating expenses were below budget and below prior year expenses as well.
We are blessed at our parish to have investment funds that have been generously supported and wisely invested over the years. These investment funds include the Christian Leadership Program, Lura Lovell Fund for Building & Maintenance, Stephen Lovell Library Fund, Newman Scholarship Fund and the Parish Savings Fund. While we showed a net loss in the previous year due to the stock market drop at the beginning of the pandemic, this year we showed a significant surplus in net income due to the success of the stock market.
We will publish our parish statistics from last year in an upcoming bulletin. In light of the pandemic, our numbers in terms of Mass attendance, sacramental participation, and parish activities has definitely dropped this past year. In the first quarter of this fiscal year, we are starting to see the first signs of a dip in the financial support as well. I will continue to keep you updated on that as time progresses. Even in the midst of all these challenges, our parish is still in a good position to grow and build for the future.
I want to thank Deacon Bob Fedynich and our wonderful Finance Council for all their work on behalf of our parish in this past year. The council members are: Mike Pniewski (Chair), Ed Ciecka, Dick Torchia, Steve Brookover, Joe Sweeney, Jamie Monagan, Deb Nolan, Beth Smotherman, and Terry Mambort. Non-voting members include myself, CJ Langenderfer (CSA Treasurer), Pam Meseroll (facilities representative), and Deacon Bob Fedynich (bookkeeper).
I am personally confident that, no matter what the challenges are, our parish is up to the challenge of sustaining growth in the months and years to come.
-Fr. Jeremy