From the Pastor's Pen

With the Annual Parish Financial Report this weekend, we begin an important

mini-season: Stewardship. I don’t talk about money from the pulpit very much, but this weekend’s report is required by church law so that you, the parishioners, are made aware of how the money of the parish is handled. With the fiscal year that just ended on June 30, we entered a new phase of the parish finances, in which we don’t operate the school ourselves, but pay a reasonable amount to the partnership school, All Saints Academy. This makes our current finances confusing. I’ll try to explain it in simple terms; for a repeat, go to our website: strpdparish.org (a recording of Fr. Tom's report will be available after 9/16). Our group of assessment payments to the Archdiocese, for everything from the offices of Youth, Finance, Marriage, Liturgy, as well as paying the insurance on our buildings, is based on the revenues the parish takes in. A percentage—around 3%--is calculated and then we pay that amount the following year. So now we pay on higher revenues than we’re getting this year, because we had higher revenues, including tuition, in recent years when we ran the school ourselves. This year, though our school expenses are much lower, we still pay assessments on that higher figure. We just have to get to next June when this will be adjusted down again. The diocese is assisting us to make this transition.

Our Offertory has gone up a modest amount, which is a real testament to your spirit when there are deaths and other losses of people. But costs on our parish staff and property also go up of course. My own personal contribution is again going up a few dollars for this year.

Next weekend, the Stewardship Awareness Campaign will get underway in earnest. You’ll get mail, and I’ll deliver the homily at each Mass. Then next week, some of our lay parishioners will tell their story of responding to God’s goodness. Then you’ll receive your Intention Card in the mail, and we ask you to bring it to Mass as a renewed offering of your time, treasure, and talent. We will be stronger the more of these cards that are returned.