The St. Mary of Vernon Finance Council assists the Pastor in the administration of the financial health of the parish. They work closely with the Pastor on the annual budget, facilities’ maintenance and construction and financial planning. The members meet monthly to review the financial reports, monitor construction /improvement projects and provide the parishioners with periodic written reports on the parish’s financial position. The members have two year term limits.
Financial Report Fiscal Year 2022-2023
The Fiscal Year 2022-23 was a year of coming back. As a parish, we strived to bring back events and ministries- all in person. In July, Fr. Shemek Tomczyk joined us as an Associate Pastor. And, after a year of searching, we hired Mark Schmitz as our new Director of Music in October.
Enrollment in our Religious Education and Youth Ministry programs is steady, but not as high as pre-pandemic enrollment. We held several social activities throughout the year, including new events such as Night in Bethlehem, BBQ and Bourbon Tasting, and the Living Last Supper. All were very successful events bringing our parish community together.
Our Sunday Mass count continues to improve with a weekend average of 850, but we are short of our pre-pandemic numbers. Yet, the parishioners of St Mary of Vernon have continued to rally behind their parish with amazing generosity. Your continuous financial support enabled us to end the fiscal year nearly covering all our expenses.
Thankfully, online giving continues to provide a significant part of our Sunday income. Give Central electronic donations provided 44% of our annual income. Our annual Sunday income was $914,487.
On the expense side, our total expenses were consistent with last year, however, we are facing some large maintenance costs including a new church sound system, new church lighting, new roof on the parish center, garage, and church. In the fall of 2022, we met and hired Walsh Consultants to conduct a 3-year “For Our Future” Capital Campaign for the parish. $1.5 million was the goal, with $2 million being our reach goal. The people of St. Mary of Vernon continue to bless the parish with their generosity, and we are currently only $155,000 short of the $2 million reach goal.
In November 2022, the rectory furnaces were replaced thanks to a donor who specifically gave to the For Our Future Campaign for the rectory furnaces. In March 2023, we began work on the new church sound system. Money was borrowed from the parish savings account to fund the project because we hadn’t yet collected enough campaign funds.
In Other Income and Expenses, we continue to support St. Angela’s, our Sharing School and other Archdiocesan collections. Our rebate from the Annual Catholic Appeal was higher than last year, from $58,320.00 to $89,384 even with the Capital Campaign kick-off.
We are truly grateful for the continued generosity of our parish family! We are looking forward to new and exciting opportunities at St. Mary of Vernon.
Any questions or comments for the Finance Council can be emailed to [email protected].
Sincerely,
St. Mary of Vernon 2022-23 Finance Council:
Fr. Ignatius Anaele, Pastor, Bill Litgen, Jennifer Gedville, Rick Winegard, Kasia Olson, Jon Berndt, Margaret Clark, Bright Melkiore, Domenic Lanni, and Jen Daniels, Parish Business Manager