Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: July 12, 2015
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Our Parish’s new fiscal year began on July 1. All this basically means right now is that we’re still totaling up all of the figures from the last fiscal year, so that we can see how we did. But the preliminary figures seem to be even better than we expected. On the income side, regular offertory giving not only has remained strong, but even increased a bit (thank you!). Offerings to the Parish for weddings, funerals, baptisms and other services – and anonymous gifts from visitors to our historic Cathedral building – are also something we depend on. The final gifts to our Together for Tomorrow capital campaign were very generous, especially as a number of pledges were voluntarily “extended” a bit, and now that our renovated Parish Hall is complete we’re beginning to see some income in rental fees for it as well. It’s also good to have our entire parking lot back in operation, for we do rent out the eastern half during the week to downtown workers and thus gain some income from it!
On the ledger’s other side, maintenance and utilities ex penses are significantly better than just a few years ago, testimony mostly to the increased efficiency of our new air-conditioning system and the lower repair costs in the re novated Hall. Other costs – in particular in the area of liturgical music, which I always emphasize is much higher here at the Cathedral than in other parishes – remain significant.
The best news from all of this is that, for the first time since before I can remember, last year we did not need to dip into our savings in order to make ends meet! Things are tight, but the best thing for our trust and savings funds is to leave them alone! In any event, when the final figures from the 2014-2015 fiscal year are in we’ll post a more detailed report here in the Bulletin: I know you’re interested in seeing more exact numbers.
Of course, the future won’t be long in coming. Now that the Hall project is complete, we’re going to have to turn our attention to waterproofing the exterior of the church, and eventually improving the lighting and sound systems inside of it. Because of that, we all need to stay generous in supporting our beloved Cathedral Parish.
From a practical standpoint, one thing that you may wish to do is contact your own bank and make an “automatic bill pay” request of them. More and more people handle their regular financial transactions this way. If you ask them to send a set payment from your checking account to the Cathedral every week (or month, or however often you decide), you won’t have to remember to write that check yourself, and bring it to church or mail it in. It also avoids “transaction fees” and contractual costs to you and us – which other forms of “electronic giving” require. All of this is probably a big plus in your eyes, and certainly is an advantage for us here in the Parish Office as well.
This being said, I want to reassure everyone who simply prefers to drop their check or envelope into the collection basket at Mass each week, that’s perfectly acceptable too! From a theological point of view, in fact, this is actually better: since at Mass we are uniting our own sacrificial giving to that of Christ, contributing while at Mass symbolizes this very, very well. One priest-friend of mine, though, recommends to his parishioners that they contribute “automatically” and then empty all their pocket-change and $1 and $5 bills into the basket on Sunday! I have to admit I like the idea, since every little bit helps!
What isn’t good, of course, is forgetting God and His Church. Since along with time and involvement spending habits are the best indicators of the real value we place on things, we mustn’t pretend that God is very important when we routinely reward ourselves and never give back to Him. While the Lord does want us to take care of ourselves and our families first, He also can read the real intentions of our hearts if we’re really stuck in “selfish mode.”
In any case, thanks for reflecting on your responsibilities to God and to the community of the Church and your Cathedral Parish. When you do, a generous spirit is sure to follow!
Sincerely in the Lord,
