I have always thought that one of my responsibilities to you and our Parish Family is to ensure complete transparency and accountability for the use of the gifts we choose to provide to our church. Karen Beebe, our Bookkeeper, and our entire team has been working diligently to ensure our financial environment is efficient and focused on the mission of St. John, with priorities for efforts that enhance To Know, To Love, and To Serve. Some of this information can be a bit dry, but these numbers are a tremendous illustration of your continued support, which is deeply appreciated by all those in our church and our community in need. Just as a reminder, our church operates on a fiscal year that begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 each year. We have closed the books on Fiscal Year 2016, which is why we are able to evaluate how our year has gone.
This week, I wanted to provide you a picture of our income, in particular our Offertory, which is used for all operations of the parish, including everything from Faith Formation, to mission work in Immokalee, to music licenses for the choir. It has come as a surprise to me that we have actually increased our overall Offertory over last year by 3%. This is extraordinary as we are in the middle of a Capital Campaign, in which we have already collected millions of dollars on top of our Offertory. I was expecting at least a 5% reduction in our Offertory. The logical reason for the continued increase is the large influx of registered members of this parish over the past year:
It is also interesting to see how our income is gathered over the year, and how that has changed over time. For example, you can see the trend that is “smoothing out”, where we have less of dip in the summer these past two years, compared to 2011:
Looking toward the future, we are continuing to streamline our operations and at the same time, preparing for a brand-new (for Catholic Churches in this area, at least) financial structure, which will include enhanced income from programs and activities. I hope you have been excited by the priorities you have asked for and will enjoy the benefits as we roll them out.
Next week, we will discuss the expenses of the parish. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to email me or call. My door is always open, both physical and virtual.