As we enter into this new calendar year, St. John has been doing some “housecleaning” of both our campus, as well as our financial processes. Some of the basic components of running a church, as with any organization, include an efficient financial program that allows for us as a Parish Family to fulfill the mission of our church, To Know, To Love and To Serve God, in His Church and in Our Community. One of renewed components of this financial effort that will assist us as good stewards of the gifts of our parish is a completely reformatted Chart of Accounts.
The Chart of Accounts is a listing of the names of the records an organization has identified and made available for recording transactions. The Diocese of Venice has provided specific accounts that churches should follow and St. John has the flexibility to tailor its chart of accounts to best suit its needs. We have done exactly that. Our new chart of accounts is structured to help us identify exactly what we are spending, where we are spending it, and why. We can now see exactly how much we spent on the power bill for the Church, as well as what rental fees we were paid by businesses that utilize our Ballroom. By clearly understanding what we are spending, our Finance Council can advise the clergy and staff in prioritizing our resources and making better decisions for our Parish Family.
Additionally, each area of our church now has a yearly budget that is designated for these accounts. Each employee with responsibility for those areas have provided their planned expenses for the year on a monthly basis, and those have been consolidated for your viewing in our upcoming changes to the financial charts in the bulletin. Instead of a “static” $28,000 weekly budget, which does not reflect the actual budget or expenses of our tremendously expanded set of programs and events that last year equaled $3 million, you will see a fluctuating budget based on the anticipated weekly needs. There are a few other changes, like the consolidation of the weekly and year-to-date collection summaries, and the special collections, that will make the charts easier to read and more transparent to show where your wonderful donations are going. If you have any questions about these changes or our financial programs, please do not hesitate to contact myself, Karen Beebe, our Bookkeeper, and/or Barbara Kuryea, the president of our Finance Council.
It is all of our responsibility to take care of God’s gifts of time, talent and treasure for our Parish Family. Thank you all for your continued support in doing so.