It may come as a surprise to some of you, but the structure of our parish entity of Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church has not changed since it was originally formed over 27 years ago. For financial and functional capabilities, it was an organization-type called a sole proprietorship. That is a legal entity that is owned and operated by one single person. There is no distinction in a sole proprietorship between that person and the organization. That owner is in direct control of all legal and financial liabilities of the organization, to include debts, loans, income, lawsuits, etc. In fact, every single parish in the Diocese of Venice was created as a sole proprietorship. The owner of all these organizations is Bishop Frank Dewane. There were many reasons that the Diocese structured the parishes in this format, but since that was way before my tenure here, I am not privy to that history. Needless to say, it did make for some concerns when I arrived, about how that structure functions, both operationally as well as canonically. For example, if someone slipped and fell at Saint Ann, and sued that parish, the suit would actually be brought against St. Ann, Bishop Dewane, and every other parish in the Diocese. We could have been responsible for damages for issues at churches in Sarasota.
Luckily, as I began that research, I was provided a wonderful path forward. The Diocese of Venice had already identified the issues with the sole proprietorship and was moving forward with a strategy to incorporate all the parishes as separate entities. This is great news for everyone involved. No longer are all parishes and the Diocese tied together for liabilities. As a non-profit, incorporated entity developed exclusively for religious purposes, St. John is able to be responsive to the needs of our Parish Family, and still report to the Bishop as the “sole member”. Father John, as the Pastor, is given the full and complete authority vested in him as Pastor, as part of the Board of Trustees and through our new By-Laws, that fit the canonical responsibilities for his position. This incorporation occurred a few months ago, and we have just received the official letter from the IRS, indicating that our ID number has been transitioned to our new non-profit corporation, “St. John the Evangelist Parish in Naples, Inc.” We are also officially known as “Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church”.
So, while we are not making any major changes to our church mission, structure, or function, we are now protected from liabilities and debts that are not our own. It is a very positive transition for our Parish Family.