AUGUST 19, 2007

Normally I try to hold Town Hall Meetings in conjunction with Holy Days of Obligation. This gives everyone a chance to attend, hear the report of the state of the Parish, ask questions and give advice and opinions to the Pastor on the governance of the Parish. Because St. John of God is having its yearly festival starting with the Assumption Holy Day, the schedule will not allow me to do that for either Parish this week. So herein is a "Virtual Town Hall Meeting" that relays what would have transpired had we had a chance to do it in person on the Holy Day.

1. As I write this, the Parish Festival has not yet begun.By the time you read this, it will be over. However, I already declare it an unqualified success. Under the inspired leadership of Fr. Al, who has a special enthusiasm and expertise for such things, both staff and volunteers have been working tirelessly. I am sure that you and God will reward their efforts by having a great time, and I am confident that we will profit a sufficient amount for our needs. We will give an interim report before the end of the month.

2. You can see the work we are doing at the Chapel at Mother of Sorrows: two brand new, four-stall handicap accessible bathrooms and a water fountain. We are also reconfiguring the sacristy to make it double as a meeting room for RCIA, Bible Study and Adult Ed.

3. We continue to replace windows in the rectory a group at a time, so that the snow won't cover Fr. Rege when he wakes up in the morning any more.

4. We are replacing a roof a St. Mary Cemetery Office, and continue to equip the chapel we have outfitted there. If you haven't been to one of the Saturday Masses, you might want to consider it.

5. We also have some bids for replacing parts of the roof at the Chapel and School. We hope to get some of that work done before the winter.

6. In terms of finances, you will receive a full report of all our finances, including the festival, in the bulletin at the end of September. The short version is:
a) We are operating in the black, with all bills paid on time each month.
b) We are well along the way to paying off our Parish Share Assessment ahead of time, which means we will keep the excess as a tax free bonus in the Parish.
c) The proceeds from all of last year's fund raisers (pizza kitchen, bingo, festival, mardi gras, ladies tea, etc.) were not necessary immediately for operating, so we have placed those profits and some other excess funds in savings in the Catholic Institute. That way we get interest on them and they are available to us in need. The amount we banked was $75,000!
d) We still have the issue of a debt of just under $1 million to the Catholic Institute, but we will deal with that later. The debt was more than that, but the sale of St. Mark reduced it by a quarter of a million dollars. It also helped drop our operating costs by $70,000 a year.
e) I have regularized the envelop rotation for next year. Although there will be a second collection almost every weekend, we will know always what they are for. Some are mandated by the diocese, some are PSP, and some are for our expenses here, like Chartible Works and Utilities. But there will be no more than two envelopes on any given Sunday, and they will read the same each month. Some time in the future, we may have a stewardship appeal and try to reduce the number of envelops, but we are not ready just yet.

7. Our sacramental, liturgical and spiritual statistics are well above previous years' numbers quantitatively, and I feel that we are making great progress qualitatively as a parish family representing and bringing the kingdom of God to the Sto-Ken-Splen-Rox area. I revel in the new birth we seem to be experiencing. My thanks to my brothers, Fr. Al Semler and Fr. Rege Ryan, the staff, the volunteers and each of you for making my pastorate here a labor of love and joy.