Grateful for Your Financial Support

Dear Parishioners,

Every year, we provide an overview of the financial report for our parish families. We are a charity, and we rely on your trust and generosity so that we can continue all the ministries of Sacred Heart. Jesus depended on his friends to support his work. Many disciples stepped forward to help. It was a network of people. Some disciples supported Jesus every day. Others helped when special needs arose. We could think of Joseph of Arimathea, for example, who lent his tomb to Jesus so he could be buried with dignity. Jesus loved all who helped him.

We need a network of people to support our work at Sacred Heart. Many of you make regular donations. Others share one-time gifts. We remember with gratitude, Michael Kerchove and Oscar Lopez who made bequests to us this past year that helped us meet our budget for the year. Some of these monies will be placed in our endowment as well. These men loved the Lord and let that show when deciding on bequests. This is most important.

The financial news for our parish is good for this fiscal year but there are always challenges over the horizon. We divided this report into three sections. A report on our operating expenses, our endowment fund, and our capital campaigns.

The regular operating budget ended up in the black. There were two reasons for that. We received the last of our COVID assistance from the government and we received over one hundred thousand dollars in bequests. It must be noted that these two revenue streams are not something we can depend on from year to year. We did see a slight increase in our offertory after years of decline. We also held the line on spending. This is all welcome news!

After a couple of rough years our endowment fund gained ground. Before the pandemic our endowment stood at over a million dollars. We are working to get back to that level. Our endowment is very important for the parish’s financial well-being.

Finally, our capital campaign was a success. Right now, we are concentrating on debt reduction. The Gathering Center is completed, and we are putting it to good use. We had approximately $475,000 in debt remaining at the end of the fiscal year that is tied to our building projects. We are well below that as I write this letter. Donations continue to come our way. We are doing everything in our power to retire this debt as soon as possible.

God blessed Sacred Heart Church in many ways. I encourage everyone to share their resources with our parish and our Catholic Schools. We are going through a challenging time. If all our Catholic institutions are strong, we will be economically strong. If any of our schools or parishes are weak, we all feel the impact.

May Our Lady and St. Damien continue to pray for us,

Blessings,

Fr. Mark,

Pastor