+JMJ
Dear Parishioners,
Thanks to everybody who already gave to the Bishop's ACA campaign! You remember that this money goes towards pastoral initiatives of the Diocese; and the Diocese's mission and our parish mission are so tightly intertwined. I was happy to see how quickly our parish level jumped to 44.27% of our total goal ($22,279/$50,329), at the time of writing this letter. I hope that everybody will consider a gift, even if it is small. Every gift counts, even the smallest ones!
I'm glad to announce that the new Ministry Scheduler Pro software that we have been using for a little over a month seems to be helping immensely! It puts the power of scheduling into the hands of the generous volunteers who have offered to help with our various ministries. Before adopting this software, staff members were spending way too much time each week with emails and telephone calls, trying to fill ministry positions. Now our generous volunteers have the schedule right at their fingertips, on their smartphones. Once they see the Wednesday note that a position is still in need, they can respond so easily. Continued thanks to everybody that steps up each week to keep our parish life and liturgies running smoothly!!
We made new cemetery rules signs, and those are now posted at the cemetery. See attached or stop by to see them.
Perhaps you've noticed that we now have two, red indicator lights above the confessional door. This is a pretty traditional thing to have in place. It's not uncommon for somebody to come to the confessional door and call out, “Father, are you in there?” If you see one indicator light lit, that means the priest is inside and ready for confessions. Once the penitent enters and closes the door, a switch in the door jam turns the other indicator light on. In other words, if you see both lights on, that means priest and penitent are both in the confessional: a confession is being heard. You will want to wait until the door opens, and one of the indicator lights goes dark, before you approach for your own confession. I hope this makes things a bit smoother, and I hope the lights attract many more souls into the confessional!
You remember that the air conditioning in the church broke down last year. We were running on half-power all summer. One of the two large coils sprang a leak. The coils are very large, and they are stacked on top of each other. Given that one coil has sprung a leak, there's a good chance the other coil might not be far behind. Considering all the circumstances, it makes sense to replace both coils, and to do so in a way that makes the coils more accessible for maintenance in the future. We will cut out the two coils and replace them with four smaller modules that will work together as one. We just got a quote for the repair: $72,000. It's a big project, and costs are very high these days, as you know. To pay for this project, we already had $20,000 in donations given to us when the breakdown first happened. Then, we have $9,046 in emergency maintenance funds. Two weeks ago we received an estate bequest for $37,500, which the finance council agreed should go towards this repair. In other words, at the time of this letter, we are only about $5,000 short of the total repair cost. We can easily take that amount out of our checking account's unrestricted funds. I am so grateful for the constant generosity of our parishioners! Given that this expense is greater than $30,000, I sent the Diocese a request for permission to sign the contract for this repair ASAP. We hope to have the a/c back up and running at full strength before warm weather arrives.
There's quite a mix of “what's happening” for you! Have a blessed week!
In cordibus Iesu, Mariae et Iosephus,
Father Poggemeyer
