+JMJ
Dear Parishioners,
A couple weeks ago we had another Finance Council meeting. Here are some highlights:
- We reviewed the usual monthly statements: the balance sheet, the income and expense report, the aging report (Accounts Payable).
- The Rosary Altar Society gave a donation of $1,750. We are so grateful for that donation, and their faithful support of our liturgies!
- We received anonymous donations of $3,000 and $3,500 which were put towards the repair of the automatic door openers on both sides of the gathering space. The doors are now repaired, and we are grateful for this donation.
- We are approaching the goal set for the Bishop's Annual Catholic Appeal. As I write this letter, we are at 83.07% of our goal, which is $39,483. The goal is $47,528. I'm very happy to see that our total so far includes 242 donations! It's so significant that a broad swath of parishioners participates in supporting the pastoral initiatives of the Diocese, which are our pastoral initiatives, since we are an active and alive parish of the Diocese.Thank you very much to everybody who has donated so far! And, if you have not donated, please consider donating. Every little bit counts. What a statement to the Diocese, if we fulfill the goal, which is set proportionately alongside all of the other parishes in the diocese.
- As I write this letter, the weekend collections are under budget by $9,124, year-to-date. I am praying we end the year (end of June) over budget; and we are very close to doing so. Thanks as always to our parishioners who are consistently generous!
- The question was raised about why the collections seem to shift from week to week – one week looking like we are quite above budget, and then the next week looking like we are only barely above budget. The reason lies with the automatic withdrawal process. Monthly automatic withdrawals (for parishioners who have set this up) happen during the second week of the month. So, you can imagine that the third weekend, when that big withdrawal is counted, looks like a much bigger collection, when compared to the other weekends of the month. Monthly automatic withdrawals are a great way to maintain your faithful giving, even throughout the summer, when you are on vacation.
- There is talk about adding a raffle to the mini-fest we are planning in August (the day of Fostoria's Farmers' Market and Heritage Day). We were not going to do this, because of the immense amount of office work necessary to pull off a raffle (stuffing envelopes, addressing and mailing them); but with our bulletins, could we print the tickets and allow people to use the bulletin tickets? Then we wouldn't have to do all the office preparation. We are studying this possibility.
- By the time you are reading this letter, the school property will have been fully closed upon, and transferred to the Fostoria Economic Development Corporation. The parish is no longer in possession of that property.
- After various tries at repairing the elevator, which still on occasion has a pretty rough shimmy at the top, our current elevator company recommended going to the company that actually installed the elevator in the first place. That original company now has been purchased, and we are working with Theissen-Krupp. Their technician came out and identified several problems, with great confidence that they can fix the vibration. This will cost us about $14,910, because it is significant work. Then, we will start using this new company for ongoing maintenance of the elevator, including our yearly state inspection.
- The Diocese approved the repair contract for the mausoleum roof (and cornice) with Technique. We signed the contract. The total cost will be $41,500. We have funds from a prior capital campaign that never fully was executed, and from an anonymous donation.
- Neil Podach of Shaferly Excavating hooked the downspouts on the East side of the offices into the street drainage system. This will prevent flooding of the yard. I am very grateful for this donation of work from Neil!
- About a month ago we had a significant leak of coolant from the huge a/c coils in the utility room beside the parish hall. This is the cooling system for the church. Findlay Plumbing and Heating was able to isolate the leaking tubes, and bypass half of the coils. Our system is made up of two huge sets of coils, about 10'x3'x2' each. Right now we are running on half the system; and to do this we have to keep the temperature the same 24/7. I am concerned that if we try to run on only half the system, another tube will blow in the other half, and we will be stuck many months without air-conditioning, because it takes quite a while to re-create these huge coils. The system is 28 years old. Won't other tubes also start wearing out? And, it's impossible to get these huge coils out for maintenance: you have to cut them into pieces. It seems best at this point to be proactive, installing new coils which are custom built, in modules that can be removed more easily and maintenanced. We are getting prices for this, in order to decide the best next step.
- The permanent live streaming camera has been installed; and more recently, the CPU and a dedicated laptop arrived. Now, we have only to get the necessary software onto the laptop and learn how to operate the new software.
So, there the highlights. On another note, I hope you have seen the advertisements for Jessica Pehmoeller's video series on how to engage people in conversation and invite them more deeply into the Faith. You can find them on our parish YouTube channel. This is great preparation for The Search series, which we will be hosting. Whom is the Lord nudging you to invite?
Have a blessed week!
In cordibus Iesu et Mariae et Iosephus,
Father Poggemeyer