July 11 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
WE’RE STEPPING OUT IN FAITH!
In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends his disciples on mission telling them to take NOTHING with them. In other words, to trust in Divine Providence that their needs will be taken care of. And so it is with us at Our Lady of Mercy! We trust that the needs of the parish, God will provide for through the generosity of our parishioners. Today I want to share with you a message about the financial status of our parish, as the fiscal year 2020-2021 ended on June 30, 2021. I am pleased to inform you that we did have a positive end to the fiscal year primarily for four reasons – continued generosity of our parishioners, a reduction in staff salaries, a reduction of expenses due to a lack of use of the facilities, and reception of a PPP loan, which has been forgiven.
I want to say a word of profound thanks to all of you who, during the pandemic were able to continue your Sunday contributions, especially through online giving. Prior to the pandemic, our average Sunday collection was $32,000 weekly. During the pandemic and currently, our average Sunday collection is $27,200 weekly. As I said, we were able to weather that loss in income for the reasons mentioned above.
The new fiscal year 2021 – 2022 just began on July 1st. With most Covid protocols no longer in effect and capacity restrictions lifted, we are gearing up for a return of in-person participation at Mass and our parish organizations and ministries. This will require the re-hiring of custodial services from Buck Services and daily maintenance of the building in addition to purchasing supplies for organizations and ministries. We are re-organizing our RE staff and office and are planning to hire an additional youth minister to focus especially on evangelizing our teens.
So, here is where we are stepping out in faith! To cover these expenses in our new fiscal year, our financial council has budgeted our average Sunday collection to be $30,000 weekly – an increase of $2,800 from where we have been during the pandemic, but still short of the $32,000 we were averaging prior to the pandemic. It would be great to get back to that pre-pandemic level! But, we feel with our faith in you, we will reach our goal of $30,000 weekly!
God bless all of you for however you can support OLM financially and with your time and talent, and with your prayers!
Father Don