St. Joseph Church

Annual Report for 2008

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Last Updated on Sunday, February 08, 2009 16:02

February 2009

Each year the pastor is required to give an annual report to the parish. Sometimes this report was sent to your homes as a letter with your statement of contributions for the previous year. At other times the report was given verbally in Church. This year I would like to give the report to you in Church. Already in the mail you have received your statement of annual giving to St. Joseph for 2008. With that statement you received income and expense figures for last year with a comparison of two previous years. We ask you to review these. If you have questions, please ask me or you can also speak with members of our Finance Council. The names of the Lay Members of St. Joseph Corporation and the members of the Finance Council will be in next week’s bulletin.

I met with our Finance Council on Feb 2^nd 2009 to review the 2008 report that is sent to the Archdiocese. That report includes income and expenses for the year, Sacrament statistics and a proposed budget for 2009. I greatly appreciate all that the members of the Financial Council do for us.

These are some of the highlights of our report for the Archdiocese. During this past year on average, there were more people who attended Mass each weekend about 1020. That is up 25 people on average from 2007. We have almost 3000 registered parishioners. Roughly, 30% of our parishioners come to Mass each weekend. All of us wish that figure were higher. May we encourage more people to join us in worshiping together. It is important that all of us work at being welcoming to people who celebrate Mass with us each weekend. Ushers may find people seats and pass the collection basket, but each one of us is called to greet people and welcome them to Church. Our Stewardship Committee is working on creative ideas in this area. I am very grateful for all their efforts.

This past year we baptized more than we buried. That is a positive growth sign. Other sacraments of 1^st Communion, Confirmation and marriages hold steady for us or have a slight increase. May all of us encourage those who celebrate these Sacraments to have a deep commitment to Jesus Christ and the Church. May they be strong in their prayer life and living the life of faith in Jesus Christ.

We have an excellent school with very well qualified teachers and very dedicated parents. We thank you all for supporting our school. We have a very solid religious education and faith formation program. Our staff and teachers in their own deep faith hand on well our faith in Jesus Christ and the Church. We are planning some important developments in our program that will benefit everyone. I thank all those working on religious education for their great efforts.

We have many other committees and groups who meet and work tirelessly for all of us. Some are visible from week to week at Mass: Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Altar Servers, Choir members and cantors. Many of them work in the background and are hardly noticed or known: our Parish Pastoral Council and Stewardship Committee; members of the prayer shawl ministry, the many people who work on the meals for the needy and homefront day; the members of our pro-life committee, many people from our Hispanic community – especially the John the 23^rd group, and of course the young people in our Youth Group. I say THANK YOU to you all. Though many parishioners are involved in ministry here at St. Joseph, there is always room for more participation. Because of our Baptism all of us are called to share our gifts and talents in many ways to enrich the life and growth of our parish. We are putting together a new booklet describing our ministries including names and phone numbers of contact people. Watch for it in coming months.

These are difficult days financially for us all. There is a great economic strain in our country that has put a burden on us all. Each one of us feels the effects of this strain. The proposed budget that we sent to the Archdiocese has not increased. We are doing all that we can to live within our means. With your continued help and support we will do well this year to meet our ordinary expenses. This year we plan on looking closely at refurbishing the kitchen in Guild Hall and repainting the whole Hall. That will be an extraordinary expense that we must do some planning for. We will let you know the details as they develop.

Over the years you have done so much for us and I say many, many thanks. People have been so generous. We have received very large and wonderful bequests. In gratitude we pray for all our benefactors. Our many benefactors sustain us greatly. You also support us with your weekly contributions. To you I say thank you. Some people have asked how much should I give in the collection envelope each week. We have suggested to school parents at least $10.00 per family per week. Many can be even more generous and we say thank you. I would use the same suggestion to all our parish families. But I also know that many are able and do make a much larger contribution. Thank you. Please know that what you contribute empowers us to work together in faith and be financially sound. I feel confident that with attention and review of our budget, being careful with our expenses and your ongoing support, we will do well this year despite the economic situation of our country.

In faith with Jesus Christ we move into this year. Jesus’ words “I will be with you always” ring clearly in our ears and in our hearts. We journey together and with him. May we know, feel and understand the depths of his love, presence and guidance.

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