14th Sunday of the Year

Dear Friends in Christ,

Our new fiscal year began on 1 July, and I want to give you a quick overview of our financial situation. During the fiscal year which ended on 30 June 2015, our offertory income was $1,722,390, and we finished the fiscal year with a surplus of $26,390 or 1.5%. From these funds we pay all operating costs which keep the parish open and running, and I am deeply grateful to everyone who contributed in the past fiscal year. It is from the church operating budget that we pay for everything except capital projects and school operations, and we work very hard to keep our costs under control so that your gifts are used to maximum effect. Even with careful controls, though, our costs do increase slightly over time, and so for this new fiscal year, I need to raise our weekly offertory target from $32,000 to $32,500 – an increase of just 1.5%. To help us maintain our good financial health, I have three requests for every household in the parish:

First, I ask each household to increase your regular offertory gifts 1.5% over last year. For example, if you were giving $50 each week, your new gift will be $50.75. Such a minimal increase, if embraced consistently by all active parishioners, will allow us to finish another year in the black.

Second, please consider using Electronic Fund Transfer to make your offertory gifts. Setting up EFT is easy and quick, and you have complete control over the amount and timing of your gifts. Making your offertory gifts through EFT lowers our costs, simplifies record keeping, and reduces the labor of counting and recording the collection. You can stop EFT at any time, and once you set it up, you never need to write another check. For more information, please contact Jennifer Doiron at jennifer.doiron@stmarysgvl.org or 864.679.4102.

Third, please remember that we make regular offertory gifts not because the parish has bills to pay but because being a disciple of the Lord Jesus requires, among other things, an accounting of our stewardship of the goods entrusted to our care. Put most simply, there is no way of being a mature disciple without also being a responsible steward. So, please give regularly as an essential part of Christian discipleship and understand your gifts as a sacrifice of praise for the glory of God and the service of His people.

Father Newman