Finance Council Minutes - May 11, 2023

Mary, Mother of God Parish  
Finance Council  
Meeting Minutes for 5/11/2023
St. Ita Rectory Basement – 7pm

Attendance 

• Members present: Father Robert Cook, Father Alejandro Lopez, Don Haider, Jim Muss, Carol Hanson, Andrew Welling, Magali Duvivier, John Kryl, John McCarthy, and Joe Jacobs

• Members Absent: None
• Ex Officio Members Present: Ed Stranc
• Ex Officio Members Absent: Christine Boyd
• Staff Present: Dorothy Julian, Stuart Boldry, and Yasmin Hernandez
• Staff Absent: Mark Franzen

 
Council members received earlier via email the agenda, the minutes of the April meeting and the financial statements and reports.  
 
The meeting began at 7:01pm with Father Alejandro leading us in prayer. 
 
Meeting Minutes
Don Haider made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Magali Duvivier. The minutes were unanimously approved.
 
Introductions
The finance council members introduced themselves. Father Alejandro introduced himself as well. He was born in Havana, Cuba. Was a pastor at a parish in Australia that was not as large as us but had two schools totaling about 180 students. He was sad to leave but happy to be here with us. He has been a priest for 20 years. Some hobbies and interests include Star Wars, movies, and books.
 
Financial Report
John McCarthy gave a quick summary of the financials of Mary, Mother of God parish. The Parish has about $4 million in cash which does not include our property. When the three churches merged along with them came different ministries. St. Thomas brought in the Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry, and more recently Canterbury House. From the merger at St. Gregory came the cultural center, St. Gregory’s Hall. We are one of the few parishes in the Archdiocese that can afford to do this. That said, our current budget for fiscal year 2024 has a deficit of about $200,000.
 
The budget includes a planned deficit for St. Gregory’s Hall. The hope in time is to reduce that deficit to breakeven or a level sustainable by the Parish. The Hall’s fundraising efforts include grants and fundraising activities budgeted close to $100,000. A good portion of the budget is maintenance. The Parish has a lot of facilities to manage, and they cost money to upkeep. $148.500 has been approved for capital projects for FY 2023-2024. The Parish should investigate grants such as the Richard Driehaus Trust, that offer grants to maintain and update religious facilities.
 
School Report
Ms. Boyd was not able to attend the meeting. John McCarthy gave the school report in her absence. St. Thomas of Canterbury School has a surplus of $1 million and is one of the biggest recipients for Big Shoulders and Tax Credit funds.
 
Stewardship Report
The Parish needs to focus on realistic ways to close the budget deficit. Some avenues being considered include:

1. Increasing offertory through more active use of Give Central
2. Maximizing the Parish’s largest collections which are Christmas, Easter, and the Novenas
3. Developing a new/updated Parish census
4. Using targeted asks for capital projects

 
Old Business
There was none.

New Business
John Kryl brought up to the council that some of the volunteers are interested in how the money being collected for Outreach is being used. He also mentioned that the Soup Kitchen has no credit card and that it is sometimes problematic for volunteers to pay with their own funds and wait for reimbursements.

Father Alejandro stated that he is here to support us and will not be in the way. He is comfortable helping with fundraising activities and wants to get the friars more involved.
 
The meeting ended at 7:51 pm with Father Bob leading the council in prayer.

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