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My name is Mitch Derenzo and I am the Chair of the Parish Finance Council, so I will be sharing with you some details of the financial results for the Parish. I will try to keep it light for a Sunday morning.

I hope that you were all able to hear Fr. Tom’s Sermon on the Amount last week or if not were able to read last week’s bulletin where Fr. Tom did a great job sharing some of the successes and challenges, we faced today and in the most recent fiscal year. If you didn’t see last week’s bulletin, I encourage you to go to the Parish website and pull it up.

Some of the things that jumped out at me from Fr. Tom’s sermon last week were his transparency. His frequent use of the phrase Thanks and Help.  I appreciated how he shared how generous our parishioners are.  We have done a great job of helping our community through the Misson and Outreach areas, including the St Vincent de Paul and the Annual Catholic Appeal as well as helping our sister parish in Honduras through Fr. Jack’s Appeal. Also, we did a great job reducing the debt we owe on our great school building and the parish office building. Your generosity has helped the Capital Campaign #2 be a great success. 

I also appreciated Fr. Tom’s transparency and honesty in explaining the “Help” plea.  The bottom line is we are responsible with finances and resources, and we are being good stewards in helping others, however, like most of you our day-to-day expenses are increasing. Our donations are decreasing, and our expenses are increasing. Fortunately, we have bult up some savings that we were able to dip in to, but the concern is those won’t sustain us if this net outflow continues. So, I think the Help plea is coming at a good time. We are currently financially stable but now is the time we plan for our future.

Being the head of the Finance Council gives me plenty of opportunity to dive into the numbers and spend time with Fr. Tom going over the numbers and planning for the future. I frequently have to remind him, and he doesn’t like to hear it, but he is the CEO of the parish and much like the CEO of a major corporation he needs to make some tough decisions, decisions he did not learn about while in the Seminary. I reiterate that this Parish is fiscally responsible, yet there are many things we can’t control. When things get tough folks tend to make fewer donations which is why our collections are down 11% over the past 5 years. During that same period the expenses have increased 28%, which is why we have been running at a deficit for the past two years.  We are all experiencing increased prices, as an employer we face competition to add and retain quality staff. We need to provide modest salary increases to our great staff, many of which can take their services elsewhere for more pay but their passion for the parish and our mission keeps them here at St. Ignatius, but we need to take care of them with the cost-of-living increases. In light of Fr. Art’s passing, we are down to two clergy, and the duties are being shared by the staff. 

Most of our expense line items are increasing particularly in the insurance premiums, utilities and technology areas. We have spent quite a bit more the past couple of years on security measures to protect our school, staff and you, that includes an increase in security guards and building improvements.   

Another take-away from Fr. Tom’s sermon last week was his mention of Realm and how he increased his personal donation, I also use Realm so that motivated me to go home last Sunday and increase my offerings. Speaking of Realm, I hope many of you use it or are at least familiar with it. I think it is a great way to give. It gives me the opportunity to view all of the available giving options. Not only does it help me with my personal budgeting by regularly giving it helps the parish plan for its budget. It helps the parish know what’s coming in and there are no disruptions if you are unable to be at mass. And for me I don’t have to remember to bring a check to church each week. If you are not signed up for Realm, I encourage you to go to the Parish website and look for the “giving” tab. If you do use Realm, I encourage you to review your current giving and see if you can increase them. 

We are blessed to be part of such a wonderful parish, and I encourage you to support it. We do so many wonderful things. 

We started a new mental health ministry this year and we’ve supported the growth of all of our other community outreach programs.

I am asking everyone to think about increasing their weekly, monthly or annual giving and consider a one-time end of year gift. Also consider giving through other means like investment securities or your IRA minimum required distribution. There are cards in the pews that detail how to get information on those programs. 

I reiterate the Thanks as this is a very generous Parish, as you give to so many of our Ministries, the ask is that you continue to do that, but I am asking for gifts to Unrestricted Parish Support or your Sunday Offering because this is where money is used to offset church expenses such as programming, staff, maintenance and operations, etc. Please look at the cards in the pews and prayerfully consider how you can help out.

Many Thanks and Please Help.

I am Patrick Kozlowski, and I am a member of the Finance Council.

I have been involved with St. Ignatius Parish for over 30 years. I have two children that graduated from St. Ignatius School. 

As a member of the Finance Council, we meet monthly to review the parish finances and make recommendations to our Pastor. In recent weeks, you have heard from Fr. Tom about our finances. Like everyone else, our expenses have increased substantially over the last several years, yet our weekly collections have remained relatively unchanged for the last six years. Utilities, insurance, maintenance, and other costs have continued to go up and an increase in our Sunday collections and annual giving is urgently needed. 

I also volunteer in the office on occasion, and I see the dedication of the great staff we have at St. Ignatius. It is important that we are able to pay our employees a reasonable wage and benefits. The staff and volunteers are excellent stewards of the limited resources that we have to work with. Our staff and volunteers also assist our various community programs including St. Vincent de Paul, Sharing God’s Bounty, and other outreach programs. 

There are several ways to donate to the weekly collection, including the on-line giving program, On Realm, or simply by placing your donation in the weekly collection basket. 

I use the On Realm web site for my donations. I like how easy it is. But I’ve noticed that it’s been a few years since I increased my own monthly giving. It’s easy to set on auto pilot and forget about it, so I’m just asking us all to look at how long it’s been since we’ve increased our contribution and see if there is room for an increase. 

My name is Adam McGrew and I am a member of the pastoral council here at St. Ignatius. You may recognize me as a eucharistic minister at the 5:30 pm Sunday Mass or from the Feed-A-Family Christmas and Easter Food Drive Distribution Day events.

When I joined the parish in 2021, I was struck by how committed our parishioners are to ensuring that St. Ignatius remains a place where community is encountered, and the love of God is shared. Even in the throes of the pandemic, the zeal with which this community worshiped, served, and supported one another was impressive.

Whether it is offering a hot meal, rental or utility assistance, a place for prayer, or faith formation for young and old alike, St. Ignatius Loyola Parish is a place where God is encountered, and the values of God’s Kingdom are lived out. This is why I give to the Parish - because I want St. Ignatius to continue to be a foundation for the community that is lifegiving for so many.

My first introduction to St. Ignatius was as a parish staff member. I remember that every once in a while, an agenda item at the parish staff meetings would be a report on something that broke or needed replacing. Think for a moment - when your washing machine, dishwasher, or A/C unit suddenly stops working, you have to figure out how to get it repaired. That usually involves a headache, in part induced by figuring out how much it will cost. A parish is no different: things break from time to time, and it takes a bit of money to fund the repairs. In this case, it's a broken chiller for an A/C unit in the church that’s supposed to host five Masses each weekend or a freezer that is no longer keeping turkeys frozen for the Feed-A-Family Christmas food drive.