Levels of Financial Giving . . . from maintenance to growth.

I will not “beat around the bush” . . . we need to take in more money in our offertory collections than we currently take per each week of the year.  Last year I took steps to stop financial “hemorrhaging” and to reduce it to the slow bleed that it is today.  Nevertheless, it remains a “bleeding” which needs to be stopped and reversed.  

When expenses exceed income, of course, it is a problem which needs to be attacked from both ends:  The spending needs to be decreased and the income must be increased.  It was necessary to impose some severe cuts on certain staff positions in order to stem the flow from our savings:  These savings came at the cost of some services, and it has necessitated an ongoing re-evaluation of my initial strategy to build up youth ministry and to offer education programming for adults. 

 As far as utilities, grounds and maintenance, we have made some cuts in landscaping, and we have employed some conservation strategies in order to reduce our energy bills. But, any strategy which is based on deferral of maintenance can only cost the parish more money in the long run.  You cannot simply ignore a leaking roof or a falling window, or cracked pavement without exposing the parish to greater liabilities than the investment necessary to do repairs or for preventative maintenance.

Fixing the “pastoral” problems is a much more difficult problem to measure than fixing buildings or equipment.  If upwards of 70% of your parishioners don’t go to Mass regularly, and there are thousands of non-practicing Catholics within your parish boundaries, you have a big problem.  Unlike the “tried and true” methods available to someone who wants to fix a roof or a boiler, pastoral ministry in this day and age relies on experimentation.  No one seems to have a clear answer to the malaise of our secularized culture, which places the value of Pee Wee Football, and Cheerleading over the value of Faith Formation and Worshipping God.  

By contrast to our northeastern Catholic culture, many Protestant congregations around this country practice tithing . . . some to the tune of 10% of family incomes!  With the funds which flow from this level of giving they hire full time “Youth Pastors and they provide all sorts of services to their people.  I have never specified how much people should give, and I am loathe to do any such thing.  However, we must be clear that we are not currently taking in enough money to sustain what we have and what we do . . . never mind what ought to be done!

Therefore, at the urging of the parish finance council, I am asking that everyone re-consider their weekly giving habits, and to give some prayerful reflection on if and how you might be able to do better.  Can you double what you give?  Can you increase your giving by 30%?    What are you realistically able to manage?    

The key phrase I have been employing whenever I address this issue is “planned giving:”  The tithing system employed in those Protestant churches I mentioned above involves a clear plan for giving; not a last minute grab for whatever is at hand.  Certainly, the old fashioned envelope system, and the new E-giving system are geared toward this sort of planning and deliberation.  Please take a second look at one of those methods as you consider this important message.

Fr. Greg