According to recent Diocesan Guidelines, each parish in the diocese is required to submit to you a financial statement in order to show where our parish stands and what our parish needs to do in order to address our financial deficits. In the November issue of our Parish Newsletter, The Irish Review, we have provided for you our parish’s financial statement for 2006-2007. I give much thanks to Diane Egan (our new parish business manager), who not only provided the numbers for this month’s newsletter but has also volunteered much of her time above the call of duty to help us out with our financial situation.

As you will see, our current parish deficit stood as of June 30, 2007 at $148,642.36. This deficit is not as severe as that of other parishes in the diocese but is an issue that I have been addressing over the last year and a half, an issue that we must continue to address so that the future of our parish and school remains sound.

After evaluating our spending practices over the last few years, our parish’s business manager and I came to the conclusion that two specific programs significantly caused a good deal of this deficit, namely our school’s kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs. Five years ago, the powers that be forecasted an increase in our parish’s younger demographic that did not materialize and based on the numbers from five years ago, that forecast might have seemed appropriate. Unfortunately this forecast did not result in a growth in numbers and our kindergarten program lost over $35,000 in revenue each of the last five years. In addition, our pre-kindergarten program also took a hit, costing our parish over $18,000 in revenue last year as well and the losses from previous years seemed to parallel that trend.

Our parish’s Finance Committee informs us that our weekly collection has actually increased this year by a factor of $500 a week. However, we are still about $1,000 a week behind our necessary goal to break even for the year. If this trend continues, our parish will need to find a way to reduce our parish’s spending next year by $40,000 or so, in addition to resolving the issues with our school previously discussed.

As a way to resolve this situation, we reduced our parish subsidy to the school last year by a factor of $70,000. By reducing our kindergarten classes by a factor of one, we saved our parish over $35,000 in lost revenue. By requiring our school parents to buy $200 in gift cards (or Manna) each month, our parish generated another $10,000 in income. We instituted an Alumni Appeal last year, which generated over $25,000 in income. We have done much this year to address the financial situation of both the parish and school and hope to keep moving in that direction.

All this said, we ask the simple question concerning our parish’s financial situation:
How can you help?

In addition to inviting you to invest in our parish’s Time & Talent and our Manna Program I am offering an idea for your consideration that might be able to eliminate the deficit completely and provide two very important needs in the parish. I am providing diagrams of architectural drawings (for which I have paid out of pocket) to provide an illustration of what the parish can build to strengthen God’s spiritual presence in our lives and remove our parish debt altogether. I have discussed this proposal in previous months with our Parish Council and all our other St. Patrick’s organizations, who agree that the elimination of the deficit and the building of these centers would be a positive sign that our Church would be viable to the Joliet community for years to come. As I discuss this idea with you further, I welcome your suggestions and comments.

One of our Parish Council members called this plan the “Eat Your Vegetables Before You Can Have Your Dessert” approach. What we wish to propose is some type of “erase the red” campaign with a goal of an Adoration Chapel and Activity Center at the end of the plan. In this plan, we would simply utilize the spaces that already exist in our parish and adapt them for our parish’s needs. In the process, we would be able to provide a 50 seat Chapel that we could use for Daily Mass and Eucharistic Adoration (a type of prayer that Pope John Paul II implored each parish throughout the world to offer perpetually for the sake of vocations and the spiritual well-being of each local community). We also would have the ability to create an Activity Center away from the school which could seat 125-150 individuals comfortably with a kitchen, handicapped bathrooms, and a handicapped entrance into the church from Marion Street. With this space, we could host receptions after Mass, meetings for our parish groups, and small parties for those celebrating anniversaries, baptisms, and things of that nature.

If the faithful of the parish agree to this plan, we would utilize the kind of diagram that would require us to offer these facilities as an incentive to pay off the parish debt. There are many faithful at St. Patrick’s who desire the possibility of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (if we choose this path). There are many who would wish for some type of social center as well with air conditioning and a warm environment. One parishioner provided a check for the sole purpose of handicapped bathroom facilities, a need that has become ever-growing in the St. Patrick’s Community.

As you take a look at our financial situation and our proposal for discussion, I ask for your input concerning this idea. If we generate enough interest to move forward, our Parish Council would begin the formal process of presenting this idea to the bishop for approval. Our parish’s well-being in the future depends on what we do today. Let us make a difference today and pave the way for the parishioners of tomorrow.

God Bless,

Rev. Peter G. Jankowski
Pastor, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church