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Fr. Dennis Ziomek's Bulletin
Letters on the Stewardship and Financial Reports and the Planned Offering
Program.
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Week 1 - October 7
This weekend begins our Planned Offering Program, which will
continue for three weeks. This weekend, I present to you our Financial
Report for Fiscal Year 06-07 and our Stewardship Report. Next weekend,
a parishioner will speak to all of us on the importance St. Barbara
Parish to his and his family spiritual and social lives. The final
weekend, you will have the opportunity to say thanks to God by making a
commitment to share your financial resources in a loving way with St.
Barbara Parish.
There is much good news to be shared from the past
year, along with challenges, as we look toward the future. Like any
organization, we must be concerned about finances, but as a Church, our
focus is on the Kingdom of God.
The Stewardship Report details how our ministries
and programs have been expanding; how more people are being touched by
the love of Jesus Christ.
The Financial Report details how we have made
significant progress in reducing our deficit by controlling our expenses
and by your increased generosity. For fiscal year 06-07, we came in
under budget. The deficits we have incurred over the past several years
had to paid through our Reserves. Much of these reserves have been
exhausted. We project a deficit of $31,110 for fiscal year 07-08. We
begin our Planned Offering Program this week in order to ensure that the
mission of St. Barbara continues.
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Week 2 - October 14
Hopefully you took the time to read the Stewardship and Financial
Report which you either received in the mail or as an insert in the
bulletin. As I said last weekend, there is a lot of good news to share
about what has been happening at St. Barbara. In order for these
programs, events, and ministries to continue, we need to be able to
provide the financial support to sustain our parish. It is because of
the generosity of so many parishioners who have given of their time,
talent, and treasure over our 97 years that St. Barbara has been able to
be a spiritual home for so many Catholics in Bridgeport.
Besides highlighting details of our Stewardship and Financial Reports
last weekend at all Masses, I also asked for your support of the Planned
Offering Program which will be taking place the first three weekends of
October. Among all the good things happening at St. Barbara, I also
mentioned that we continue to run a deficit, though it has been
significantly reduced. This reduction happened because of efforts made
to reduce expenses and because of your increased giving.
The Planned Offering Program is provided to parishes through the
Archdiocesan Office of Stewardship. Many parishes have participated in
the program over the years. Both the Finance Council and Parish Council
back this program. The program is not another special collection or
another special appeal. Rather, the program is intended to enhance our
current weekly Sunday collection. This programs asks you to review your
average Sunday offering (which includes both your Sunday envelope
offering and the parish second collections: Improvement, Fuel, School,
Debt Reduction, and Organ Funds) and consider whether you can increase
your Sunday offering to St. Barbara Parish. Each week, the bulletin
indicates what is our actual Total Sunday Collection vs. the weekly
Income Goal of $5,500, which is the projected amount to cover our
expenses. Unfortunately, the weekly income goal is only occasionally
exceeded, which results in a deficit at the end of the year.
This weekend at all Masses, Douglas Lovato, the chairperson of our
Parish Council, will speak on what he values about St. Barbara. Consider
what St. Barbara has given to you, and how you can give back to St.
Barbara.
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| Week 3 - October 21
This weekend is Commitment Sunday for our Planned Offering Program.
You have already heard from me regarding the need to increase our Sunday
Offering, which includes the regular Sunday envelope offering and the
parish second collections each week. Our financial picture has improve
in the last two years, and I thank those of you who have increased your
giving to St. Barbara. However, we continue to fall short of our weekly
income goal of $5,500, which is the projected average weekly revenue
needed each Sunday to cover our weekly average expenses. Just a casual
reading of the bulletin shows that there are a number of ministries and
events taking place weekly, supported by your generosity.
Mr. Douglas Levato spoke last weekend at all Masses about why St.
Barbara Parish and School are important to him and his family. I thank
him for his witness, and for the time he took to prepare and deliver his
testimony of faith. In his talk, he offered an invitation to all to help
build a stronger Church, Parish, and School by employing our time,
talents, and treasures for the betterment of OUR Church, to come to a
greater understanding of the importance of stewardship, of giving back
to God the gifts He has given us. Mr. Lovato encouraged everyone at Mass
to become a more active member of St. Barbs, by giving what YOU can-each
in your own way.
I have included a chart of average Sunday contribution ranges. By
far, the greatest numbers are those whom we have no record of giving,
either because envelopes are not used or because these parishioners are
not at Mass at St. Barbara. It is important that we reach out to them.
But I also ask everyone to look at your current giving as compared to
your income to see if you may be able to share a greater percent of your
monetary blessings with your parish. We are all a part of an extended
family of faith gathered in the Lord’s Name, and what we give helps to
further the Kingdom of God, which is both at hand and a promise for the
future, here at St. Barbara Parish.
Gratefully yours,
Fr. Dennis Ziomek, Administrator |
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