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September 2018
Dear Friends,
With this letter and the attached spreadsheet, I present to you the annual parish financial report for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2018; this in accord with Archdiocesan Policy. If you’re like me, you may sometimes go cross-eyed trying to read financial spreadsheets, so I offer the following in narrative form to touch on some salient points.
First thank you for your support of ministry here at St. Mary Mother of God. Your fidelity to the mission of the parish is keeping a legacy of prayer, service and community alive in this part of the city. It’s kind of amazing to think that what started with a handful of German-speaking immigrants almost 200 years ago has become a thriving parish of Latin, Chinese and English worship gathering people from all walks of life in the mystical Body of Christ that is the Church. Again, thank you!
Overall the parish is in what I would call “decent” financial shape. We have no unusual debts and we pay all bills on time and in full. Thanks be to God! That said, we find ourselves at an important moment of discernment for future action. What do I mean?
The fiscal year that ended this past June appears to have been quite a boon year for us; largely because of the sale of air rights over our parking lot which generated $426k; an event that obviously won’t repeat itself.
If you look to the previous year, you’ll see that the parish still came out in the green to the tune of just over $100k. That may seem like a cause for joy… I suppose it is, but you’ll note that over $200k of our revenue in both years comes from rental income (rent from our old school building). So, without our rental income the parish would, under normal circumstances, be about $100k in the red. Sunday donations are not supporting the full expense of maintaining St. Mary’s… and you’ll notice that the revenue from those Sunday offertory collections has gone down.
What have we been spending on? Not much really… it’s just an expensive world: St. Mary’s has one full time priest, a part time secretary and a part time janitor. We also lay out funds for our music program, but that’s really it. There’s building maintenance, as you can see on the spreadsheet, but none of the things I just listed can really be done without. If anything it’d be my dream to grow our staff slightly so we can offer increased programming, but we’re not in a position to do that at the moment.
Looking to the budgeted numbers for this year (written before my arrival), I think one or two of the numbers seem to be off, most notably the anticipated rental income… that number should not have changed, and I’ll be consulting with our accountant on that point.
The overall point with regard to income and expenses is this: We need to (a) grow our community, and (b) stabilize the giving of our current community.
(a) To the first point: you’ve probably noticed some new activities and initiatives over the summer to grow our community. The next step is the formation of a parish council whose task it will be to mobilize all of us in evangelization efforts. This will include efforts to introduce ourselves to all the new apartment-dwellers moving in around us. More to come on all this, but please please please throw your hat into the ring to volunteer. We need all hands on deck!
(b) As for stabilizing our current giving: we’ll be working to register folks for our e-giving system, FaithDirect. FaithDirect automatically transfers funds to the parish on a regular basis so that if you’re traveling, or if your schedule takes you to a different parish for some reason, you’re support for St. Mary’s remains regular. This regularity helps us to budget and keeps our cash flow even through the year. As part of our promotion of FaithDirect, I’ll also be asking all parishioners to conscientiously consider and pray over how much they give each year. When I grew up, church donations were usually based on what my parents had left over after buying pizza the night before. I was never raised to conscientiously consider giving a regular percentage of my income to the work of God in my parish. Becoming familiar with parish finances over the last ten years of ministry, I can tell you our parishes will not survive without that conscious effort on the part of all parishioners. It doesn’t have to a big number, but one that you’ve actually prayed about and offer up regularly.
Thanks to the incredible and faithful work of Fr. Harris and the good parishioners of our community, we’re still here and poised to make wonderful new advances over the next few years. As I’ve often said, I believe in our God and I believe in YOU and your ability to make this parish a home and a place of beautiful sacrifice for all who want to know the Father’s Love. I’m grateful to God and to YOU for letting me be part of that. Please pray for me as I set my own all too weak shoulders to the task of stewarding our resources with you over the coming year.
Your Priest,
Father Vincent J. De Rosa
In Answer to a Worthy and Important Question
Over the last several weeks, multiple parishioners have asked, “Father how can we give to St. Mary’s without giving to the Archdiocese of Washington?” Specifically, they’re talking about the headquarters offices of the Archdiocese, known as the Chancery. All of this arises, of course, because of ongoing revelations of abuse by clergy throughout the church. This is such a massive topic, I shudder to try and summarize any of it: I want to be both thorough and concise all at once. I hope I’ll succeed and that you’ll be patient.
First and most simply: Can one give to St. Mary’s without giving to the Chancery?
I have to be honest and transparent and tell you it is possible. Directed gifts (e.g. “for the purchase of X” or “for the support of the X program”) must be used for the intentions given. But I BEG you, please don’t do this. Let me explain why:- We have a VERY limited volunteer base and paid staff here at the parish. Keeping accurate, transparent, and consistent record of which funds go to which intended goals becomes extremely burdensome on the rectory office. I cannot promise we’d be able to do this responsibly on a large-scale basis.
- Parish cash flow needs to be regular and reasonably liquid. If people begin to “direct” their giving, that cash flow will (a) shrink and (b) become lopsided as gifts are directed to people’s favorite projects and not necessarily what is needed on a consistent basis (e.g. overhead for payment of staff etc.).
What do we actually send to the Chancery?
Parish offertory assessments (aka Chancery taxes) are based on the size of a parish. In our case we send about 12% of our offertory collection to the Chancery. We also send a percentage 7% directly to St. Peter’s Capitol Hill School to support the ongoing existence of Catholic education in the city. Every parish supports Catholic education, but you get a discount if you pair with a school and send the money directly to them as we do with St. Peter.
What does the Chancery spend our assessments on?
As with any business, the money goes first to personnel and then to programming. Planning events like the annual mass for life at the Capital One Arena, staffing a pro-life office that oversees/promotes a culture of life throughout the Archdiocese, running incredible youth retreats for disadvantaged kids from the city, maintaining the real estate office so that our old buildings are all kept up to code and in one piece, running the tribunal which processes marriage paperwork and annulments… these are just a few of the places our 12% goes. If our donations drop, these are the first things to be hurt, including the good people who work in those offices. I know them, and I know they are faithful hardworking folks.
What about legal expenses for the abuse crisis?
I don’t have a precise figure to give you but the portion of our 12% that goes to such expenses is minimal. To be sure, some of the folks working at the Chancery are in our Counsel’s Office… but most of what they work on day-to-day are contract reviews for the parishes. From time to time the Chancery will bring in outside council from major law firms to assist with other issues, but these firms often give their services pro-bono because of their own affection for the Church.
What is our Archdiocese’s Record on these issues?
( for more extensive data than I can give here, contact the Office of Child Protection and Safe Environment 301.853.4500)
Our Archdiocese’s record on sexual abuse is actually quite commendable. Our cases were almost all resolved in the mid 1980s when Card. Hickey expelled guilty priests and began implementing child protection policies with the advice of (among others) the FBI… all of this long before the rest of the country even acknowledged there was a problem. Washington has long held the policy that if someone makes a real accusation against a cleric we will help them heal… and if someone makes a false accusation against a cleric we will still help them to heal from whatever motivated them to do so. That’s how committed we are.
What we’re hearing about now are historical accounts of what happened elsewhere… The VAST majority of those priests accused of such crimes were ordained between 1965 and 1975… After that the percent of those accused drops to single digits and less. Should the AG of MD or DC pursue an investigation like the one in PA, we may have to hear these stories again, but I’m confident they will be historic in nature.
What about coverup by bishops?
Should bishops be held to account for their role in all of this? Absolutely. And here in DC, we know that Cardinal Wuerl - after hearing from the public, and consulting with his priests - has travelled to Rome to ask the Pope to allow him to retire so that Washington can move forward without the shadow of his presence here. Beyond this, if you have concerns or wish to express your feelings, I encourage you… as I have in my preaching… to write to our leaders, contact the Papal Nuncio. Follow your conscience and take action; protest if you truly think that’s what you should do.
Can one give to St. Mary’s without giving to the Chancery? Yes. But, friends, I hope you’ll consider what I’ve offered here in this all too brief answer. I don’t think it is in the long term best interests of our parish to respond in this way. I still hold to the belief that the best way we build a better Church for tomorrow is by building up an amazing parish today whose good works will convert souls and command the attention and respect of our leaders. All that being said, please know that I love you, I respect you, and I will honor whatever decisions you make in this regard.
Your priest,
Father Vincent J. De Rosa