Dear Parish Family,
CONGRATULATIONS! We have hit our goal of $100,000 for our “Thank You, Fr. Murray” fund, which means that the Diocese of Lansing will wipe out an additional $100,000 off our debt! When you add that with the $420,000 that Fr. Francis Murray donated to our general fund, that frees us from all of the $615,000 debt we had at the beginning of this fiscal year! Way to go, parishioners of St. John the Evangelist!
Even if you have yet to participate in this great accomplishment, there is still time to be on the list of donors in honor of Fr. Murray. There is moreover a great need for your contribution. As you know, we have suffered quite a shortfall in our weekly collections. We are about $30,000 short of our budget since the beginning of the fiscal year in July. Thus, we still may have to make some budget cuts, as I have pledged to you that, even though our already strapped ministries will suffer even more, we will not spend what we do not have.
I am confident, however, that we will make up that shortfall due to the number of people who have yet to participate. There are 102 parish households who thus far have given to the “Thank You, Fr. Murray” fund (which doesn’t include any loose cash donations). This averages out to be an impressive $1000 contribution per household, which matches my initial contribution almost to the dollar! Way to step up the challenge!
On any given Sunday, we have about 1250 people attending our six Masses, an average that includes our 9:30am Mass at St. Joseph Oratory. With about 2.5 per household, this means we have approximately 500 households who attend our Masses each week. Thus, with 102 parish households participating in the “Thank You, Fr. Murray” fund, 80% of our Mass-going parishioners have yet to participate. As I’ve mentioned before, any amount will help. If our remaining church-going parishioners contributed $100 per household to the “Thank You, Fr. Murray” fund, we would easily make up our $30,000 budget shortfall.
Finally, what will keep us from having to make budget cuts in the future is an increase in our weekly collections. It has been economically difficult for so many, and the parish suffers with them. Thus, a small increase in the weekly offering from those who have been blessed to weather the storm would go a long way. THANK YOU for such a generous response in these last six weeks. Our St. John Parish is truly well poised for the future!
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Chas