Fr. Raj opened the meeting with a prayer at 5:03pm

Present: Bill Jacobs, Anne Welborn, Terry Brennan, Dan Putschoegl, Eileen Grant, Brad DeSaye. Bob Dressler

Staff: Jim Wren, Donna Maneely, Shelly Cooper

  1. Minutes Approval: June Meeting Minutes approved
  • Dan stated that the minutes should read “school registration” not tuition in the Financial Statements section in the June minutes. Donna will amend the June minutes to read “school registration”.
  • Anne motioned to approve the June meeting minutes with the correction; Dan seconded it; approved
  1. Financial Statements: June Financials approved
  • Jim answered some questions that Bill emailed previously: 1)Why was rental income under budget? One renter did not have much work during the height of Covid so Fr. Raj allowed him to pay half rent. 2)Why was CEA also under budget? The school did not have the enrollment to use all of the CEA funds available to us and some families did not apply for the CEA scholarship money.
  • Jim commented that we ended the year with net income of $7,978 and actual net income of $261,555, which is good since the school had a large net loss.
  • Bill asked why the Reserves show a negative amount for the month of June. We make the adjustments at the end of the fiscal year and move capital expenses to fixed assets which removes the expense from Reserves.
  • Eileen motioned to approve the June Financials; Brad seconded the motion; motion approved
  1. Bank Statement Approval:
  • Terry reviewed the June bank reconciliation; no discrepancies noted
  1. Pastor’s Report:
  • Sacred Heart achieved our 2021 CDA goal. We were 106% of goal.
  • The Day of Reflection is on Friday, July 30thth.
  • School reopens Wednesday, August 4th with a school Mass.
  • commented that more people are coming back to church; the delta variant is a concern; he is waiting to hear from the Diocese on any new guidelines.
  • Raj is starting to hold liturgical meetings. He met with the Deacons just before this meeting.
  • The all council social is on Wednesday, August 25th instead of a normal meeting. The parish directors are also invited.
  • That Man is You is starting up again in September. They will meet in the Gym.
  • On the 2nd Friday of the month the Hispanic Families group will meet.
  1. Parish Manager Report:
  • July collection totals so far are $67,745 for the plate collection and $44,291 for online giving.
  • The Day of Reflection is from 8:30-3pm in the church on July 30th. Dual topics of the Eucharist and Hospitality from 3 perspectives will be presented.
  • Deacon Mark Weber was installed as a Deacon with a reception after Mass on July 11th.
  • The school’s open house is on Sunday August 1st after the 9am Mass.
  • The Knights of Columbus breakfast returns on August 8th.
  • The Catholic Community Foundation’s Wills and Trust Seminar is on August 17th. There is a morning and an evening session. Sign-ups are through the CCF. It is free and comes with an hour meeting with one of their attorneys.
  • Fr. Gaspar’s welcome reception is on August 22nd after the 9am mass.
  • The council reception will take place on August 25th at 5pm. The directors are invited this year.
  • Jim commented that the School Advisory Board wants to be involved with the school budget and financials. By Canon Law this is the Finance Council’s role. Jim suggested that Terry attend a school board meeting to explain.
  • We received the monthly diocesan bill for the property and liability taxes.  There was a 30% increase to the property taxes. Jim spoke with the Controller at the diocese. He explained that the increase is due to the increase in property taxes because of the renovation. We did not have an increase last year because of the pandemic. The amount is not a catch up, which is in answer to Bob’s question.
  • The new youth minister, Amanda spoke at all the Masses on July 25th. It was successful as 22 youth signed up to attend Life Teen or Edge. She has sent out a survey monkey to the parents, she has spoken with Jimena to reach out to the Hispanic teens and to Shelly to reach the middle school for Edge. Amanda is expecting a child later this year so she is concentrating on building a strong core team.
  • Embry Riddle Catholic Club has not reached out to us yet to bring back the Sunday Mass or to attend their back to school program.
  • Hopefest is on September 11th. We are participating this year.
  1. Old Business:
  • Investing for Catholics: Raj and Jim spoke with Fr. Bud a pastor from Sun City about Investing for Catholics. Fr. Bud said that IFC has very good communication, is flexible, and responsive. His parish has benefited greatly from investing with them. Their church started 4 years ago by investing $6 million into 3 different funds: 70/30-growth, 60/40 -capital projects and a small amount for immediate needs. They recently consolidated into 2 accounts: 70/30 and 60/40. They have drawn over $2 million but still have $6 million invested.  They have a rainy-day fund that they use to pay their Bishops Assessment in one lump sum without affecting their budget. They like the flexibility of the funds.
  • Eileen asked if Mary at IFC has a back-up. She has a staff but she likes to handle most things. Eileen also asked in what companies will IFC invest in for us. She has some concerns about some of the companies such as Facebook. Jim stated that the funds are consistent with Catholic guidelines but he will question Mary.
  • One of our parishioners with a financial background feels that there is a correction in the market coming. How will this affect our decision?
  • Raj is confident in going forward with IFC after speaking with Fr. Bud. Fr. Ralph is also in agreement with moving forward.
  • Bill suggested splitting the investment between IFC and the BOK master custody account so that we can compare the performance of the two funds after a period of time. Bob agreed with Bill as he had done something similar with his personal investments.
  • Following a fruitful discussion of pros and cons of using IFC, Bill made a motion as follows: The Finance Council recommends to the Pastor to transfer $1.1 million from Bank of Oklahoma reserve funds to IFC over the near term using the 60/40 portfolio (Equities/Fixed Income), which is consistent with the mix in the Diocese of Phoenix Master Custody Investment Intermediate portfolio. Additionally, the Finance Council recommends transferring $500,000 from cash in other parish accounts over the near term to the Diocese of Phoenix Master Custody Investment Intermediate portfolio. Bob seconded the motion; motion approved.
  1. New Business:
  • None

Fr. Raj closed the meeting by thanking everyone for their efficiency and for Bill and Terry’s help with the investments.

He led a closing prayer at 6:06pm.

Respectfully submitted by Donna Maneely