Finance Council Minutes-September 29, 2021
Fr. Raj opened the meeting with a prayer at 5:01pm
Present: Bill Jacobs, Anne Welborn, Terry Brennan, Dan Putschoegl, Bob Dressler
Absent: Eileen Grant, Brad DeSaye
Staff: Jim Wren, Donna Maneely, Shelly Cooper
Guest: Fr. Gaspar
- Minutes Approval:
- Anne motioned to approve the July meeting minutes; Dan seconded it; approved
- Financial Statements:
- Dan asked why altar flowers expense was over budget by $500. Jim explained that previously if we did not receive a donation for altar flowers for a certain week, we would place the orchids from the Adoration Chapel on the altar. A parishioner offered to pay for the altar flowers when we do not receive a donation. We did not budget an altar flower expense for each week so the expense will be over budget.
- Dan asked why we budgeted half of the yearly unrestricted contributions in July. We knew we were receiving a large contribution in July so we budgeted it in July.
- Jim commented that the online giving collection amounts are less than last year at this time because of the online giving grant match last summer.
- Anne asked why the school did not receive the EANS grant. Shelly explained that the school did get the grant but it has proven hard to access. It can only be used for certain expenses like technology and PPE. The school wanted to hold summer school this past July but it was not approved by EANS in time. The school has three years to use the grant money.
- Bill motioned to approve the July Financials; Anne seconded the motion; motion approved
- Anne motioned to approve the August Financials; Bob seconded the motion; motion approved
- Bank Statement Approval:
- Terry reviewed the July bank reconciliation; no discrepancies noted
- Anne reviewed the August bank reconciliation; no discrepancies noted
- Pastor’s Report:
- Raj welcomed Fr. Gaspar to our meeting.
- The Council Social was held in August.
- The Staff retreat was held in July.
- A Liturgical Minister’s formation meeting is on 10/2. Bishop Olmsted’s Apostolic Exhortation will be discussed.
- The Diocesan Priest Convocation was held in Flagstaff in September. It was a reflection on priestly spirituality.
- October is the month of the Rosary, pro-life month, Fall break at the school and Heritage Week. Fr. Raj asked the council to participate in Heritage Week.
- Parish Manager Report:
- September collection totals so far are $55,482 for the plate collection and $48,044 for online giving.
- Jim spoke about the events that took place recently:
- The Council Social went well; it took place in the Youth Center.
- Youth Group has gotten off to its best start in many years. The kick-off was on September 12th with the Hispanic community participating. The first 2 weeks have had 15-20 participants each in Life teen and Edge. The new Youth Minister is very enthusiastic and communicates well. She has put together a great Core Team. She has a sent out the entire semester’s lessons and they are centered around a super hero theme.
- Hopefest took place on September 11th. Sacred Heart participated. There were 3 shifts of 2 hours each run by staff, Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent de Paul. We passed out rosary pamphlets and did a great deal of evangelization. We also handed out school information. A local real estate agent asked for school information to give out to people who move here.
- Jim and Amanda attended Embry Riddle’s new student orientation. About 30 students stopped by their table. They gave out educational material and 3 young men from Embry Riddle have since signed up for RCIA.
- Heritage Week:
- October 21st is the new parishioner’s dinner. 107 new families were sent invitations. It will be catered this year so staff can interact with the new parishioners. Some of our Parish ministries will also attend: Knights of Columbus, St. Vincent de Paul, and That Man Is You, along with representatives from liturgical ministries.
- October 22nd: The living rosary in the school gym
- October 23rd: Heritage Festival from 10:30am to 3:00pm will take place outdoors and in the gym. Alma Helms and Margarita Arellano are co-chairs. They have a committee and sub committees. The flyer has been posted to the website, Facebook and the Chamber of Commerce. There will be a new addition: a table filled with church historical documents. We have applied for a liquor license and have asked for police involvement.
- The Silver Rose Service will take place on October 12th at 5:30 (English) and 7pm (Spanish). There will be a prayer service, rosary and blessing.
- Staffing: we hired a new school custodian. Jim reached out to US Vets after not having any luck recruiting any potential employees. Shelly needs to fill a part time teaching position. The 5th grade teacher moved to part time due to health reasons. Shelly is filling in for now.
- Together Let Us Go Forth Campaign: Fr. Raj and Jim met with Martha Gamez from the Diocese and Fr. Raj made the decision to halt the campaign. A letter was sent to parishioners thanking them for their donation and asking them to continue their pledge. The Diocese also reached out to parishioners who pledged but have not given.
- Christmas is on a Saturday this year so there will not be a Vigil Mass for the Feast of the Holy Family which is on December 26th. Mary, Mother of God is not a holy day of obligation so there will be a normal Vigil Mass on that Saturday, January 1st.
- PNC Bank bought out BBVA. As of October 12, BBVA will become PNC Bank. We have received information on a new fee schedule. Donna reached out to Laura at BBVA about the new fees.
- Gaspar would like a larger car than the Prius. Jim suggested that we could sell the Prius and then look for a used car for him but we did not budget this item and will have to consider taking it from reserves.
- Investment follow up:
- We opened an account with Index Fund Advisors (Investing for Catholics). There is now $900k in IFA and BOK Reserve Fund 2. Originally the council approved $1.1 million in each account but when Jim, Terry and Bill looked at the numbers it was decided to begin with $900k so we could equalize what was in each account.
- According to Jim it was a monumental undertaking to get this accomplished. He had to redo the paperwork for IFA and they were not easy to work with. Scott Sas at BOK on the other hand, was great to work with.
- We changed the names of two of the BOK accounts: Account #1 is now Operating Funds, Account #2 is now Reserve Account Number 2.
- We moved the amount we budgeted for Reserves this fiscal year, $55,500, to the BBVA Reserve Account from the BBVA Operating Account.
- We will start sending $10k to BOK and $10k to IFA instead of $20k to BOK each month.
- Bill reminded everyone that this is a long-term investment.
- Jim spoke about the homeless man that was living off of Summit Street by the church office on the easement owned by the city. It was becoming concerning due to his encampment getting larger and his approaching parishioners. The police notified him that he needed to vacate the premises. He did leave and the city came in and cleaned up the area.
- There have been a couple vandalism issues: a young man tried to enter the locked church and then the adoration chapel one night. He went up to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Statue and tried to lift it. Three men who were in the adoration chapel came out and called the police. The police arrested him and he spent some time in jail. The other issue involved children playing on the playground unsupervised. A young boy was throwing rocks at the elevator window. It happened a couple of times and Jim and another adult talked to the boy.
- Old Business:
- None
- New Business:
- None
Fr. Raj led a closing prayer at 6:06pm.
Respectfully submitted by Donna Maneely