Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of Saint Benedict:

This weekend we will be hearing more about Faith to Move Mountains. This expansive program launched by the Diocese of Trenton two years ago is programmed to assist the diocese and our parishes in being prepared for future capital needs through the establishment of a diocesan endowment. By now many of you have received some information on the project. It is now time for us as a parish to make our commitment to this endeavor.

The video will explain in some real detail the diocesan aspect of the campaign. Certainly the future needs of Catholic Schools, the care of retired priests, and the formation and education of seminarians is essential for the financial health of the church.

At this point I would like to address more of the parish needs that will be addressed here.

As you will learn our parish goal is $1.305m. Yes, that is a daunting number. Let’s sit with that for a moment. The program is set so that 30% of every dollar we raise (over the five years) towards the goal comes back to the parish. Once we have realized the goal then 70% of every dollar raised comes back to the parish. Those are some positive and significant dollars for our parish.

Financially we are doing well enough. I have yet to be able to publish the financial statement for the prior year and there are some reasons why this has been the case. First, with the retirement and subsequent death of our business manager this past year, it has taken some time for the new business administrator to learn the system he had in place. In the meantime, the diocese changed the software that we use, so that required a double learning curve. We are at a point now that I should be able to publish this within a few weeks.

That having been said, we carry no debt service and the church and school are in good financial condition. Therefore the money that we earn as rebates from the campaign can assist us with extraordinary capital expenses that we would need to do otherwise. The significant projects involve the school side of the building. We need to air condition the classrooms and add some additional office space to the building to accommodate the growing needs of the school. Since we are opening the Pre-K4 in the Fall there are some moves we have to make now. It is true that we will not realize any significant rebates before we spend the money on these projects, but we have enough reserve to begin the projects now.

The church itself is in very good shape. The only significant issue on the church side of the complex is the doors at the main entrance of the church. They need to be replaced in some fashion sooner rather than later. They are inefficient and poorly designed for their use. Again, we can effectively complete this project from ordinary income.

Essentially, the hoped for $400,000 that the parish can earn from this diocesan campaign can assist us in reimbursing the parish for work we will have already been able to accomplish.

I hope you will all seriously consider making a gift to the campaign. Every gift helps us and helps the diocese to exercise its mission to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our corner of the world.

May the Lord bless you in His goodness,
Fr. Garry