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Third Sunday of Easter
8 May 2011
Dear Friends in Christ,
Some updates on practical matters:
1. Thanks to your generosity, we are just over 2% ahead of our budgeted needs in offertory for this fiscal year, but because we were behind our budgeted needs by about the same amount in the last fiscal year, we are in reality just running even. For the fiscal year that begins 1 July 2011 we need to give our employees a modest cost of living adjustment, but we are also facing an increase of 11% in our health insurance costs. This means that our budget for the new fiscal year will require an average of $30,500 each week. In other words, thank you for your continuing generosity!
2. In addition to the normal operating budget of the parish, please remember that your stewardship needs to support two other causes each year: the Bishop’s Stewardship Appeal and the parish capital campaign. One way to determine the appropriate level of support for each of these three categories of giving is by following the suggested pattern of tithing: 5% to the parish in the offertory, 1% to the diocese in the BSA, and your gifts to the parish capital campaign from the remaining 4% of your tithe. If you have not yet contributed to the BSA or the parish capital campaign, please make a gift according to your means and these tithing guidelines. The work of the church depends upon your generosity.
3. Demolition work has begun on the former Cregger Plumbling Company that we purchased two years ago. Please be mindful of your safety and that of your children and do not approach this dangerous work too closely. The complete removal of the building will require another couple of weeks, after which the entire western boundary of our campus will be graded and turned into green space that we can easily maintain in the years between now and the construction of the new church and parking lot.
4. Each summer while the children are not in school, we try to make major improvements to our school buildings, and this summer our project is to install a new HVAC system in Mercy Hall, which was constructed in 1930. When the work is completed just before school resumes in August, our original school building will have central air conditioning — including in the corridors — for the first time in its 81 year history, thus allowing us to remove the window ac units from the classrooms, library, and offices. The cost of the project will be paid for by the proceeds from our annual golf tournament and auction this year and in the next two years, so please plan now to attend the party at the Embassy Suites Hotel on Friday 3 June 2011.
Father Newman