Dear Parishioners,
As members of Saint Julia Parish, we form a family of brothers and sisters in Christ committed to sharing the Gospel. The lively faith and good works of parishioners is demonstrated daily! These are the essentials for Parish life and form the foundation of our community. Our efforts to grow in faith and support good works, though, require that we address the financial realities of our parish.
We ask your help with our Parish Grand Annual. We have been sliding backwards a bit over the last five years. The very generous unrestricted and unexpected donations from a handful of parishioners have kept us in the black up until this past year; and they minimized last year’s budget deficit. We cannot continue to count on these unexpected donations arriving each year to bail us out of a deficit. A contribution weekly to the Offertory and annually to the Grand Annual from every family/parishioner, according to one’s means is the parish goal. We are totally dependent on these two collections to fund 80% of our budget. Our staff is very conscious of the budget constraints and very carefully monitor their individual budgets. The staff is adequately compensated but certainly not overpaid and reducing staff would negatively impact the pastoral services available to parishioners.
Given the experience of the past few years, we ask that you consider increasing your contribution to $700 or more if you are able. Please prayerfully reflect on God’s blessings and the pastoral services available to you and your family as you consider your financial resources and decide what you can contribute to this year’s Grand Annual. At the same time, if you are able, an increase in your weekly Offertory would be most helpful.
Let’s aim for 100% participation this year. Small or large, every donation is significant and vital to our parish life. Thank you for your prayerful and kind support of our parish.
Sincerely,
Fr. Mark Mahoney, Pastor
