Church of St. Mary at Clinton Heights

From Dave Hans Lora and I want to spend a few minutes talking to you about the role we all play as contributors to our parish through our stewardship of time, talent and treasure. Over the past few weeks, we have received requests to support this year’s Bishop’s Appeal as well as a letter from Father Tom about the upcoming Reigniting Discipleship initiative. I will briefly address both activities, but let me start with an overview of our current fiscal outlook. About six weeks ago, the Finance Committee met to review the 2017-18 fiscal year and agree to a budget for the upcoming year. Thanks, in great part to your support, we are tracking closely, although slightly below our targeted income from offertory collections. We had a few weekend winter storms this year, so we hope this is a factor in the slight decline. As you read a few weeks ago in the bulletin, Lora and I met with Father Tom and suggested we suspend this year’s Gala and Auction. While the Gala has become first, an enjoyable evening for many, and second, a key component of our income stream, it is a major impact on those who spend months planning for the event. In addition, this year’s Gala conflicts with our focus on the Re-Igniting Discipleship initiative. As Father stated in his bulletin message, your contribution of time, talent and treasure is vital to our community. We want to be cognizant of the sacrifices we ask you to make supporting our Parish. The finance committee supported our plans to suspend the fall Gala, but also wanted to achieve a balanced budget that included the reduction in income from the Gala. Due to some prudent planning, and an expectation to increase weekly offertory by just .5 %, I am pleased to announce we achieved a balanced budget plan for the 2018-19 fiscal year. However, after five years of sharing my thoughts with you, I am sure you know what is coming next. We can only achieve, and perhaps, slightly exceed our offertory collection income if all of us plan on a weekly and prayerful contribution. Summer is fast approaching, and many of us spend time with family and friends, often away from the area and church over the weekend. Our envelopes and more importantly, e-giving, help us account for a regular, sustainable weekly offertory income. Today, income from e-giving makes up about a third of our weekly offertory collection. This has been a steady state for the past few years, and we would really like to increase the focus on e-giving. If you have any questions about the process, Lora and I will be in the back of the church after mass today. The process is simple and personal. You can easily customize it to meet your family budget. A few weeks ago in the bulletin, we received an insert to explain the goal of the Bishop’s Appeal and the Re-Igniting Discipleship Initiative. The Bishop’s Appeal focuses on the needs of our Diocese, by supporting programs, ministries and people who are not as fortunate as many of us sitting here today. Thank you for your continued support. Re-Igniting Discipleship is a diocesan wide initiative which focuses on: our retired priests, vocations, youth and our parish. While each church in the diocese will participate in the initiative, your involvement is a personal decision for you and your family. A majority of the funds raised from the initiative, will be used to support the needs of our own Parish. In our most recent survey, many of you shared your ideas with us. While some of the input focused on improvements to our church and the outdoor grounds, there were an equal number of ideas on how we can share our many talents through programs and discipleship, that will benefit the diverse needs of our parish family and local community. In closing, be it the Bishop’s Appeal, the upcoming Re-igniting Discipleship initiative, or our weekly offertory collection, we all play an important role. Your contribution of time, talent, and treasure helps keep our parish vibrant and strong. I want to thank you for your continued support of the Church of St Mary. Additional note If you are reading this report and want to know more about e-giving, please feel free to reach out by email davehans223@gmail.com

From Lora Santilli

Thanks Dave Good morning everyone. I’d like to follow up on a point Dave made regarding suspending the Gala. I know Dave and Mary were very involved in planning for many years and had an amazing team of folks helping to create such a wonderful event. Dan and I were enthusiastic attendees for years and last year I got involved in the planning team. I know I feel a sense of loss at the decision to suspend it but given all the changes in the team structure I know in my heart it was the right decision. We are now able to focus on the Re-Igniting Discipleship initiative and think creatively of new ideas to foster fellowship. We have heard from our parish community thank you for the great response to the survey a few weeks ago – that you would like to see smaller, more frequent social events throughout the year. I like this idea as it will allow us to spend more time enjoying the friendship of our community, without the overwhelming planning process. And we also heard we need to make better use of our outside space. Well, we are kicking that off today! Hopefully you all purchased a ticket to enjoy one of the delicious Desany smoked pulled pork sandwiches. If not, no worries, come hang out with us anyway! And given that you already have a hold on the November 3 gala date keep it blocked in your calendar and plan to join us for an International Potluck event. Stay tuned for details on that. One final event to remind you about is our annual Golf tournament coming up on Monday, June 18th at Wolferts Roost Country Club. There is still room to join other golfers in navigating sand traps, water hazards and trying your luck at winning one of the many contests throughout the day. Raffle tickets are on sale now and are very popular. And given my dreadful hand to eye coordination it is best that I do not golf. But non-golfers like me are welcome to buy a dinner only ticket. Another way for us to gather in fellowship as a parish community. Stop at the table in the back of church for more info. All these wonderful events would not be possible without those willing to step forward and share their time and talent. The continued participation of our parishioners in the various ministries of our Church gives life to our community! Faith formation just wrapped up another wonderful year marked by an increase in the number of young people celebrating Confirmation. And the summer activities like Vacation Bible Camp and Midnight Run are just around the corner. We are grateful that Deacon Tim will continue to remain in service with us with Family Promise. And we look forward to Deacon Al jumping right in. Our liturgies are beautiful and recently we’ve seen a tremendous growth in the participation of our youth in the music ministry. Thanks Carl, Carolyn, Mary and Genina for sharing your time. Our community is also well supported through our partnerships with area organizations such as Circles of Mercy, Concerns U and others. But each and every committee could do more with a few extra hands. Please consider how YOU can get involved. Don’t just think about it. Act on it! Dave and I are happy to talk with anyone who wants to get involved but doesn’t know where to start or who to ask. Come see us! With that said, I want to call your attention to the nomination forms at the end of your pews. We are looking to fill an open seat and recruit two additional members to join The Parishes’ Pastoral Council. The Council is a joint endeavor with representatives from St. Mary’s and St. John the Evangelist/St. Joe’s. We collaborate with our leaders and provide vision and direction for the good of the Church and the entire parish communities. If you are interested, or know someone who would be, please complete the form today! Thank you for allowing me a few minutes to share such wonderful examples of how your time and talent contribute to our vibrant parish community! Any questions please email: lang@nycap.rrr.com