Dear Parishioners of St. Ann’s,
We hope you are all staying safe and healthy during these times of pandemic. The parish finance committee would like to report on the financial status of St. Ann’s for this past year. We do find ourselves, at this time, in a financial deficit. The deficit is not the result of one pastor or one finance committee, but of an increase in parish activity and major project expenses without the revenue to match the increase. This has been a trend over the last few years. Over the past few years we have funded the following projects: Reconstruction of the church entrance, building of the Day Care classroom/washroom, renovations to 2 rooms in rectory, painting hallways/foyer of Centre plus new flooring in Parish office, replacement of one of the boilers, replacement of wooden garden beds and seats in front of Centre plus the ongoing monthly financial support to our 2 schools. Though our accounts are not in arrears, the funds we do have are mostly donations received for the building of our new church.
We would like to avoid using these funds to offset our deficit but urgently need support from you, our parishioners, to make that happen. There are major maintenance projects that will need to be addressed this year, the main project being the replacement of the church roof. For now, we will be postponing the replacement and focusing on minor repairs until we have enough funds.
With the loss of the Spring Fair this year, we will especially need your financial support. We understand it is a difficult time. We have all been affected by the pandemic. The parish is also impacted by the loss of revenue from Sunday collections, save for the parishioners enrolled in preauthorized withdrawal. We would like to encourage you to sign up for the preauthorized withdrawal, if at all possible.
The finance committee is working with Fr. Eduardo and our accounting department to see where we can continue to best use the funds gifted to the parish by our parishioners in good stewardship. As the finance committee, we will work with full transparency and will report regularly to the parish of our financial health. The parish accounts are not private and any parishioner, upon request, is allowed to view them.
Finally, we ask for your prayers. God has blessed St. Ann’s parish for over 90 years with the ability to impact our community and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. By God’s grace, the intercession of our Patroness St. Ann, and the faithfulness of each of us, we will continue to be the “welcoming, Eucharistic community” God has called us to be.
In Christ,
Fr. Eduardo Quintero, CS — St. Ann’s Finance Committee
