Queenship of Mary

Financial Summary for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2020

Dear Queenship of Mary parishioners,

For those of you who may not know me, my name is Greg Christensen and I am one of 8 parishioners who serve on your Parish Finance Committee. 

The primary role of the Finance Committee is to ensure the money you have entrusted to the Parish is spent prudently by the Church in carrying out its mission.

As you will see in the October 18th bulletin, there is a summary of the Parish financial results for our 2020 fiscal year. Our fiscal year runs from July 1st to June 30tth.

Father has asked me to spend a few minutes reviewing the highlights.

I appreciate that many of you may not be financial experts but it is still important that you know how your contributions are being used to maintain the financial well-being of Queenship of Mary Parish.

If you take away only one thing from this letter, it should be that our Parish did well financially in 2020. Our Revenues exceeded our Expenses by approximately $30,000. Thanks again to all of you for your generosity and making Father’s job a little easier.

Now for a few specifics. Revenues increased almost 10% as compared to last year. This is really great, considering the COVID restrictions that forced us to cancel the Parish Festival this past June! 

Note that over 90% of our Revenues comes directly from our Parishioners through the Sunday and Special Collections and Donations. Sunday Collections were up over $50,000 due to your outstanding response to fall 2019 "Celebrating Today, Planning for Tomorrow campaign."

On the spending side, our overall Expenses did not increase as compared to last year. 

Some of that was directly related to the COVID restrictions put into place by the Diocese in March. For example, there were lower utility and maintenance costs for the Church building as its use was restricted for a few months. Also, we had lower Fundraising expenses due to canceling the Parish Festival. In addition, the Parish took other actions to reduce operating and administrative costs given the uncertainty surrounding COVID.

Fortunately, our buildings required no unusual maintenance or repairs and there were no major unexpected expenditures during the year. 

We’ll be able to save this year’s $30,000 surplus as a “rainy day” fund for any future opportunities or spending surprises.

Even though COVID threw us a pretty big curveball, it didn’t stop the Parish from pursuing opportunities that came our way. 

In March, the Diocese advised that individual Parishes would be eligible for Federal funds under the government’s COVID relief Paycheck Protection Program. Queenship of Mary applied for and received a loan in May. As long as the loan proceeds are used for eligible expenses, such as salary and benefits and utility costs, the loan will be converted into a grant and will not have to be repaid.

In the spring, the Diocese approached Father looking for storage space and we were able to make the St. Joe’s building available. The Diocese will pay a monthly rental for use of this space beginning this past May for 12 to 18 months.

We all know about the Sisters moving into the Convent and what a blessing that is for our Parish. Planning and preparations for their arrival began early this summer.

A special thanks to all the people and groups that were so flexible in moving their storage and meeting spaces from the St. Joe’s and the Convent elsewhere to facilitate those transitions. Also, a big thank you to all the parishioners who volunteered their time to make these spaces ready for their new occupants.

Once again, thanks to all of our parishioners for their generous and steadfast support of Father Lamb and our Parish during this past year and I know it will continue into the future.

If you have any further questions, feel free to give me a call at the rectory during the week.

Thank you.