November 1, 2024
Dear Parish Family:
Today, I am sharing with you information about our parish finances for last fiscal year. Overall, I am happy to report that our parish remains on solid financial footing. While our everyday expenses and some deferred maintenance items have escalated in cost, it is your generous support that covers the operational expenses of the parish, ministry programs, and the repairs and maintenance of the church and school grounds. Below you will find the Income and Expense Report for the 2023-24 fiscal year and our budget for 2024-25.
As we continue on our path to becoming missionary disciples, we are working on both the spiritual and physical plans for our parish. We see these plans as complimentary to one another. As you may recall, we retained an architect to create a comprehensive physical plan for our campus that addresses and itemizes our long-term needs. This includes a comprehensive maintenance plan, potential expansions and remodels, additional buildings and other capital improvements, along with cost estimates. We utilized a collaborative process including feedback from our stakeholders and parish family via a parish-wide survey and listening sessions. Based on the feedback we received, the plan was developed and refined. We plan to share this vision with you over the next several months.
Good Shepherd had a savings balance of approximately $1.4 million dollars at the end of last fiscal year. While this seems like a large amount, we have budgeted $300,000 for economic uncertainties and $400,000 for needed repairs and maintenance for the 2024-25 fiscal year including: the sanctuary roof, interior sanctuary repairs, bathroom refurbishment/repairs, parking lot repairs and improved ADA compliance, and parish center floor maintenance work. In addition, as our parish grows, we have added much-needed parish staff to ensure smooth and efficient parish operations. I assure you, I am working closely with staff and the finance council to ensure that we prioritize our expenses, retain a prudent reserve for economic uncertainties while saving for future expansion.
I encourage each of you to devote weekly one hour to prayer, one hour to service, and one hour of your weekly salary to the parish. As you offer your resources of time, talent and treasure, your clergy, parish staff, and councils also commit to you to be humble, holy, and serious stewards of all the gifts you entrust to us. I look forward to leading Good Shepherd parish as we go, make, and become missionary disciples. In closing, we pray:
Oh God, our loving Creator and Giver of all good gifts, bless our parish, strengthen our faith and grant us the spirit of Christian stewardship so that we may give generously of our time, talent and treasure to spread Your kingdom here in our church and throughout the world. For this, we pray to the Lord. Amen.
Your servant,
Fr. Michael Vaughan, Pastor
