Pastor’s Letter: October 27, 2024

Pastor’s Letter: October 27, 2024

25 Oct 2024 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

Peace and blessing to you all! It is great to be back!  It definitely was a fruitful week away and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be part of this continuing education program for priests. Fr. David was able to participate in the same program quite a few years back and said it was one of the more fruitful things he did in terms of continuing ed. So far, after just the second session, I wholeheartedly agree! As I continue in the program I’ll be away a couple of weeks each year for the next three years—hopefully we’ll continue to see good fruits for our parish and my service as pastor!

One of the things that pastors spend a good amount of time on is the administration of the parish and school—sometimes simple things like signing documents…other times more involved meetings and discussions on things like ministries and mission, as well as budgets and projects to take care of the upkeep of our parish. As I have mentioned before, I am joyful to share that things are in such great shape here at St. Philomena. As you all know, Fr. David’s good attention to detail and growth, along with your support and investment, has our church and school in very good condition.

That brings me to this weekend—the pastor’s annual report. While during the Masses I am sharing a summary of our financial position and some highlights from this past year (as well as looking ahead), I thought I might write a bit about my mentality for administration and financial responsibility for the parish resources. Without question, I am committed to transparency and accountability with all our financial resources here. I have enjoyed getting to know our parish trustees and the finance council—I can say without hesitation these are great stewards and leaders for our parish! Over the past few months, I have found our finance council meetings very sincere, honest, and productive. No doubt, the members care greatly about St. Philomena Parish: church, school, and our families. When the members speak, it is clearly out of an understanding of our mission as a Catholic church and school—as a parish that brings people to Christ, meets needs, and serves our people. The members are committed to seeing our parish remain on a steady foundation so that we can grow and strengthen how we live and share the Gospel of Christ.

Through various assignments around the Diocese, I have enjoyed a great working relationship with parish trustees. I certainly rely on their knowledge of the place and people…and of course their wisdom to help guide me in decision making. As a personal rule, I always run financial decisions past our trustees (for example, repairs and other needed projects). For bigger items, we have a discussion with the full finance council and ask for a recommendation before moving forward. Some of you may know, but our Diocese has additional accountability for expenses larger than $15K, which involves a written request that is signed by the pastor and both trustees. The finance council members review all our full financial details each month and review our monthly statements. Additionally, the finance council reviews the proposed budget each year, and progress is monitored during our monthly meetings. All of this ensures good financial responsibility and commitment to the health of our parish as we look to the future.

As you will hear me share this weekend, this past fiscal year was another good one for our parish. We have been able to complete large projects like the new gym floor and bleachers, as well as continued upkeep for our buildings. We have continued to keep our school technology up to date, as well as the infrastructure that supports our parish ministries and programs. This coming year we have a couple of bigger things in mind, including supporting our families who were previously receiving Empower Illinois tuition scholarships. We also are considering some needed HVAC work to a couple areas of the school. All this will be possible thanks to your continued investment in St. Philomena and the good stewardship provided by our leaders. I look forward to continuing to grow together in service for our Lord and one another! Know of my prayers and blessing for you all!

In Christ,

Father Luke

P.S.  How is the ADA doing? Our ADA for this year is off to a great start—at the time of our last report we had pledged just over $111K of our $129K goal…so we just need another $18K in pledges to reach the goal for this year. If you haven’t given yet, please consider doing that as it helps out our parish greatly! As I mentioned on ADA weekend, anything given over our goal will come back to the parish. This past year, we used the extra money to help with students who cannot afford school tuition.