From Mary Ramerman’s article in the September 14th Spiritus bulletin:
“Dear Friends,
We are enclosing the 2009-2010 financial report, which shows we had a very tough year moneywise. The recession and the rising costs of rent and health insurance hit us hard. But first, this is no complaint. We are extremely grateful for your ongoing generosity. We are still a vibrant community that has much to share with people in Rochester and around the world, thanks to your kindness. Nevertheless, we’re sure you want to know that we had a $55,000 negative gap. Last June, the Stewardship Committee informed us of this at the weekend Masses. Since some of you were not present then, we offer you the information today. Our weekend collections were down nearly $1000 a week from the previous year. To close the gap for this year, 30+ Spiritus Christi employees went without cost-of-living raises, and many received a deduction in pay to cover a 5% increase in their copay for health insurance. Other measures like elimination of staff conference allowances and cutting back employee hours helped tighten our belts.“
Just thought I’d pass this along for all the folk who think a “progressive Catholic Church” would mean less financial problems and less church closings.
|
Not disputing your point, but it’s still pretty impressive that they manage to take in ~$15,000 in collections every week. Do any parishes in the Diocese of Rochester take in that much?
Several of the suburban catholic churches have a collection over $15,000. I’m sure a few (other) non-denominations pull in just as much.
I guess we now know why Denise Donato left.
News bit: The Chrystal Cathedral (Rev. Robert Schuler) filed for bankruptcy today. And they once had millions in reserves.